The Guardians should avoid making critical mistake with rising infield prospect 

Late last week, veteran cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter Paul Hoynes did a mailbag that touched on a variety of big offseason topics for the Guardians like offensive reinforcements, Chase DeLauter’s development and David Fry’s ability to catch next season. 

But near the bottom of the story there was one question that came with an interesting answer that could end up having a huge impact on the Guardians’ outfield. 

The question, asked by Doug Folkert, Ocala, Florida, asked who Hoynes thinks would win a hypothetical shortstop battle between Gabriel Arias and Juan Brito, where Hoynes gave an interesting answer. 

“I don’t get the impression that the Guardians view Brito as a shortstop. First, however, he has to recover from the left hamstring injury that cut his season short and required surgery. I think he fits into their plans more as a second baseman or potentially an outfield option. Brito’s offensive potential is intriguing, and there’s a chance the Guards could be granted a fourth option on Brito, which would give them another year of control over the switch-hitter,” he wrote. 

Death, taxes and the Guardians (potentially) moving a middle infield prospect to the outfield. C.J. Kayfus learned right field so he could get to the majors quicker. Angel Martínez came up as an infielder before but spent nearly all of 2025 as a center fielder.

And now it seems like there’s a chance that Brito could follow that path. But that doesn’t mean that’s the right move. 

The Guardians need to keep Juan Brito as an infielder

After fighting for an Opening Day roster spot in spring training, Brito opened the year at Triple-A but only ended up playing in 24 games with Columbus due to a hamstring injury. Had Brito not gotten hurt, he likely would have made his MLB debut at some point during 2025. 

But the year went by without him making his debut, which adds another layer of complication around his situation. While Chase DeLauter is still a bit of an unknown, he made his MLB debut during the postseason so the front office has a little bit of an idea of what he can bring to the table. 

The good news is that the Guardians are expecting to get another option year for Brito, like Hoynes mentioned, The Athletic’s Zack Meisel first reported the news. He’s been on the 40-man roster since the Guardians acquired him from the Rockies after the 2022 season in exchange for Nolan Jones. 

Brito is a switch-hitter who has a career .831 OPS in the minor leagues and would be a strong fit on the Guardians’ roster. But there’s no easy path for him on the roster thanks to the presence of Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias. 

But that doesn’t mean that Brito should be moved to the outfield. He’s an important piece of the infield puzzle, and has the most offensive upside of any potential infield option on the roster. 

The Guardians need to fill the holes in their outfield, but there are plenty of players available in free agency who could help with that. 

Even if Brito doesn’t come with the same kind of prospect clout as fellow second base prospect Travis Bazzana, his future should still be on the infield dirt.