The 2023 offseason is officially underway and the Cleveland Guardians are wasting no time addressing the clear holes on their roster. One of those is the need to add another outfielder who can hit and the Guardians picked up someone who could start to fill that void.
Cleveland claimed 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday evening as they begin their roster construction for the 2024 season.
Rivas was the Oakland Athletics' fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft but never debuted with the club that chose him. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs on January 13, 2020, for 2B Tony Kemp. The Cubs went on to release Rivas where he was then picked up by the San Diego Padres.
He split his time with the Padres and Pirates during the 2023 season in which his play was sporadic. Rivas had a batting average of .229 and an OPS of .725 in 48 total Big League games. Alfonso played each of those games at first base, and also made appearances in right field and left field when he was a member of the Cubs.
Versatility is never a bad thing for a team to have on their roster.
Will Alfonso be the answer Cleveland is looking for to add a much-needed boost to their lineup? Probably not. But he is only 27 years old and perhaps the organization sees something in him that would be valuable to the Guardians. His OPS last season was definitely encouraging.
Looking at the bigger picture, Cleveland's 40-man roster is now up to 39 players so they still have one more roster spot to fill to make it complete.
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