Latest Guardians DFA is another frustrating development for former top prospect 

Coming into the 2026 season, it looked like we could be on the cusp of a breakout season from Juan Brito. 

Although he didn’t break camp with the Guardians, he was thrust onto the team’s big league roster two weeks into the season when Gabriel Arias hit the injured list. It seemed like the breakout was upon us. 

Spoiler alert: That breakout never happened.

Brito only got 51 at-bats with the Guardians’ big league club and slashed just .176/.250/.255 before being sent down to Triple-A in place of fellow rookie Travis Bazzana. 

Now he may never get a chance to have that breakout season in Cleveland, as the Guardians designated him for assignment on Monday to make room for trade deadline acquisition Jo Adell. 

He was later sent to the Reds in exchange for cash.

It’s a disappointing fall for a guy who arrived to great fanfare as a prospect in 2022 and was once viewed as the Guardians’ infielder of the future. 

Juan Brito's struggles led to him becoming expendable

The Guardians initially acquired Brito from the Rockies as their return for Nolan Jones following the 2022 season, and he immediately put himself on the radar by pushing his way to Triple-A in 2023 despite being just 21. 

He followed that up with another productive season in Triple-A in 2024, which made it seem like he was set for a big league debut in 2025. 

But any dreams of doing that went by the wayside early in the season when he suffered a thumb injury that kept him out for most of the year. 

He’s healthy this year, but his struggles are extremely alarming. Along with those rough results in MLB (he struck out in 30.1% of his at-bats), he’s slashed just .237/.351/.394 in 83 games at Triple-A this year. 

Brito’s struggles this year have come at the worst possible time. Not only has he been passed at second base by Travis Bazzana, but Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias’ production also slammed the door on any chances he’d get a legitimate chance for everyday playing time. 

There’s a reason his first big league call-up only came after Arias suffered an injury (and came to an end once Bazzana was ready for the big leagues). 

Now he’s going to hit the baseball wilderness where he’lll be available to all 29 teams on the waiver wire. 

The Guardians will have an opportunity to re-sign him to a minor league contract if he clears waivers, but it’s hard to believe that he’d go unclaimed given he’s still young and has previous prospect pedigree. 

Even if Brito never ended up becoming the kind of infield staple the Guardians were hoping for, Bazzana’s production and Rocchio’s emergence have helped soften that blow.

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