The Guardians announced that they have signed right-hander Carlos Hernández to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp. Prior to the official announcement, Aram Leighton of Just Baseball reported that the two sides were in agreement on a deal.
Hernández, 29 in March, already has a brief history with the Guards. Cleveland claimed him off waivers from the Tigers at the end of July. He was outrighted off the roster a few weeks later and finished the season with Triple-A Columbus. He was able to elect free agency in October.
The righty has long had tantalizing stuff but with difficulty translating it into results. His fastballs sit in the upper 90s as he also throws a splitter, slider and knuckle curve. Despite that intriguing arsenal, his career numbers aren’t great. In 299 2/3 innings, he has allowed 5.14 earned runs per nine. His 20% strikeout rate, 11.1% walk rate and 35.7% ground ball rate are all subpar figures.
Thanks to those struggles, he has often been sent to the minors. He exhausted his final option year with the Royals in 2024 but many teams were still intrigued by the stuff. That led to him bouncing around the league in 2025. He went to the Phillies, Tigers and Guardians on waiver claims before he was eventually outrighted.
There’s an old saying that there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The Guardians have a good reputation for helping pitchers maximize their stuff. They got a close-up look at Hernández late in the year. Though they didn’t keep him on the roster, they are apparently willing to take another shot on him in a non-roster capacity. If he eventually works his way onto the roster, he is out of options but could be retained beyond 2026 via arbitration.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images