Guardians Sign Paul Sewald – MLB Trade Rumors

The Guardians announced Wednesday that they have signed a free agent Paul Sewald to a one-year contract with a mutual option for the 2026 season. He is represented by ISE Baseball. The righty is reportedly guaranteed $7MM on the deal, which will be paid out in the form of a $1MM signing bonus, a $5MM salary and a $1MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option. Sewald can also earn an additional $100,000 for reaching each of 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 relief appearances in 2025, giving him the opportunity to earn a total of $7.5 million on the deal.

Righty Pedro Avila has been assigned the task of opening a spot on the 40-man roster, according to the club’s announcement. Cleveland also signed a right-hander Riley Pint to a minor league deal. The Excel client will be invited to spring training.

Sewald, 35 in May, is coming off a somewhat frustrating year. He opened the 2024 season on the injured list due to a left oblique strain and missed a little more than a month, being reinstated by the Diamondbacks on May 7. Once back on the mound, the results weren’t up to his previous standard, prompting him to bounce from Arizona’s final gig in August. He landed back at IL in September due to neck discomfort and finished the campaign there.

He ended up throwing 39 2/3 innings on the year, allowing 4.31 earned runs per inning. His 26.1% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate were still good numbers, but were worse than his previous form. From 2021 to 2023, between the Mariners and Diamondbacks, he threw 189 1/3 innings with a 2.95 ERA, 33.9% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate.

Guardians is apparently betting on a bounceback, for which there is some justification. Most of his games last year were for a short period where he seemed to be a bit unlucky. In the month of July, he allowed 12 earned runs in 10 innings just before losing the closer’s job. Since he allowed just 19 earned runs all year, that was the majority of them. During that month, he allowed a .469 batting average on balls in play and had a 56.2% slugging rate, both of which are on the unfortunate side. Therefore, his 3.94 SIERA miles were better than his 10.80 ERA that month.

Sewald averaged 91.4 miles per hour on his fastball last year, which was down from being in the 92-93 mph range the previous three seasons, but it’s possible his two injuries played a role there. With a little better health, the guards might get more of the 2021-23 Sewald than the ’24 version.

While betting on Sewald is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, it’s a bit of a curious path for the guards at first glance. Cleveland had the best bullpen in the majors in 2024, and it wasn’t close. Their relief corps had a collective 2.57 ERA in 2024, with the Brewers coming in a distant second at 3.11. They acted Nick Sandlin to the Blue Jays as part of Andres Gimenez appointment last month but still have Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and others.

Considering the team doesn’t usually have big budgets, the most straightforward way for them to allocate their resources this winter would be to upgrade the offense. The Guards hit .238/.307/.395 as a team last year, which was exactly league average. They enter 2025 with a fairly similar group of position players. They acted Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks and then signed Carlos Santanaa fairly cash-neutral move, as Santana’s salary will be pretty close to Naylor’s this year. They traded away Giménez, who is more of a glove-first player, but now second base figures to go to a fairly unproven player who Juan Brito or Angel Martinez.

Perhaps the Guardians will make a trade for one of their other relievers, but it’s also possible they see the value in leaning on their strength by further upgrading the relief corps. Relievers tend to be the most volatile part of a roster these days, with regression and/or injuries entirely possible, so having another experienced arm in the mix prevents that.

Avila, 28, has delivered some solid but not outstanding results in his career thus far. Between the Padres and Guardians, he has thrown 146 1/3 innings in his career with a 3.51 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate.

He used up his final year with the Friars in 2023, giving him a slim hold on a roster spot. He struggled out of the gate last year, which led to him being flipped to Cleveland. He eventually finished the year with a 3.81 ERA in 82 2/3 innings.

Despite a solid campaign, Avila’s out-of-option status and a crowded Cleveland bullpen would make it difficult for him to hold down a roster spot all year, so he’s been moved away today. The Guards will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next, whether it’s a trade or a fate on waivers. As the exemption process takes 48 hours, all trades must be collected within the next five days.

Any acquiring team would have to deal with the same lack of options, though a team with a less elite bullpen might be more able to handle it. Avila’s results have been decent, and he still has less than two years of service left, meaning he has yet to qualify for arbitration and can be cheaply controlled for as many as five seasons.

Pint, 27, was taken by the Rockies with the fourth overall pick in 2016. He was a top 100 prospect for a while, but struggled mightily with control in the minors and decided to retire in 2021. At the time, he had pitched 166 2 /3 innings on the farm with a 5.56 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate and 16.8% walk rate.

He retired in 2022 and delivered decent results that year. He threw 45 2/3 innings across multiple levels with a 4.53 ERA, 56.6% ground ball rate and 29.1% strikeout rate, though walks were still high at 15.6%. The Rockies were encouraged enough to give him a roster spot to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

He spent most of the last two years as the depth option for Colorado. He has just 3 2/3 major league innings on his track record, having allowed nine earned runs for an unseemly 22.09 ERA. He has struck out seven opponents, but walked eight and walked two more batters. Obviously, the minor league numbers have been better. He had a 3.92 ERA in 41 1/3 innings on the farm last year, striking out 36.3% of batters faced, but also issued walks at a whopping 20.7% clip. He was outright ruled by the Rockies in August and selected as a free agent at the end of the season.

Pint is obviously still a project, but the Guardians have a strong reputation for working with pitchers, so it’s understandable why they would take a shot at a former top prospect without having to give up a roster spot. If he is added to the roster at any point, he still has one opportunity left and only a few days of service time.

With Sewald now added to the books, RosterResource estimates the club’s total liabilities at $96 million for this year. They opened last year to $98MM, per Cot’s baseball contracts. After making the postseason last year, maybe a pay raise is on the way. But on the other hand, the club has no broadcasting agreement for this year. Their deal with Diamond Sports Group, now known as Main Street Sports, expired last year. MLB will handle the broadcasts this year, an arrangement that will surely lead to less revenue.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported Sewald’s $7MM salary, with Zack Meisel of The Athletic reporting of the specific division.