Guardians reuniting with former top prospect 8 years later could be steal of offseason

On Sept. 7, 2017, the Cleveland Indians picked up an 11-2 win over the White Sox on their run toward the American League Central title. With the division title all but wrapped up, Cleveland’s front office elected to give some opportunities to plenty of players on the roster who hadn’t played much throughout the summer. 

Francisco Mejia recorded one of the two hits he had with Cleveland. Erik González had the only multi-homer game of his career. Even current Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow got into the fun by tossing a scoreless ninth inning. It ended up being win No. 15 in Cleveland’s record-setting 22 game win streak. 

But before Breslow mopped up that win, Shawn Armstrong took the ball in the eighth inning, where he set Chicago down 1-2-3. 

For the longest time, it looked like that would be Armstrong’s final appearance with Cleveland, as he was traded to the Mariners  after the season in exchange for international pool money. 

But now, some eight years later, the Guardians’ front office brought Armstrong back into their bullpen mix by signing him to a one-year, $5.5 million contract. While the move may seem a bit odd considering the Guardians had already added four relievers to this offseason, bringing Armstrong in stands as one of the shrewdest moves any team has made this offseason. 

Adding Shawn Armstrong is an obvious win for the Guardians 

While Armstrong doesn’t have the same kind of name pedigree as other free agent relievers like Alexis Díaz or Robert Suarez, he’s coming off one of the best seasons of his career.

Last year, Armstrong recorded a 2.31 ERA in 74 innings, which flew a little bit under the radar due to the fact he played for the lowly Rangers. 

While Armstrong only finished in the eighth percentile in chase rate (24.4%), he also finished in the 91st percentile in hard-hit rate (34.2%). He may not get many hitters to swing and miss, but he was among baseball's best at limiting hard contact.  

It was a strong bounce-back season for the 35-year-old who had a 4.86 ERA with three different clubs in 2024. He had a 1.38 ERA in 52 innings the year prior with the Rays. 

He also turned in some solid reverse splits (righties hit just .118 against him), which makes him a valuable asset in a rotation that’s anchored by the right-handed throwing Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis. 

Of the other four relievers the Guardians brought in, Colin Holderman and Justin Bruihl are the two other established options, but neither of them have the experience or success that Armstrong has had. 

He may not have the same kind of wipeout stuff as Smith or Gaddis, but he’s just as good at getting batters out. 

Even though the loss of Emmanuel Clase is still lingering for the Guardians (and will likely linger for the foreseeable future), bringing in Armstrong is the first big win in the new era of the Guardians’ bullpen.