Guardians just signed most underrated reliever left on market and fans are confused

Another day, another free agent reliever signing with the Guardians 

After bringing in Justin Bruihl in a trade with the Blue Jays on Wednesday, the Guardians signed free agent reliever Shawn Armstrong to a one-year, $5.5 million, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. 

The move serves as a reunion for Armstrong, who previously pitched with Cleveland from 2015 to ‘17 before being traded to the Mariners. 

Shawn Armstrong makes the Guardians’ deep bullpen even better 

Armstrong stands out as the best addition of the Guardians’ bullpen shopping, as the 35-year-old is coming off a stellar season where he had 2.31 ERA in 74 innings with the Rangers. 

Along with finishing in the 91st percentile in hard-hit rate (34.2%), he also finished in the 90th percentile in expected batting average (.203) and expected ERA (2.98). 

While he only struck out 26% of the batters he faced, hitters averaged just .167 off his fastball and .188 off his cutter, and he’s allowed home runs to just 5.9% of the batters he’s faced since the start of 2023, which is the third-lowest mark in the majors in that time frame. 

Armstrong’s solid showing for the Rangers came on the back of a disastrous 2024 season where he shuffled between three different teams. After starting the season with the Rays (where he had a 5.40 ERA in 46 2/3 innings, he was traded to the Cardinals at the deadline. 

His stay in St. Louis proved to be short, as he was designated for assignment after just 11 games before being picked up by the Cubs. 

In the season prior, Armstrong posted a sparkling 1.38 ERA in 52 innings for Tampa Bay in their run toward a postseason berth. Even with that disastrous season, his tenure with the Rays was a positive one, as he had a 3.50 ERA in 168 2/3 innings after landing there in 2022. 

Armstrong was originally drafted by Cleveland in the 18th round of the 2011 MLB Draft and made his eventual debut for the Indians in 2015 after being named an All-Star in both Double-A and Triple-A. 

He posted a 2.41 ERA with the Guardians across 18 2/3 innings in 2015 and ‘16 before pitching a then-career-high 24 2/3 innings the next season before his aforementioned trade to the Mariners. 

Armstrong’s signing marks the biggest financial move by the Guardians this offseason, and his contract will make him the fourth-highest paid player on Cleveland’s roster. He’ll likely slot into a high-leverage role alongside Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski ahead of closer Cade Smith. 

And while the deal is a solid move, it's still a bit surprising given the Guardians already have a full bullpen and still haven't addressed their dysmal offense from last season.

Winning a game by a score of 1-0 may count the same as a winning by a score of11-10 , but there's a clear cap on how much the Guardians can win with their current lineup, even if it has some promising young hitters.

Adding Armstrong to a team with a full 40-man roster shows the Guardians are still going to be aggressive this winter, but we have yet to get any conformation that aggression will carry over to offensive additions.