The Guardians should avoid a reunion with this recently waived pitcher

For parts of four seasons, Cal Quantrill was a rock in the middle of the rotation for the Cleveland Guardians. While he was never an All-Star or earned any kind of award votes, he seemingly always held the line in the middle of the rotation whenever the team needed it.

And while he has yet to find that kind of success since the Guardians traded him away after the 2023 season, every team in baseball will have a chance to try to roll the dice on the veteran pitcher after the Marlins put him on outright waivers on Tuesday. 

Although Quantrill is in the midst of a nightmare month (11.25 ERA in August), he’s shown just enough in his career that some team may decide he’s worth adding to their roster for the final month of the season. 

It’s a 48-hour process, so, if some team does want to acquire Quantrill, they’ll likely do so later today. Waiver priority is determined by priority so the Rockies will have first priority while the Brewers will have the last. And, if he's still available by the time the Guardians come up, they should avoid him.

The Guardians should avoid a reunion with Cal Quantrill

A player must have been on a team's Major League roster before September 1 to be eligible for the postseason roster, so Quantrill will be eligible to pitch in the postseason if he’s acquired by a team in the hunt. 

It’s hard to believe that any postseason team would trust Quantrill enough to have him pitch in the postseason, but he’s a solid depth arm who could help eat some innings down the stretch. 

He’s posted a 5.50 ERA in 109 2/3 innings for the Marlins this year, and ranks in the seventh percentile in expected ERA and the 16th percentile in whiff rate and strikeout rate. He’s also owed about $750,000 for the rest of the year, which could impact his potential market. 

Quantrill posted a 5.40 ERA in 10 postseason innings for the Guardians in 2022, which tells you all you need to know about his ability to pitch when the lights are brightest.

The Guardians are no stranger to the August waiver process, as they acquired Matt Moore, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López off waivers from the Angels in August 2023 as they tried to make one last postseason push. 

While the move ended up being a bit of a dud for the Guardians, it’s really the only way a team can add some reinforcements after the trade deadline, so there are likely plenty of front offices who spent last night mulling over whether or not Quantrill was worth the waiver claim. 

While the Guardians have an open spot in their rotation after sending Joey Cantillo to Triple-A, rookie left-hander Parker Messick will get the first crack at filling that spot in the rotation, and he’s a much more intriguing option compared to a more middling option like Quantrill.