Cleveland Guardians Re-Sign Former Top Prospect Following DFA News

The Cleveland Guardians announced they re-signed George Valera to a minor league contract.

Mar 27, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; A Columbus Clippers hat sits on the dugout railing during practice at Huntington Park. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians made a few tough decisions last week when they designated multiple players for assignment to add a group of prospects to the 40-man roster.

Many fans were shocked to see that one of the players who Cleveland risked letting go of was former top prospect, George Valera.

However, the Guardians organization announced on Monday evening that they had re-signed Valera to a Minor League contract, which includes an invitation to Major League Spring Training Camp this March.

One imporant thing to note is that Valera is still elgible to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft which will be held on December 11 during Winter Meetings.

Jun 28, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Clippers right fielder George Valera (13) catches a ball during the MiLB baseball game against the Toledo Mud Hens at Huntington Park. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

In 2022, the 24-year-old was Cleveland's number-one ranked prospect. At this time, he was regarded as a higher-graded player than Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio, and Tyler Freeman, who have all gone on to long stints with the Guardians major league team.

However, Valera suffered numerous injuries that stunted his development, and there were some clear areas he still needed to improve before being promoted to the Major League Level.

During the 2024 Triple-A season, Valera hit .248/.337/.452 with a wRC+ of 104 over 90 games and 374 plate appearances. These numbers include 17 home runs, 15 doubles, and 50 RBI.

Valera's biggest strength has always been his power, and that remains true based on these stats. However, with this pop comes a lot of swing and miss, too. Valeras's strikeout rate was 27.1 percent over his two seasons at Triple-A.

Cleveland re-signing Valera leaves the door open for him to help the Guardians at some point during the 2025 season. However, to make that possible, the organization would have to remove a player from the 40-man roster.