Reliever who fizzled out in season with Guardians signs discount deal with Athletics 

After a disappointing 2023 season, the Cleveland Guardians front office decided to retool parts of the roster on the fly ahead of 2024, one of which was the bullpen. 

And perhaps the player who was the biggest part of that retooling was reliever Scott Barlow, who the Guardians acquired from the San Diego Padres in exchange for reliever Enyel De Los Santos. 

That ended up being a bit of a mistake, however, as Barlow didn’t finish the season on the roster and ended up being designated for assignment in September. 

After spending last season with the Cincinnati Reds, Barlow found a new home for 2026 on Friday, as FanSided’s Robert Murray reported that Barlow agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal with the Athletics. 

Former Guardian Scott Barlow agrees to one-year deal with Athletics 

Barlow actually wasn’t bad last year for the Reds, as he posted a 4.21 ERA in 68 1/3 innings while working as a valuable piece in Terry Francona’s bullpen. 

While his struggle with free passes continued (14.9% walk rate), he finished in the 99th percentile in hard-hit rate (30.5%) to go along with a ground ball rate of 44.1%. Barlow has a diverse arsenal led by his sweeper, but he also throws his fastball, slider, curveball and sinker. 

Barlow opened the 2024 season as the Guardians de facto setup man behind Emmanuel Clase but was quickly lapped by Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis after a rough May where he allowed six runs in 8 2/3 innings. 

He ended up bouncing back in the middle of the summer before imploding in August, which led to him being jettisoned off the roster. 

The Reds signed him to a one-year, $2.5 million contract and ended up getting his velocity back after his fastball was nearly two miles per hour slower than on average during his time with the Guardians. The Reds still ended up declining his $6.5 million team option in lieu of a $1 million buyout. 

He’ll now be an important arm in a slightly revamped Athletics bullpen that also includes new addition Mark Leiter Jr. 

Hogan Harris got a brunt of the closing opportunities after the A’s traded Mason Miller to the Padres at the deadline, but whoever gets the ball in the ninth inning will have a tough assignment given they’re playing their home games at a minor league park in Sacramento.

Barlow did a good job recouping some value last season with the Reds, and he’ll look to build on that this season with an exciting Athletics team.