Ramón Laureano, an outfielder, has been released by the Guardians, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Now that he’s in the open market, he can freely investigate opportunities with any club.
When the Guardians assigned Laureano last week, this was the most likely result. The outfielder’s output has been declining over the past few years, and it is currently at an all-time low this season. The 29-year-old has struck out 38.6% of the time while hitting.143/.265/.229 so far in 2024.
In addition to his subpar work, his pay has been steadily increasing via the arbitration process. Any team that would have acquired him through a trade or waiver claim would have had to pay the $5.15MM salary. With his recent play, it’s hardly surprise that no club wants to take him on. Since he has more than five years of service time under his belt, he is able to turn down an assignment outright and still be paid the same amount.
Teams may be looking to take a chance on a cheap flier now that he is a free agency. Now that he’s free, the Guardians will pay whatever money remains. If a club signs him, they will simply have to pay the prorated league minimum for the time he was on the team. That sum would be deducted from the Guards’ salary.
Though it has been a while, Laureano was once an effective regular for the Athletics. He batted for the A’s 1,257 times between 2018 and 2021, hitting 49 home runs. His hitting line of.263/.335/.465 turned into a wRC+ of 119, meaning he was 19% above league average during that span. In 313 games, he was credited with 8.6 wins above replacement by FanGraphs, because to his 34 stolen bases and uniformly high defensive ratings.
However, he received an 80-game PED punishment near the end of the 2021 season, and ever since, his performance has declined. With a wRC+ of 95 in 2022 after hitting.211/.287/.376 in 2023, his offense declined a little bit. August of last year saw the A’s designate him for assignment, and the Guards filed a claim.
After relocating to Cleveland, Laureano appeared to have a slight improvement.243/.342/.382 for a 106 wRC+ towards the end of the run. The Guards were reportedly so interested by that that they offered him a contract with the previously indicated $5.15MM compensation. However, he has drastically declined and is currently searching for his next chance.
As previously stated, Laureano may be signed for practically nothing to a major league club. Maybe a team would give him a chance and watch to see if he can develop into a lottery ticket prospect if he can perform well enough over the next two months. Or he should be able to secure a minor league deal elsewhere, even if no club is ready to bite on that.
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