Guardians claim former A's outfielder off waivers

A new face will be joining the outfield mix for the Cleveland Guardians as they have claimed outfielder Ramon Laureano off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. To make room for Laureano on the 40-man roster, the team designated pitcher Chris Vallimont for assignment.

Struggles have marred what was once a promising career for Laureano. A laundry list of injuries in addition to a PED suspension has contributed to him being on the field for just 246 games in the last three seasons. Taking into consideration that Oakland is not fielding anything resembling a competitive roster now or in the immediate future, allowing Laureano to catch on somewhere else was in everyone's best interest.

The now-former A is under control until the end of the 2025 season should Cleveland want him to stick around for that long. It is worth mentioning that Laureano has struggled at the plate in three of the last four seasons, batting in the .210s. At the same, it is not like the Guardians have a ton of outfield production outside of Steven Kwan this season. The current group consisting of Will Brennan, Myles Straw, and Oscar Gonzalez has not been able to deliver enough at the plate this season. With Cleveland still having a (remote) chance to make the postseason, they had to do something other than adding Kole Calhoun a few days ago.

At worst, it is another right-handed bat to add to their outfield mix, and at best Laureano may somehow be able to show something resembling his former self, even if that does seem unlikely at this point in time. If the latter and not the former ends up being the case it could be a path toward a much larger role in Cleveland going forward. If not, it is only a low-cost addition that is certainly worth taking a chance on.