The Cleveland Guardians announced the return of backup catcher Austin Hedges on a one-year deal on Wednesday.
Hedges might not be much of a hitter, but he is very valuable as a game-caller, framer, blocker and every aspect of the game defensively speaking.
After bringing him back, the Guardians roster is currently at 39 players.
As a reminder, the maximum available is 40 players.
As of Wednesday, they have one additional spot.
This is important because the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft is lurking.
“Guardians roster is at 39 with re-signing Austin Hedges. Deadline for rule 5 protection is Nov 19 by the way,” Guardians reporter @JL_baseball wrote on his X account.
Guardians roster is at 39 with re-signing Austin Hedges.
Deadline for rule 5 protection is Nov 19 by the way.
— Justin L. (@JL_Baseball) November 6, 2024
Right now, there are multiple candidates worthy of protection, such as Franco Aleman, Ryan Webb and more.
The problem is that 40-man roster spots are scarce.
Cleveland, as a result, still has some maneuvering to do in order to fit in the prospects they want to protect on the roster.
An organization with enviable depth like the Guardians will always, inevitably, leave talented players exposed to the Draft, though.
The idea would be minimizing these cases by opening up more spots on the roster.
However, the big league club also needs immediate help in many areas, such as the rotation, and every addition will do the opposite in solving the roster logjam.
This is the moment of the year in which savvy baseball executives like Chris Antonetti thrive.
Ideally, the Guards will somewhat alleviate this situation with some traded leading up to the protection deadline.
We shall see in a few days.
NEXT: Guardians Made 4 Roster Moves On Tuesday
