Guardians are inching closer and closer to pivotal infield decision

On April 6, Gabriel Arias’ breakout week was halted when he sustained a hamstring injury that put him on the shelf for the foreseeable future. 

After not hearing much about Arias for the past two months, we finally got an update about Arias earlier this week when he took on-field batting practice prior to the Guardians’ series-opener against the Nationals. 

He followed that up by going through a normal pregame routine at Double-A on Wednesday, and is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon. 

While he’ll likely use the duration of the assignment due to how rough hamstring strains can be, the Guardians are creeping closer and closer to needing to make some kind of decision about Arias’ future and how it relates to the middle-infield. 

When Arias went down he was in the midst of a strong week that made it seem like he was starting to turn a corner. Now it seems like there may not be enough room in the inn for him. 

The Guardians are going to need to make some kind of decision with Gabriel Arias 

The biggest reason why Arias has become expendable is the emergence of Brayan Rocchio, who has locked down shortstop in Arias’ absence. Rocchio has slashed .318/.457/.852 in 45 games since Arias hit the injured list and has been worth 2.0 fWAR, which is the fifth-highest mark among shortstops. 

The Guardians cycled through a couple options at second base before eventually calling up Travis Bazzana, who has looked the part since getting recalled from the minors at the end of April. 

He’s been an everyday player since getting recalled, and it’s hard to believe that would change once Arias comes back.  

Arias has enough defensive versatility to work as a utility option (which he did in his first few years with the Guardians), but the Guardians already have one of those players in Daniel Schneemann. 

The Guardians could always move Schnemann to a full-time outfielder and send Petey Halpin down to the minors, but that could be a bit too much roster finagling for a player of Arias’ caliber. 

The most likely option is the Guardians’ end up designating Arias for assignment, where he’d pretty much be a lock to get scooped up on waivers due to his ability to play all over the diamond along with having four years of team control (though he is out of options). 

It always seemed like Arias was going to be the prize of the Guardians '2020 trade fleece of the Padres, but he has been lapped by Joey Cantillo and Josh Naylor (before he was traded). But it seems like we could be approaching the beginning of the end of his tenure with the Guardians.  

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