Guardians bolster bullpen by signing veteran reliever

The bullpen of the Cleveland Guardians received some help on Wednesday afternoon, as they have agreed to terms on a contract with veteran relief pitcher Paul Sewald.

It is a one-year $7 million deal for Sewald with a mutual $10 million option or $1 million buyout for the 2026 season. Depending on the number of appearances he makes for the Guardians, Sewald has a chance to make as much as $7.5 million if he pitches in 60 games this season.

In his eight major league seasons, Sewald has a career 4.09 ERA, 1.145 WHIP, and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings pitched during his time with the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Sewald spent all of 2024 in Arizona after being traded by Seattle during the previous season.

It was a bit of a step back numbers-wise for Sewald, with his ERA increasing by over a run from 3.12 in 2023 to 4.31 in 2024. This is not all that surprising considering the stacked lineups Sewald faced out in the National League West division. Going from the NL West to the American League Central should bode well for him in this department, considering the overall drop off in talent between the two divisions.

Cleveland signing a relief pitcher at this juncture is not exactly a surprising development. The Guardians were one of several teams who attended a bullpen session thrown by former Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees reliever Lou Trivino. This made it very obvious that the Guardians were in the market for a relief arm and that an acquisition of one was cleraly imminent. While it seemed like Trivino would have made sense with Cleveland's recent success with players working their way back from Tommy John surgery, it appears they have opted to go with Sewald instead for the time being.