Cleveland Guardians reunited with former bullpen arm on one-year deal

The Cleveland Guardians opted to bring back a former bullpen arm ahead of the 2026 MLB season.

On Sunday, Dec. 28, it was announced that the Guardians' front office had struck a deal with right-handed pitcher Pedro Avila, who previously played for the organization in the 2024 season. According to reports, the deal is a split contract, though the exact salary figures he’ll make in the majors and minors are not yet known.

The 28-year-old played for the Yakult Swallows of the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan this past season, appearing in 15 outings. He tossed 102.2 total innings of action, recording an ERA of 3.33 with an average of just 0.4 hits given up per nine innings. He also struck out 17.8% of the batters he faced and held them to just an 8.7% walk rate.

It seems as though Avila might have finally found his groove on the mound.

Prior to his time overseas, he was struggling in MLB action.

In his 2024 stint with both the Guardians and San Diego Padres, whom he played for before making a trip to Cleveland, he was allowing nearly nine hits per nine innings. Through 74 innings of pitching on the mound, he allowed 68 hits, 27 earned runs and ended up walking nearly half the number of batters he was striking out.

The biggest issue with his game was inconsistency, as he'd go from allowing no hits or earned runs for multiple games, then give up a huge two-to-three runs in the span of a few batters. One of the positives, though, was that he ate up innings.

His advanced metrics had him clocked in as a well-above-average pitcher in Barrel% at a mark of 5.2, placing him in the 87th percentile of pitchers. However, nearly every other major statistical category was below the league average mark.

His xERA was in the 22nd percentile at 4.59 and xBA in in the 20th percentile at .260.

Due to such struggles, he was Designated for Assignment by the Guardians in January 2025.

He's obviously got work to do to become a reliable pitcher at the major league level in MLB play, but the nice thing for the coaching staff in Cleveland is his contract allegedly allows him to spend time at the highest level and in the minor league system. That ability to bring him up and down will allow him to develop and try to gain consistency if his play wavers at all in 2026.

Avila joins Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon, Peyton Pallette and Jack Carey as players that the Guardians have picked up this offseason for the bullpen.

The MLB offseason continues to tick forward with the New Year just around the corner. At the start of 2026, the front office will start addressing the roster ahead of MLB Spring Training as they look to evaluate what potential needs the team has before the start of the regular season.

The Guardians' first Spring Training matchup is just under two months away, coming up against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Feb. 21, with first pitch slated for 3:05 p.m. EST.