Guardians given perfect opportunity to reunite with former bullpen weapon after Royals DFA 

While the trade deadline happened two weeks ago, every week still gives us one or two MLB transactions that rise above the general monotony of players being placed on the injured list. 

The Royals provided one of this week's examples of this on Thursday night when they signed pitcher Tony Gonsolin to a big league contract despite the fact he hasn’t pitched all season. 

While signing Gonsolin could end up being a solid buy-low move for Kansas City if he’s able to reclaim his previous All-Star form, it came at the cost of a former Guardian, as Eli Morgan was designated for assignment to make room for Gonsolin.

Even though Morgan hasn’t had a ton of success since leaving the Guardians, he was a solid bullpen weapon for parts of three seasons with Cleveland, and would help solve the team’s pitching depth woes. 

The Guardians should reunite with Eli Morgan after he was DFA’d by the Royals 

Morgan appeared in 16 games with the Royals this season and had a 5.12 ERA in 19 1/3 innings with one save across three different stints with the big league club. 

That said, he pitched well at Triple-A Omaha to the tune of 1.40 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. He started the season working as a multi-inning reliever for the Storm Chasers before transitioning to a single-inning reliever after he was sent down again in June and July. 

He worked two innings and 1 2/3 innings in his last two innings for Omaha, respectively. He stuck out 32.4% of the batters he faced in Triple-A but also had a hefty walk rate of 13.9%. 

That versatility is part of what allowed him to be so dangerous out of Cleveland’s ‘pen, as Terry Francona and Stephen Vogt could call upon Morgan (who started his career as a starter) to get multiple outs without much worry. 

Morgan’s best season with Cleveland was in 2024 when he had a 1.93 ERA in 42 innings despite dealing with right elbow inflammation. The Guardians sold high on that production by flipping him to the Cubs for outfield prospect Alfonsin Rosario. 

His stint in Chicago lasted just 7 1/3 innings before he went on the injured list with an elbow impingement that ended his season. 

But those struggles shouldn’t stop the Guardians from kicking the tires on Morgan since he’d immediately fit into their bullpen as a longman option. The Guardians haven’t been operating with a true longman option since they placed Slade Cecconi on the injured list.

Franco Aleman got the first crack at it last week when he threw 44 pitches across the final two innings in the Guardians’ win over the White Sox, but he holds more value as a single-inning weapon. 

Morgan would be more of the Will Dion-style of pitcher who is able to soak innings up in a game that’s already been decided one way or another.

It may not be the most exciting role, but it’s an important one since Morgan soaking up innings would lighten everyone else’s load. The Guardians could desperately use that kind of arm in their bullpen.

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