Guardians Select Milan Tolentino

The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Milan Tolentino. They also declined a club option on right-hander Trevor Stephan as well as their end of a mutual option with righty Shawn Armstrong.

Tolentino, 25 next month, was a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft. The fact that the Guardians are adding him to the roster now suggests he was about to qualify for minor league free agency. By giving him a roster spot, they prevent him from getting away.

He has never really been a top prospect in the system but he clearly has some tools. He has spent the past two years at the Triple-A level. He has stepped to the plate 957 times in that span, hitting 42 home runs and drawing walks at a strong 12.5% clip. The flipside is that he has also struck out as a massive 32.9% pace. That has led to a lopsided .221/.321/.445 batting line and 100 wRC+, indicating his offense works out to league average on the whole.

Defensively, Tolentino has spent most of his time at shortstop while also getting lots of action at second and third base. He very briefly dabbled in the outfield this year. The Guards have Travis Bazzana at second and José Ramírez at third. Shortstop could be covered by either Brayan Rocchio or Ángel Genao. Daniel Schneemann is on the roster and could be in a bench/utility role.

Tolentino will try to push into that mix but he has a full slate of options and could be in line for more time at Triple-A. He already has a couple of seasons at that level but it wouldn’t hurt to get some more seasoning in an attempt to cut down on the punchouts.

Turning to the option decisions, neither is surprising. Stephan signed an extension with the Guards in 2023. That deal quickly went south. He required Tommy John surgery in 2024. He has been back on the mound in 2025 and 2026 but with diminished velocity and poor results. The Guards have kept him in the minors, where he has posted a 9.99 earned run average over 2025 and 2026.

His deal had a $7.25MM club option for 2027 with a $1.25MM buyout. Given his trend lines, it was an easy choice for Cleveland to take the buyout. He becomes a free agent and will be limited to minor league offers.

As for Armstrong, he signed a one-year deal with the Guards last offseason. The $5.5MM guarantee was broken down as a $4MM salary with a $1.5MM buyout on an $8MM mutual option. It has been over a decade since a mutual option was bought out by both sides. They essentially only exist to defer part of the payment. In this case, the Guards only had to pay Armstrong $4MM during the season, with the final $1.5MM due now with this transaction. Declining the option was always the expected outcome and he now returns to free agency.

His 2026 season was a mixed bag. He made two trips to the injured list, one for a groin strain and another for a calf strain. Around those, he tossed 35 1/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA, 22.1% strikeout rate, 12.3% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate.

He at least finished strong. He returned from his second IL stint in September and posted three scoreless appearances as the regular season was winding down. He then tossed 8 2/3 innings in the postseason, only allowing one earned run. He could be able to secure another major league deal this time but perhaps with a slightly lesser guarantee.