Guardians hold onto useful reliever after he goes unclaimed on waivers 

Connor Brogdon is staying with the Guardians. 

While his time with Cleveland’s big league club came to an end last week when he was designated for assignment to make room for Franco Aleman, he went unclaimed on waivers yesterday and decided to stay with the Guardians instead of electing free agency.

Even though the biggest reason he did that was likely so he can keep the remaining amount of his $900,000 salary (which he’d forfeit if he hit free agency), there are some on-the-field benefits of sticking with the Guardians and their well-regarded pitching factory. 

Connor Brogdon is staying in the Guardians’ system as a depth arm

The Guardians kicked off free agency by signing Brogdon to a one-year deal right before the Winter Meetings in the hopes that he’d be able to parlay his strong extension numbers (how close a pitcher is to the plate when they release a pitch) into a mid-career renaissance. 

That didn’t end up being the case, as he posted a 5.28 ERA in 15 1/3 innings before being DFA’d.

He started the season strong with a save in his second appearance of the season and also posted a 3.18 ERA in his first 5 2/3 innings, but the wheels fell off after that.

Those strong extension numbers were still there (82nd percentile) and he walked just 4.5% of the batters he faced, but he also allowed five home runs and didn’t have great advanced marks. 

The final straw came on May 7 when he allowed two home runs in 1 1/3 innings against the Royals to let Kansas City back into the game. 

Although no team wants to be paying a player big league money to sit in the minors, Brogdon’s contract was a bit of a silver lining in this situation since it likely played a part in him clearing waivers. 

So, instead of the Guardians losing Brogdon, they have an opportunity to stash him in the minors and help him work through his issues in case they need to call upon him again at some point this season. 

While it’s clear that’s not in a place where he can be a key piece in a big league bullpen, he’s a great option as a depth arm. 

The Guardians have also already reshuffled his old spot on their roster, as they sent Aleman down to the minors on Wednesday in place of Codi Heuer, who authored a great rookie season with the White Sox in 2020 before suffering a plethora of arm injuries. 

The back of the Guardians’ bullpen has settled into a familiar rhythm now that Cade Smith is back to looking dominant, but everything in front of him is still a work-in-progress. 

Maybe Brogdon will find a way to work himself back into that picture.

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