Guardians kickstart offseason with predictable (yet fruitful) pitcher signing

Death, taxes and the Guardians fortifying their pitching staff on the margins. 

Earlier today Cleveland’s front office kicked off the General Manager meetings by signing reliever Antoine Kelly to a minor league deal for 2027 with an invite to big league spring training. It’s not the biggest deal of the GM meetings (heck, it may not even be the biggest deal of the morning), but it’s the kind of signing the Guardians have made their hay with in recent seasons. 

Kelly’s contract being a minor league deal is the best of both worlds since it gives them a chance to get him into their pitching lab without him taking up a roster spot while also allowing him to pitch in the minors in 2027 should the impending lockout suck up part of the regular season. 

The Guardians are adding Antoine Kelly to their pitching lab

Kelly’s big league journey started in 2019 when the Brewers picked him in the second round of the MLB Draft, and he reached the big league leagues for the first time in his career last year when he recorded a single scoreless appearance with the Cubs. 

A lot happened in the time in between. 

Although he made his minor league debut late in 2019, he didn’t get a full taste of the minors until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. He struggled in that campaign (9.78 ERA in 19 1/3 innings), but pitched well enough in 2022 to be the Brewers’ representative in the Futures Game. 

The Brewers ended up trading Kelly to the Rangers as a part of their deal for Matt Bush, and Kelly ended up getting added to Texas’ 40-man roster ahead of the 2024 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. 

That didn’t end up amount to much, however, as Texas designated him for assignment midway through the season after he struggled with Triple-A Round Rock. 

He had minor league tenures Rockies and Dodgers before the Cubs traded for him last June and immediately added him to their 40-man roster. He made that big league appearance on June 31 before being designated for assignment and finishing the season with the Cubs’ Triple-A team. 

Now he’ll  be in camp with the Guardians and should have a somewhat decent shot at breaking camp with them (so long as there’s a normal spring training). 

Perhaps the biggest reason why Kelly has a shot at earning a spot in the Guardians’ bullpen is due to his gaudy minor league strikeout numbers, as he finished last season with a solid 23.7 strikeout rate in the minors, albeit with a gaudy 16.7% walk rate. Kelly mostly relies on a 96 mile per hour sinker and above-average slider, which he used to success in his big league appearance with the Cubs. 

It’s easy to see why the Guardians would want to get him in their pitching lab.

Kelly’s not going to take Cade Smith’s spot, but the Guardians bullpen could have one or two open spots depending on what they do with Tim Herrin and Matt Festra in arbitration and/or what they do on the trade market. Adding Kelly is the perfect “no harm, no foul” signing to help bring some reinforcement to that unit. 

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