Guardians acquire Wes Parsons from Toronto, transfer Shane Bieber to 60-Day IL

Another arm is being added to the Cleveland Guardians organization. Cleveland has agreed to terms on a trade to acquire right-handed pitcher Wes Parsons in exchange for international bonus pool money. Parsons has been optioned to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers following the trade agreement.

The 31-year-old Parsons has made two appearances on the year, allowing six runs on six hits in just 5 innings. This includes giving up home runs to Jeremy Pena and Jose Altuve in the same inning during an 8-0 loss to the Houston Astros. Parsons was designated for assignment two days later by Toronto, with the trade to Cleveland being finalized five days later.

There is not a whole lot of experience for Parsons at the major league level, pitching just 48.2 innings in 36 appearances dating back to 2018, during his time as a member of the Atlanta Braves organization. Since then, Parsons has pitched in Atlanta's minor league system, appeared in 15 games for the Colorado Rockies in 2019, and spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the KBO's NC Dinos before returning to Major League Baseball in 2023 with the Blue Jays. Parsons has an ERA of 15.00 and 2.333 WHIP in his three appearances over two seasons with Toronto, allowing 15 runs on 16 hits in 9 innings, with four home runs surrendered.

Shane Bieber transferred to the 60-Day IL

Acquiring Wes Parsons from the Blue Jays was not the only transaction for the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, as Shane Bieber has been transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL. This is an expected move, considering that Bieber is going to miss the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Cleveland still has to definitively figure out how they are going to replace Bieber in their starting rotation moving forward. It does not appear that they will have an answer right away, but expect them to evaluate all options available to them in the coming weeks.