Cleveland Guardians outfielder Nolan Jones recently rejoined the team via trade from the Colorado Rockies.
The Guards, in exchange, sent utilityman Tyler Freeman to the Rocky Mountains.
With the Guardians drafting Jones in 2016 and Freeman in 2017, they both grew pretty close throughout the years, developing together in Cleveland’s system until they traded Jones to Colorado in late 2022.
They are very good friends now.
According to Jones, he virtually broke the news to Freeman that he was being traded to Colorado.
Cleveland #Guardians OF Nolan Jones talking about the trade with Colorado and his friendship with Tyler Freeman. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/a9G9MZalPB
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) March 27, 2025
A couple of days ago, Freeman told how the Guardians informed him he was being traded, but couldn’t immediately say where he was going until things were 100 percent done.
Well, Jones just said he had to go through a similar thing in Colorado.
He was eventually told to ‘call Tyler Freeman,’ so he did.
His friend told him he was getting traded but didn’t know where he was going.
To that, Jones replied that he might have an idea of Freeman’s new destination, obviously referring to Colorado.
Jones wasn’t at his best last year, with a .641 OPS in an injury-marred campaign with the Rockies.
Everybody knows what a healthy Jones can do thanks to his brilliant 2023, where he went 20-20 with a fantastic .931 OPS.
That’s exactly the version Cleveland is trying to recapture.
If there is an organization in MLB that is familiar with Jones’ upside and potential, it’s definitely the Guardians.
They drafted and developed him, after all.
Will he show that version again in 2025?
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