TODAY: Straw cleared waivers and accepted an outright task to Triple-A, in accordance with Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Seller.
MARCH 22: The Guardians have positioned heart fielder Myles Straw on waivers, experiences Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Any group can have the chance to assert him, though doing so would require taking over the whole lot of the three years and $19.25MM nonetheless remaining on his contract. That seems fairly unlikely. Straw figures to clear waivers, at which level the Guardians might assign him outright to a minor league affiliate.
Whereas Straw’s 4.112 years of MLB service time give him the suitable to reject that outright task, he’s nonetheless in need of the 5 years essential to reject an outright and retain the cash he’s owed. There’s no probability he’d forfeit that $19.25MM to enter free company, so the possible end result appears to be Straw clearing and heading to Triple-A Columbus whereas not occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s additionally possible that the Guardians might merely be gauging whether or not there’s a taker for Straw and, if not, might merely plug him again into their heart discipline spot. He might be optioned to Triple-A if the membership retains him on the 40-man roster. A participant doesn’t have to be assigned outright to a minor league affiliate after clearing waivers (although that’s clearly the commonest end result).
With Straw in limbo in the meanwhile, that leaves Steven Kwan and Ramon Laureano as locks within the Cleveland outfield. The previous will see common reps in left discipline. The latter had been slated for proper discipline work however can deal with heart. It’s additionally doable the Guards will go along with Will Brennan and/or Estevan Florial to fill outfield roles. Infielder Tyler Freeman has additionally gotten appears in heart this spring. Brennan has all three minor league choice years remaining, whereas Florial is out of minor league choices. High outfield prospect Chase DeLauter may very well be an choice ultimately, however he was by no means a full-time member of massive league camp and was solely referred to as up once in a while to fill at-bats as wanted, Meisel notes. He was by no means a consideration to make the Opening Day roster.
Cleveland initially acquired Straw in a now-regrettable 2021 deadline swap sending right-hander Phil Maton and catcher Yainer Diaz to the Astros. He made a powerful first impression, hitting .285/.362/.377 with plus protection and baserunning down the stretch. That introduced his season-long line to a strong .271/.349/.348 — simply shy of league-average manufacturing (98 wRC+). Paired with Straw’s pace and glovework, it was a powerful effort that served as a catalyst for the Guards to signal him to a five-year, $25MM extension with a pair of membership choices for 2 further seasons.
Sadly, Straw’s bat has cratered since placing pen to paper on that deal. Over the previous two seasons, he’s turned in only a .229/.296/.284 in 1114 journeys to the plate. That’s about 32% worse than common, by measure of wRC+. Straw is a light-out defender in heart (23 Defensive Runs Saved, 17 Outs Above Common over the previous two seasons) and gives blazing pace (41-for-48 in steals since 2022), however his lack of offensive means has severely capped his general worth. For an immensely cost-conscious Guardians membership, his contract has apparently reached a degree the place they’ll see if one other membership is keen to take him on for no return apart from wage aid.
