Why arbitration could lead to the Guardians cutting bait with former top prospect

For most of the 2025 season, Nolan Jones stood out as the poster child for the Guardians’ outfield failings. A one-time top prospect with the Guardians, the front office traded Jones to the Rockies after the 2022 season to help clear up some space in their outfield logjam. 

Less than three years later, they added him back to their outfield logjam this spring when they acquired him from Colorado in exchange for Tyler Freeman. 

But could there be a chance they cut bait with him again this offseason than a year after re-acquiring him? 

Could the Guardians cut bait with Nolan Jones this offseason? 

Jones ended up playing in a team-high 101 games in right field this year and recorded a .211/.296/.304 slashline with five home runs and 34 RBI. He was 40 percent worse than league-average by measure of OPS+ and was worth -1.1 bWAR. 

While he finished the year in the 66th percentile or better in walk rate, exit velocity, sweet-spot rate and hard-hit rate, he also finished in the eighth percentile in whiff rate and the 12th percentile in expected batting average. 

Jones has all the tools in the world, but they were never able to come together this year outside of some big swings down the stretch. His struggles during the year were the biggest reason why Cleveland’s right fielders combined for a .200 batting average — the second-lowest total in the majors. 

The Guardians will now have to make a decision on Jones this offseason, as he’s set to enter arbitration for the first time in his career. MLB Trade Rumors’ Matt Swartz projects him to earn $2 million through his first bite of the arbitration apple, which would be the third-highest arbitration figure for the Guardians behind Steven Kwan and Ben Lively. 

Even if that figure isn’t a crazy sum in terms of modern major league contracts, it’s still a bit steep for a player who struggled for most of the year, as pointed out by Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga. 

“Of [the arbitration] names, the ones that stand out are guys like Sam Hentges, Nolan Jones and Will Brennan,” Noga said on a recent episode of The Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. 

The biggest thing working against Jones could be the Guardians’ plethora of young talent in right field. Jones had to miss the final two weeks of the season with an oblique injury, which allowed for the team to cycle through George Valera, Johnathan Rodríguez, Jhonkensy Noel and C.J. Kayfus in right field. 

They combined for a modest .283 batting average in the 16 games they played in Jones’ absence. One player who could fit into that picture who wasn’t mentioned is Chase DeLauter, who made his debut in the postseason in center field but can also play right. 

While Rodríguez and Noel could also be cut loose this offseason, Kayfus, Valera and DeLauter are in the thick of the team’s plans and impressed in their short major league cameos. And — perhaps most importantly — they’re also cheaper and have more team control than Jones. 

Don’t get us wrong, Jones is a talented baseball player who can be an everyday player. It just seems like he won’t get the chance to do that in Cleveland in 2026.