Guardians Designate Johnathan Rodríguez For Assignment

The Guardians have designated outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez for assignment, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. That opens a 40-man spot for first baseman Rhys Hoskins. It was reported a few days ago that the Guards would be selecting Hoskins to the Opening Day roster.

Rodríguez, now 26, was a third-round draft pick out of Puerto Rico back in 2017. He went unselected in the 2022 Rule 5 draft but then had a strong 2023 season, hitting 29 home runs in the minors. Cleveland didn’t want to risk exposing him in the Rule 5 again, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2023.

Since that time, he has continued putting up huge numbers in the minors but hasn’t translated it to the majors. In 117 big league plate appearances, he has a dismal .176/.282/.304 line. His 12.8% walk rate is strong but he also struck out at a 30.8% clip.

At the Triple-A level over the past two years, he has stepped to the plate 881 times with 45 homers, a 12.1% walk rate, 24.3% strikeout rate, .305/.393/.529 line and 143 wRC+. His scouting report from Baseball America suggests this is a Pedro Cerrano situation. Rodríguez struggles against spin so big league pitchers just don’t throw him fastballs, which accounts for the big split in his major and minor league numbers.

He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Guards could take five days to explore trade interest. Rodríguez does still have one option remaining, so he could appeal to clubs looking for some outfield depth. If he is eventually put on waivers and clears, he would stick with Cleveland as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of service time nor does he have a previous career outright. That means he wouldn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency.