Guardians Fill 40-Man Roster With Latest Move

The Cleveland Guardians select OF Johnathan Rodriguez to the 40-man roster.

The Cleveland Guardians have been busy rearranging their current roster as the MLB offseason got underway just a couple of days ago. There will be a lot of moves to make, but that starts with taking care of what's happening in their own farm system.

The organization selected OF Johnathan Rodriguez to the 40-man roster which brings it to capacity for now. He's currently Cleveland's 24th-ranked prospect, via MLB Pipeline.

Johnathan Rodriguez / @GuardsInsider On X

Rodriguez was a third-round pick by Cleveland in 2017 and was drafted out of Puerto Rico. He's spent the last six seasons grinding his way through the minors so this is a well-deserved promotion.

The biggest strength in Rodriguez's game is easily his offense. Rodrigez led the farm system in batting average (.286) and also hit 29 home runs, drove in 88 RBI, and posted an OPS of .897.

Cleveland still has a number of questions to answer with their outfield looking ahead to 2024. They need to find more offensive production from someone whether that be from within the organization or via free agency/trade.

Based on this move, Rodriguez could be a candidate to get called up at some point in the season to prove that he has what it takes to be in the Guardians' future plans.  

This transaction comes on the heels of another 40-man roster move. 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas was claimed off waivers on Thursday afternoon which brought Cleveland's 40-man roster to 39. They still had one more spot available and the Guardians wasted no time addressing this void spot.