Guardians acquire veteran right-hander from Texas Rangers

The Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers agreed to terms on a minor trade on Wednesday morning. Cleveland is acquiring veteran right-hander Matt Festa from Texas in exchange for cash considerations. Festa will report to Triple-A Columbus following the completion of the trade.

This deal is not particuarly surprising from the Guardians' perspective. Cleveland's pitching staff has not exactly performed as expected through the first month of the season, resulting in some arms being overused or used in a way that does not fit their particular skillset.

Festa has made 108 career major league appearances, compiling a 4.60 ERA, 1.3404 WHIP, and 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. The 32-year-old has only appeared in minor league games this season, pitching to a 0.00 ERA, 1.159 WHIP, and 12.1 K/9 in 14.1 innings pitched across nine games for the Round Rock Express, Texas's Triple-A affiliate.

Now, no one should view the acquisition of Festa as a solution to their pitching problems, because, let's be honest here, he really isn't. Festa is more of a stop-gap addition in an attempt to prevent Cleveland's pitching staff, specifically their bullpen, from an all-out freefall.

The Guardians have already designated Triston McKenzie for assignment this season, with him eventually agreeing to report to Columbus. If Festa can pitch better than McKenzie's seven runs allowed on seven hits and seven walks in 5.2 innings, it would be a clear step in the right direction. Of course, the Guardians would have to bring Festa onto the major league roster first for that to happen, and him being part of their big league bullpen in some capacity seems to be the plan here.

Despite sharing the same last name as a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization, Matt Festa is not related to David Festa, although both are right-handed pitchers.