Guardians positioned well not to repeat 2023 history after Reds’ roster moves

In 2023, the Cleveland Guardians attempted to make one last dash toward the postseason by adding Lucas Giolito, Rynaldo López and Matt Moore via waivers. 

Three years later, every team in baseball is going to get a chance to follow that same path thanks to the Reds placing Eugenio Suárez and TJ Friedl on waivers, meaning the 29 other clubs can claim either player and add them to their roster for the rest of the season. 

However, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier today that the “likelihood is both will clear and remain with the club,” though there’s always the chance they could be designated for assignment. 

While any claiming club would be able to include both players on their postseason roster since they’d be joining their roster before Sept. 1, they’d also be on the hook for their remaining salary. 

Suárez is owed a bit less than $3 million for the rest of the season, while Friedl is owed a shade under $700,000. The Reds decision to place both players on waivers, much like the Angels decision three years ago, stems from wanting to save money by cutting both player’s salaries. 

The Guardians ended up taking about $3.5 million in salary when they acquired Giolito, López and Moore despite having a 5.2% chance of making the postseason at the time of the claims. 

They rattled off two straight wins the games after the claim before going 3-8 in their next 11 games to bow out of the postseason race. 

Although Giolito really struggled with Cleveland (7.04 ERA in 30 2/3 innings), López pitched 11 scoreless innings in relief, which helped him earn his next contract with the Braves. 

Moore made five appearances with the Guardians before they put him on waivers to try to save some money (he was then claimed by the Marlins). 

All that is to say that these kinds of moves rarely work out. The claims go in reverse order of record, so the players usually end up with desperate teams (like what happened with the Guardians in 2023). 

The Guardians shouldn't claim Eugenio Suárez or TJ Friedl off waivers

Or, if the players do end up with a winner, it usually doesn’t take long for them to remind everyone why they were available. Every team in baseball had a chance to claim Suárez at the deadline, but they all stayed away due to his struggles and injuries. 

While there’s always a chance a team would be more willing to go after him now since it wouldn’t come at the cost of a prospect in return (along with costing a bit less). 

Suárez is hitting .208 this season with 19 homers and a .705 OPS, and is coming off a game where he smashed a grand slam against the Giants. 

The irony of the Reds placing Suárez and Friedl on waivers is that both of them would have helped the Guardians at some point in the not-so-distant past. 

Suárez seemed like an obvious fix to the Guardians’ power outage, while Friedl is just a year removed from being a productive everyday outfielder. 

But Guardians fans don’t need to worry about the team’s front office rolling the dice on either reclamation project thanks to their balanced roster that was built up thanks to a strong trade deadline. 

José Ramírez and Angel Genao have third base covered, while Jo Adell has done nothing but mash in the outfield since joining the Guardians. 

There's no room in the inn for either player. Here's hoping Cleveland's front office recognizes that.

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