Signing Matthew Boyd is a low-risk high-reward move for the Guardians

The news of the Cleveland Guardians agreeing to terms on a contract with Matthew Boyd seemingly came out of nowhere yesterday. No rumors or rumblings, just boom, a tweet from Jon Heyman reporting the deal.

Even though the agreement caught pretty much everyone off guard on Thursday, this is a move that was absolutely needed and could pay off in the long run for Cleveland.

A popular talking point that has been making the rounds latelyhas been the concerns with Cleveland's starting rotation, and for good reason. It is beyond obvious at this point that the Guardians need to add at least one starter to their current group if they are going to maintain their lead in the American League Central and potentially go on a deep postseason run. With trade season approaching and the expected lull in action before any moves are made, trying to add a potential solution to their problem in Boyd via free agency rather than giving up players to acquire someone via trade.

There's clearly some risk with signing Boyd for Cleveland. Boyd is about a year removed from having Tommy John surgery, and that is something that is always concerning no matter how talented a player is. This is on top of having what was a pretty lackluster season in his second stint with the Detroit Tigers. Boyd had a 5.45 ERA and 1.324 WHIP in 15 starts for the Tigers before going down with his season-ending injury. The only saving grace of his season was averaging 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings. This was the highest mark for Boyd since 2019's 11.6 and the second-highest in any season.

Boyd's previous strikeout frequency from 2023 must be something the Guardians believe they can recapture, if not improve upon if they are willing to sign him to a deal at this time. Who knows, maybe they are able to work the same magic on Boyd that has allowed Ben Lively to become a reliable starter for the Guardians.

The time to take a flier on someone like this is right now. What do the Guardians have to lose? Worst case scenario, Boyd does not work out, and the Guardians are forced to trade for someone, an outcome most are expecting anyway. But if he can prove to be a productive arm in their rotation, it would allow Cleveland to focus on other areas on the roster that can be improved upon, making this deal well worth the risk.