The Guardians announced the signing of right-hander Colin Holderman to a one-year deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s reportedly a $1.5MM salary for the ACES client. The Guards had a 40-man vacancy, so the roster is now full.
Holderman, 30, was non-tendered by the Pirates last month. That wasn’t a terrible shock, as his 2025 season wasn’t great, due to some injuries and struggles when healthy. However, he was actually quite good in the prior two seasons, so the Guards will see if they can find a bounceback.
Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Holderman tossed 107 1/3 innings out of the Pittsburgh bullpen. His four-seamer and sinker both averaged above 97 miles per hour, while he also mixed in a cutter and a slider. He allowed 3.52 earned runs per nine frames. His 9.7% walk rate was a tad high but acceptable. His 24.6% strikeout rate and 45.8% ground ball rate were both a bit better than par. He earned two saves and 48 holds, living up to his surname.
But as mentioned, he wasn’t able to keep it going in 2025. He missed about three weeks in April due to a right knee sprain. After being reinstated, right thumb inflammation put him back on the IL for about six weeks. Around those IL stints, he posted a 7.01 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. He walked 12.8% of batters faced while only getting strikeouts at a 14.4% clip.
Holderman had qualified for arbitration a year ago as a Super Two player. The Bucs paid him $1.5MM in 2025. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Holderman for a modest bump to $1.7MM in 2026. The Pirates decided not to pay that after his poor season, so they non-tendered him and sent him to free agency.
Cleveland’s manager Stephen Vogt recently said that his club would be looking to add depth to the bullpen. Holderman is a low-cost pick-up and he also has options, so he can be kept in Triple-A if he’s not able to get back on track. He added a splitter in 2025, though he only threw it 3.9% of the time in his truncated season. Perhaps some better health will give him some time to flesh that out more. If he is still on the 40-man roster at the end of the season, he could be retained beyond 2026 via arbitration.
Robert Murray of FanSided reported the agreement. Zack Meisel of The Athletic reported the $1.5MM salary. Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images
When the Guardians originally hired Stephen Vogt as their new manager following the 2023 season, it was announced that he’d signed a three-year contract covering the 2024-26 seasons. Vogt, however, isn’t coming up on the final year of his contract as it might have seemed. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the Guardians quietly signed Vogt to a multi-year extension following the 2024 campaign. The new contract was never announced, nor was it reported at the time.
Vogt, 41, has been named American League Manager of the Year in each of his two seasons as Cleveland’s skipper. Under his watch, the Guardians have twice enjoyed late-season rallies to force their way into the postseason. The ’24 Guardians won 88 games and topped the Tigers in the ALDS before falling to the Yankees in the ALCS. In 2025, Cleveland won 92 games but lost to the Tigers in a 2-1 Wild Card series defeat. Overall, Vogt is 180-143 as a big league manager.
It’s not entirely clear how long Vogt’s new contract runs, but he’s likely signed through at least the 2028 season now. He’ll continue overseeing a club that’s anchored by perennial MVP candidate José Ramirez and is on the cusp of welcoming a new wave of top prospects who could comprise the Guardians’ long-term core.
Outfield prospect Chase DeLauter made his big league debut in 2025. He’ll be joined by 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana at some point in 2026, and fellow top prospects like infielder Angel Genao and catcher Cooper Ingle could make their debuts this coming season as well. Bazzana and Ingle both reached Triple-A in 2025; Genao held his own as a 21-year-old in Double-A. Pitching prospect Khal Stephen, acquired from the Blue Jays in the deadline deal sending Shane Bieber to Toronto, dominated up through the Double-A level in ’25 and could be an option to join Vogt’s rotation in 2026.
Though the Guardians are unlikely to ever field a payroll that’s consistently in the top half of the league, the presence of Ramirez, some quality arms (e.g. Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee), looming young prospects and a perennially successful player development department should continue to put Vogt and the Guardians organization in position for success within the American League Central.
The Guardians have acquired left-hander Justin Bruihl from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. The Jays had designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week. To open a 40-man spot, the Guards designated outfielder Jhonkensy Noel for assignment.
Bruihl, 29 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Jays ahead of the 2025 campaign. He eventually earned a roster spot and had a decent season, in some ways. His 5.27 earned run average in the majors doesn’t look nice, but that came in a small sample of 13 2/3 innings. He also had a strong 27.7% strikeout rate and 46.2% ground ball rate in that time. His 10.8% walk rate was a bit high but he was really held back by a .459 batting average on balls in play. ERA estimators such as his 4.16 FIP and 3.42 SIERA were far more optimistic.
His minor league numbers look more like those latter metrics than his big league ERA. He tossed 42 innings for Triple-A Buffalo with a 3.43 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate and 58.4% ground ball rate.
Bruihl doesn’t throw especially hard. His two-seamer averaged just 90.2 miles per hour this year. He also mixed in a cutter at 87.5 mph and a 78.4 mph slider. He nonetheless managed to punch guys out and avoid hard contact. The Jays sent him between Triple-A and the majors this year but he was enough of a factor to be on their ALDS roster against a lefty-heavy Yankee lineup. He wasn’t carried on the roster for subsequent rounds.
Despite some intriguing numbers this year, he got squeezed off Toronto’s roster this week. He exhausted his final option in 2025 and will be out of options going forward. With the Jays also having lefties Brendon Little, Mason Fluharty and Eric Lauer on the roster, they designated Bruihl for assignment.
The Guards are intrigued enough to bring him aboard. Their southpaw relief contingent is currently headlined by Erik Sabrowski and Tim Herrin but those two each walked more than 15.5% of batters faced in 2025. Joey Cantillo could be in the mix but he’s more of a long reliever. With Bruihl’s option status, he’ll have to perform but there’s a path for him to earn a job in the Cleveland bullpen. He has under two years of service time, meaning he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration and can be controlled for five full seasons if he can hold a roster spot.
The unfortunate side effect of adding Bruihl is that the Guards have cut “Big Christmas” from the roster barely a week before the holiday he’s named after. Noel has shown some big power in his career but also has a poor approach at the plate. In his 351 big league plate appearances, 32.8% of them have ended in a strikeout while he has only drawn a walk 4.8% of the time.
Despite hitting 19 home runs, his .193/.242/.401 batting line translates to a 79 wRC+. He’s not a good defender nor is he a burner on the basepaths, so he really needs to hit to provide value. The homers help but the overall offense has been lacking.
Like Bruihl, he exhausted his final option season in 2025. That was going to make it harder for the Guards to keep him on the roster, especially with guys like Chase DeLauter and George Valera reaching the big leagues this year.
He’ll head into DFA limbo and see if the Guards can line up a trade or if anyone wants him on waivers. If he lands somewhere else, he can be controlled for five full seasons. Since he has less than three years of service and doesn’t have a previous career outright, he will not have the right to elect free agency if he is passed through outright waivers unclaimed.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
