Guardians sign veteran catcher to minor league deal

The Cleveland Guardians came to terms on a minor league deal with veteran backstop Sandy Leon according to a report. Leon was recently released by the Texas Rangers and is now headed to Triple-A Columbus.

This will be the fourth time that Leon will be a member of the Guardians organization, making a handful of major league appearances during the 2020 and 2022 seasons. HItting was a struggle for Leon during his time in Cleveland, slashing .136/.314/.222 with two home runs and one double in 102 plate appearances.

In all fairness Leon is not known for his prowess in the batter's box with his .208/.276/.311 liftime slash line. The reason Leon continues to signed by teams is the value he has behind the plate as teams are more than comfortable having him handle the pitching staff if needed. Having an alternate internal catching option that a pitching staff trusts is a very valuable resource and very few teams can confidently say that is something that they possess.

Cleveland has made some pretty big changes at the catcher position this season. The team signed Mike Zunino in the offseason with hopes to recapture some of his previous power output in addition to being a temporary place holder. After it became clear that Zunino was not an effective option, the team moved on and officially began the Bo Naylor era.

Naylor is now the full time catcher for the Guardians with Cam Gallagher and David Fry being capable of filling in if necessary. Should the Guardians find themselves in need of a catcher for one reason or another, Leon is an option to turn to on a tempoary basis. Any sort of action with big league club, if it happens, would more than liklely be brief barring an unforeseen series of events.