Guardians’ Opening Day roster beginning to come into focus after busy 24 hours

The start of the 2026 MLB season is less than a week away, which means it’s time for teams to tighten their rosters ahead of the Opening Day cutdown date. 

And the Cleveland Guardians did just that over the past 24 hours by outrighting Nolan Jones off the big league roster while also optioning Petey Halpin and Logan Allen to the minors. 

That, coupled with George Valera and Hunter Gaddis “likely” starting the season on the injured list means that we’ve got a better idea of who will be on the Guardians’ roster when the team opens the season against the Mariners on Thursday. 

Guardians reshuffle roster with dizzying amount of moves

The biggest piece of news from that flurry of moves was the Guardians’ decision to outright Jones, who seems to have already passed through waivers unclaimed. 

Jones will almost definitely head to Triple-A since he’d forfeit his $2 million salary if he elected free agency over his assignment to the minors. 

He struggled last season and slashed just 152/.222/.303 in 36 at-bats this spring. While he’ll be in Triple-A, he’s no longer on the 40-man roster, which makes it even harder for him to get added back to the big league roster. It’s the same kind of situation the Guardians had with Myles Straw in 2024. 

He’ll be joined in Triple-A by Halpin, who hit .267 with two homers this spring and could be one of the first outfielders called up thanks to his strong defense and surprising pop. 

The final minor league movement came in the form of Allen, who lost the final spot in the Guardians’ rotation to Parker Messick. 

Allen made his fourth start of the spring yesterday and allowed an eye-popping 12 earned runs on 14 hits in just 2 1/3 innings. While spring stats don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, it likely didn’t help his case to make the roster. 

We also know that Tanner Bibee will get the Guardians’ Opening Day start, so the rest of the rotation behind him will consist of Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo, Slade Cecconi and Messick. 

The bullpen will be down one big arm, however, as Gaddis won’t be able to go on Opening Day due to forearm tightness. The injury popped up after his lone appearance this spring.

It doesn’t look like his stint on the injured list is going to be too long since he threw in a minor league game earlier today, but it makes sense for him to sit in April so he can be healthy in September. 

In other bullpen news, the Guardians informed Rule 5 Draft pick Peyton Pallette that he made the Opening Day roster.

The same can be said for Valera, who was cleared to return to baseball activities on Saturday but is still working his way back from a calf strain. 

He showed some power last season and will likely fit into the outfield picture at some point in 2026, but the Guardians are likely going to slow-play his big league return given his injury history.