Trevor Stephan’s tenure with the Guardians officially reaches anticlimactic end

On March 30, 2023, the Guardians made their view of Trevor Stephan known when they signed him to a four-year deal worth $10 million. 

Stephen may not have been the biggest name in the Guardians bullpen, but he was coming off a season where he posted a 2.69 ERA in 63 2/3 innings. It looked like he and Emmanuel Clase were poised to serve as a great duo at the back of the Guardians’ bullpen. Oh how simple life was then. 

In the end, the Guardians got just one big league season out of Stephen in that time frame, where he had a middling 4.06 ERA before suffering an arm injury that derailed his career. He’s not going to get a chance to build on that anymore, as the Guardians declined his team option yesterday, making Stephen a free agent. 

The Trevor Stephen era is officially over in Cleveland

It didn’t take long for that extension to age poorly, as Stephen’s arm started barking during spring training in 2024, which led to him undergoing Tommy John surgery. He spent all of the season on the 60-day injured list and survived the subsequent offseason. Part of that was because the Guardians were going to be paying him no matter what, but another part of it was the fact he still held some potential due to that strong 2022 season. 

He returned to the mound midway through the 2025 season, and the results left a lot to be desired. Stephen finished that season with a 9.51 ERA in 23 2/3 innings, which led to him being designated for assignment in August. He ended up clearing waivers (no team was going to take on his contract), and has been pitching in the Guardians’ minor league system since. 

There was some hope earlier this year that he’d be able to get back to his pre-injury form after a normal offseason, but it didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t the case. He ended up finishing the year with a 10.44 ERA across 25 innings while getting paid $3.5 million. 

Today was the first opportunity the Guardians could cut bait with Stephen without having to worry about paying him, and they took advantage of that by declining his option for 2027. 

There’s no doubt Stephen is going to have to sign a minor league contract somewhere, though there are some legitimate questions about whether he’s ever going to be able to get back to where he was prior to going under the knife. 

He still hasn’t regained his fastball velocity (92 miles per hour in 2026 compared to 96.5 mph in 2022), and he allowed seven home runs in 25 innings. 

Stephen was a huge piece of the Guardians’ bullpen in 2022, but that’s going to stand as the high water mark of his time during Cleveland. 

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