Guardians officially announce Travis Bazzana promotion at cost of fellow prospect 

When one door opens, another closes. 

Not only does that adage apply to life, but it also applies to the Cleveland Guardians’ current infield situation. 

On Tuesday, the Guardians officially promoted top prospect Travis Bazzana from Triple-A, with fellow prospect Juan Brito heading to Columbus as the corresponding move.

Although Bazzana’s promotion didn’t come at the cost of anyone on the 40-man roster (the Guardians have had one spot open since they DFA’d Kolby Allard earlier this month), they needed to free up a spot for him on the current roster. 

And the Guardians’ front office made the right decision in demoting Brito, who has struggled immensely over the past two weeks since starting his big league career on a tear. 

Normally demoting Brito would seem like overkill given that he’s less than a month into his big league career, but these are unique circumstances. This isn’t the Guardians replacing him with some underwhelming veteran; they’re replacing him with a former No. 1 draft pick who is the top prospect in the Guardians’ system. 

If anything, it shows how exciting the future could be for Guardians’ fans. 

Juan Brito should be back with the Guardians’ big league club soon

Brito played in 15 games with the Guardians in the time since he got his initial big league promotion at the beginning of the month and slashed .176/.250/.255  with three RBI, four walks and 17 strikeouts. 

Those struggles carried over to his time in the field as well, as he committed four errors (which is the most among AL second base) despite playing in just 123 innings at the position. 

In short, it was time for a change. 

Even though Bazzana is also a rookie, he stands out as an immediate upgrade over the current version of Brito who doesn’t seem comfortable at the plate or in the field. 

Meanwhile, Bazzana has slashed .287/.422/.511 in 24 games at Triple-A with two home runs and 10 RBI. He’s reached a new level after a slow start to the season and finally seems to be clicking after an injury ended his season early last season. 

The Guardians don’t call prospects up unless they’re in a spot where they can give them everyday playing time, but Brito had reached a point where they couldn’t justify rolling him out there day after day. Now that playing time will likely go to Bazzana. 

Brayan Rocchio started the season as the Guardians’ second baseman, but he’s moved over to shortstop since Gabriel Arias got hurt. Angel Martínez is another option at second, but the Guardians seem set to turn him into a full-time outfielder. 

In other words, second base is Bazzana’s for the foreseeable future. 

And even if Brito failed his first chance at the keystone, he should get a second chance soon.

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