The Guardians passed right-handed reliever Trevor Stephan through outright waivers and assigned him to Triple-A Columbus, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. That removes him from the 40-man roster, but Stephan will remain with the organization.
While Stephan could have rejected the assignment, doing so would’ve meant forfeiting the remainder of this season’s $2.3MM salary, all of next year’s $3.5MM salary and the $1.25MM buyout on his 2027 club option. Stephan is about a month shy of reaching the necessary service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency but still retain his salary.
The now-29-year-old was a breakout reliever for the 2022 Guardians, tossing 63 2/3 innings with a 2.69 ERA, 30.7% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 19 holds. Cleveland signed him to a four-year, $10MM extension with a pair of club options prior to the 2023 season. He tallied 28 holds that year but saw his rate stats and velocity dip. In spring of 2024, Stephan was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery. He’s yet to make it back to a major league mound.
More to come.