CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians appear to be adding another right-hander to their bullpen mix heading into spring training, and this one has some familiar Cleveland ties.
Pedro Avila is signing a non-guaranteed deal with the club according to El Extrabase. The Miami-based news outlet reported Sunday that the Venezuela native has agreed to a split contract that would pay him a prorated MLB salary if he makes Cleveland’s major league roster, or a pre-arranged rate for pitching in the minors.
The club has not yet confirmed the deal.
Bringing back Avila would reunite Cleveland with an innings-eater who logged more than 70 frames in just 50 appearances out of the pen during his first go-round with the franchise.
Avila, 28, pitched last season as a starter for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. He went 7-8 with a 4.04 ERA and 61 strikeouts and 30 walks in 82 1/3 innings.
In 2024, Avila found success for Cleveland out of the bullpen after he was acquired in an April trade with San Diego that year. Avila pitched in 50 games and solidified the middle innings for Stephen Vogt, appearing in a variety of roles with a 5-1 record, a 3.25 ERA and 73 strikeouts over 74 2/3 innings.
On more than one occasion that year, Vogt remarked that Avila’s multi-inning relief efforts had rescued the Guardians bullpen after a starter’s early exit.
Avila will compete with an ever-growing list of right-handers who have signed with Cleveland this offseason in an effort to bolster the bullpen. Since the start of December, the Guardians have added Shawn Armstrong, Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon and Rule 5 pick Peyton Pallette to their 40-man roster. They signed righty Codi Heuer to a minor-league contract last week and invited him to spring training.
The Guardians surprisingly left Avila off the playoff roster during the 2024 AL Division Series against Detroit, but he was visibly present in the dugout, celebrating and encouraging his teammates as they rallied past the Tigers in games 4 and 5 of the series.
He was added to the ALCS roster against the Yankees and tossed four scoreless innings across three appearances with three strikeouts and two walks allowed in the series.
