Guardians Designate Juan Brito For Assignment

The Guardians have designated infielder Juan Brito for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster goes to newly acquired outfielder Jo Adell. The Guards formally announced their previously reported addition of Adell as well.

Brito, 24, came to the Guards a few years back in a one-for-one swap that sent outfielder Nolan Jones to Colorado. The Rox got one good year out of Jones but eventually wound up trading him back to Cleveland. Neither party benefited much from the swap in the long run.

Brito briefly ranked among Cleveland’s more promising farmhands, but the strong numbers he’s posted in the upper minors in recent seasons faded in 2026. He’s hitting just .237/.351/.394 in Triple-A Columbus and hasn’t fared much better in his first taste of the majors. Brito has taken 56 big league plate appearances this season but batted .176/.250/.255 with 17 strikeouts (30.1%). It’s a small sample, but the strikeouts are alarming for a player whose best asset for so much of his minor league tenure has been his bat-to-ball skills.

The Guardians have until 6pm ET to trade Brito, but failing a last-minute deal, he’ll head to the waiver wire and be available to all 29 other clubs. Brito is young and still has a track record of big on-base marks in the minors. He’s played parts of four Triple-A seasons and has a .249/.361/.426 slash to show for it. He’s primarily a second baseman at this point but has some recent experience at the infield corners (plus further-back reps at shortstop — but only nine total games since the end of the 2023 season).