Maligned Guardians outfield just became even more essential after latest roster move 

On Wednesday, the Guardians made a decision about the future of their outfield on Wednesday by designating Jhonkensy Noel for assignment after a disappointing 2025 season.

While Noel has light tower power (which we got an example of during the 2024 postseason), his struggles became too much for the Guardians to ignore, especially when you consider some of the other pieces of the outfield picture. 

Arguably the two biggest pieces of puzzle are Chase DeLauter and George Valera — both of whom made their debut for the Guardians late last season. Valera, who made his long-awaited debut in September after a minor league journey filled with injuries, hit .220 in 16 major league games before hitting a go-ahead home run in the postseason. 

Meanwhile, DeLauter became just the sixth player to make their MLB debut in the postseason, and now seems poised to get a chance to earn everyday at-bats in 2026. 

Noel was standing in both of their ways, and Cleveland’s front office made a decision to cut ties with him despite the fact that he seemed like a right-handed complement to the left-handed hitting DeLauter and Valera. 

Now that distinction falls on the shoulders of Johnathan Rodríguez, who is now the only right-handed hitting outfielder on Cleveland’s 40-man roster. 

Johnathan Rodríguez just became one of the most important players on the Guardians' roster

While having Rodríguez as the only right-handed hitting outfielder on Cleveland’s roster isn’t organizational malpractice, it’s close considering the 26-year-old Rodríguez has posted a  career .176 batting average in 44 MLB games since making his debut in 2024. 

Although was the International League MVP in 2024 and has posted a .301 average in 252 games at Triple-A, he has yet to carry that success over to the big leagues. 

But he’s now one of the most important players on the Guardians roster thanks to Noel’s DFA. DeLauter, Valera, Steven Kwan and Nolan Jones are set to get the most time in the outfield, but all four of them hit from the left side, as does Daniel Schneemann, who should see plenty of time in a relief role.

The switch-hitting Angel Martínez could be an option in center (even if he shouldn’t be) and Gabriel Arias could end up moving around the diamond, but none of them are full-time outfielders. 

The last time we saw Rodríguez on the diamond, he went 0-for-3 at the plate in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series white also booting a ball in the outfield that led to the Tigers scoring their first run. 

Normally, those kind of stats and defensive ineptitude would lead to a player being glued to the bench, but the Guardians are coming off a season where they had a historic platoon advantage. If they want to keep that up then it stands to reason that Rodríguez will see plenty of playing time. 

And he has a track record of crushing lefties, both in the minors and in (very brief) stints in the  bigs. The biggest example of that came at the end of September when he mashed a go-ahead two-run home run against the Rangers to help the Guardians clinched a postseason berth before following it up with a two-run single the next game. 

Both hits came off left-handed pitchers.

Still, it’s hard to believe we’re this far into the offseason and the Guardians don’t have a better right-handed outfield option other than Rodríguez.

Even if his minor league numbers are promising (and the presence of Valera and DeLauter means Cleveland’s outfield will be better than next season), it seems like an obvious area for the Guardians to upgrade.