On Jan. 22, the Cleveland Guardians signed righty reliever Paul Sewald to a one-year deal.
With experience as a closer and at other bullpen roles and positions, Sewald has a lot to contribute to the Guardians in theory.
To make room for the newcomer, Cleveland designated Pedro Avila, a fellow righty reliever, for assignment that day.
Per the rules of the assignment, often shortened to DFA, a player is immediately removed from the 40-man roster and one of three things can happen: there could be a trade, an outright assignment to Triple-A, or the player could also become a free agent if he rejects that outright assignment.
It was widely reported on Thursday that Avila would be returning to the organization at Triple-A to remain a depth option.
That clearly wasn’t the case.
“Roster news: RHP Pedro Avila rejected the outright assignment and elected free agency,” GuardsInsider posted on X.
Roster news:
RHP Pedro Avila rejected the outright assignment and elected free agency
— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) January 31, 2025
In a way, the Guardians should have seen it coming.
Avila is young (28), good (3.81 ERA in 82.2 innings last year, with 82 strikeouts), durable and versatile.
He can pitch as a traditional middle reliever, he can be a multi-inning guy and he can even start in a pinch.
Many MLB teams would want a reliever like him, so he made the right call for his career to test free agency with the hope of landing. major league deal.
Organizations would also love the fact he took the ball in three different games and completed four frames in the postseason without allowing a hit, let alone a run.
It might seem crazy to some, but there is an argument to be made that Avila would have been more useful to Cleveland than Sewald.
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