The Cleveland Guardians selected the contract of 31-year-old right-hander Connor Brogdon from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday, adding a familiar veteran arm to a bullpen that needed a fresh look.
The corresponding move sent rookie right-hander Franco Aleman back to Columbus after another rough outing, via the MLB transaction log.
Brogdon is not a new name in the organization. Cleveland signed him last December to a one-year, $900,000 major league contract, hoping the 6-foot-6 reliever could recapture earlier form after stops with the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Los Angeles Angels.
He made the Opening Day roster and appeared in 15 games, going 2-2 with a 5.28 ERA, 14 strikeouts, and one save in 15 1/3 innings.
Home runs were the problem: five left the park in that short sample, a familiar theme in a career that now sits at 15-12 with a 4.43 ERA and 209 strikeouts over 201 big-league games.
Cleveland designated him for assignment in early May. Brogdon cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Columbus rather than test free agency, keeping his guaranteed salary intact.
He was later sent to the Arizona Complex League before returning to Triple-A in early August.
His Clippers line was mixed: a 6.35 ERA and a 16.3 percent walk rate in 11 1/3 innings, offset by a 26.5 percent strikeout rate and just one homer allowed.
The timing of the recall is straightforward. Aleman was charged with four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
With an opening already on the 40-man roster, the Guardians swapped the struggling rookie for a pitcher who knows the clubhouse and can eat innings in middle relief. Cleveland then heads home to Progressive Field to open a series against the Chicago White Sox.
Brogdon, a Clovis, California, native and Lewis-Clark State product, was a 10th-round pick by the Phillies in 2017 and debuted in 2020. His repertoire is a fastball, changeup, and cutter-slider hybrid. Velocity has fluctuated in recent seasons, but Cleveland has long liked tall, hard-throwing relievers of his type.
This is a short-term move more than a statement. Brogdon’s recent numbers do not scream lock-down setup man. They do, however, give the Guardians a veteran option while Aleman resets in Columbus.
If Brogdon can keep the ball in the park and miss bats the way he did in stretches with Philadelphia, he could stick through the final weeks of the season.
If not, the same roster flexibility that brought him back can send him down again. For now, the 31-year-old has another chance in Cleveland.
