Why the Cleveland Guardians Released Right-Handed Pitcher Pedro Avila

After spending a year overseas competing in Japan, right-handed pitcher Pedro Avila decided to return to the States on a deal with the Cleveland Guardians.

The two sides struck an agreement towards the back-end of 2025, with the deal becoming official in early 2026. The deal was a minor league one, lasting for just a year. However, just a couple of months later, on Tuesday, March 17, it was announced that the Guardians had decided to release him.

Through six games on the mound in spring training, he's posted a 3.24 ERA with a 1.32 WHIP. It's not been a bad showing, but with many other youngsters performing better, he simply fell to the wayside.

Cleveland's decision to move on from him shows how the front office is pushing to prioritize youth and the other offseason signings they made to bolster the bullpen.

Before joining the Guardians, Avila's one-year stint in Japan saw him pitch to a 4.04 ERA and a 1.215 WHIP. He didn't find himself striking out many batters, averaging just under seven per nine innings, but wasn't allowing many hard hits, which was a strength for him.

The Bullpen Moving Forward

Now that Avila's been moved on from, the Guardians are going to have to cut down a few more arms.

They currently have 16 on the active roster right now, six of which are starters, with the other 10 being bullpen arms.

Seven are in the mix for time on the mound between the fifth and seventh innings: Connor Brogdon, Colin Holderman, Peyton Pallette, Tim Herrin, Matt Festa, Hunter Gaddis and Andrew Walters.

Gaddis and Walters may begin the year on the injured list, while Herrin still hasn't locked down his spot due to previous struggles. Holderman, who was signed this offseason, may be another Avila-type situation where he gets booted to the curb. This spring, he's posted a measly 9.00 ERA across eight games.

However, no matter which players get moved down and which prospects make a jump to the big leagues in the coming days, the coaching staff will have a tough time figuring out who fits the best where.

The end of the bullpen will see youngster Erik Sabrowski and veteran Shawn Armstrong as the setups, which will be a nice every-other-day punch, and Cade Smith will close out the games. Each of them is going to be exciting to watch, especially as Cleveland's bullpen looks to turn into a new chapter without Emmanuel Clase.

As the regular season approaches, there will be plenty of pitching storylines to follow, with Avila’s situation being just the first example of an unfortunate cut-down. He just simply didn't fit into the current plans of the Guardians' bullpen.

While the decision to move on from Avila puts another roadblock in the way of his journey in attempting to establish a career in MLB, he'll eventually find his footing somewhere.