The Cleveland Guardians have some tough decisions to make regarding their 40-man roster, which could mean the end of some players' tenure with the organization.
This week will be crucial for the Cleveland Guardians to determine where their roster stands for the remainder of the offseason.
The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster is on Tuesday, and the non-tender deadline is on Friday. Cleveland will certainly be active with moves this week, and that could mean the end of some players’ time with the team.
Here are three non-tender candidates for the Guardians this offseason.
Nolan Jones
The Nolan Jones experiment in Cleveland didn’t work out for a second time. After the Guardians acquired him days before Opening Day, the outfielder only hit five home runs with an OPS of .600 in 355 at-bats during the regular season.
With left-handed hitting outfielders Chase DeLauter, CJ Kayfus, George Valera, and Petey Halpin now in the mix, there just simply aren’t enough plate appearances to go around. And at this point in Cleveland’s retooling, the front office would likely rather see what their young core can do.
That said, non-tendering Jones, letting him become a free agent, and clearing up a spot on the 40-man roster makes a lot of sense.
Will Brennan
Will Brennan is in a similar spot as Jones, being a left-handed-hitting outfielder who has largely underwhelmed with his MLB opportunities. Unlike Jones, though, Brennan will be coming off Tommy John surgery next season.
Plus, in a way, the Guardians opted to move on from him after trading for Jones and optioned Brennae to Triple-A to start the 2025 season.
In 815 at-bats over four MLB seasons, Brennan has a .267/.307/.373 slash line and an OPS+ of 90.
While those numbers aren’t terrible, especially for a fourth outfielder, Brennan's injury and Cleveland’s you core in the outfield make a contender to be non-tendered this offseason.
Sam Hentges
Sam Hentges established himself as an elite left-handed reliever in 2022. Unfortunately, the last time he threw a pitch was in July of 2024.
Since then, Hentges has undergone shoulder surgery, which forced him to miss the entire 2025 season, and the reliever then underwent knee surgery last September.
Cleveland has some tough 40-man roster decisions to make, as there may not be room for Hentges.