Connor Brogdon’s latest turn through the Cleveland Guardians’ roster shuffle ended the way his 2026 season began: as the corresponding move.
When the Guardians reinstated Shawn Armstrong from the 60-day injured list this week, they announced they had designated Brogdon for assignment, closing a second brief window in a Cleveland uniform that never quite settled.
Cleveland signed the 6-foot-6 right-hander last December to a one-year, $900,000 major-league deal, a modest bet on a veteran whose fastball had ticked back toward the mid-90s after an injury-marred 2024.
Brogdon had spent most of his career with the Phillies, debuting in 2020 and posting useful middle-relief stretches in 2021 and 2022 before the homers piled up and the innings shrank.
A short stop with the Dodgers and a 5.55 ERA in 47 innings with the Angels in 2025 left him looking for a fresh landing spot. The Guardians offered one.
It did not last. In 15 appearances before May, Brogdon worked 15 1/3 innings with a 5.28 ERA and allowed five home runs. Command of the strike zone was not the problem; he walked only a handful of hitters.
The ball still left the park too often. Designated for assignment on May 8 when Franco Alemán was recalled, he cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus rather than test free agency and risk losing the rest of his salary. Service time between three and five years made that choice straightforward.
The rest of the summer was circuitous. He spent time in the Arizona Complex League before returning to Columbus in August. The numbers there were mixed: a high ERA and elevated walk rate over a short sample, but a healthy strikeout rate and only one homer.
On September 13, the Guardians selected his contract again, optioning Alemán after a rough outing. Brogdon made at least one appearance in that second stint, working two-thirds of an inning against the White Sox.
Across the full season he finished 2-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 16 innings, 15 strikeouts, three walks, one save, and those five homers still hanging over the line.
For a club all but locked into the postseason, the calculation is simple. Armstrong, signed to a $5.5 million guarantee after a strong 2025 with Texas, is back from groin and calf issues and will get a handful of late-season looks.
Brogdon, out of options and now designated for a second time, goes back on the waiver wire. Teams looking for inexpensive September depth or a spring invite next year may take a look. T
he homer problem has followed him from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Cleveland.
The stuff has not disappeared, but the results have not held. At 31, with 208 career innings and a 4.41 ERA, Brogdon remains a reliever in search of a role that lasts longer than a roster crunch.
