Guardians Sign Ben Lively To Major League Dea

The Guardians announced Tuesday that theyve signed right-hander to a one-year, Major League contract. Zack Meisel of The Athletic that Lively will be guaranteed just north of the league minimum on the deal, earning a $750K salary in 2024. Lively is represented by Meister Sports Management. Lively, 31, spent the 2022-23 seasons with the Reds after a three-year run with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization. The entirety of that 2022 campaign was spent in Triple-A, but Lively was selected to the Majors early last season and pitched 88 2/3 innings for the Reds, starting a dozen games and making another seven relief appearances. He posted an unsightly 5.38 J.d. Martin Jersey ERA in that time, although a disproportionate amount of the damage against him came in one start on Aug. 1, when the Reds left him out there to take an eye-popping 13-run shellacking at the hands of the Cubs. Livelys 20.6% strikeout rate was a bit south of the league average this past season and he averaged just 90.9 mph on his fastball. However, he also i sued walks at a tidy 6.5% clip, and the Guards are probably le s concerned with his 2.03 HR/9 mark than other teams mightve been, given the spacious nature of their home park. Lively still seems likely to struggle with the long ball at times, but pitching half his games at Progre sive Field should help mitigate some of those struggles. The signing of a Lively is in some ways out of character for the Guardians, who havent inked a free-agent starting pitcher to a Major League contract since signing to a one-year deal nearly a decade ago. Lively could well be viewed as a swingman and may not even be a lock to make the Opening Day roster, however, as he also has a minor league option remaining. Cleveland has been able to eschew free agent starting pitching entirely for the better part of a decade, thanks largely to the organizations nearly unrivaled pitching development prowe s. Livelys role with the Guards likely depends on how the remainder of their offseason shakes out. As it stands, hed likely serve as a swingman or sixth starter behind , , , and . However, its also quite po sible that Cleveland trades Bieber between now and Opening Day, as is the organizations tendency with notable starting pitchers who are approaching the open market. For instance, Bieber will reach free agency next winter, and the team has previously traded top starters like , , and before any qualified to become free agents. Trades of Bieber, closer (on whom the Guardians are reportedly ) and/or other members of the roster could net further competition for the back of the rotation, as could future free-agent signings. For now, however, Lively joins that mix. No team makes it through a full season with only five starters anyhow, and both Bieber and McKenzie mi sed substantial time in 2023 due to elbow injuries. Even if he opens the year as a long reliever, Lively has a good chance to start games at some point, as injuries arise. While its commonplace for players returning from the KBO or from NPB to have clauses in their contracts allowing them to become free agents despite lacking six years of MLB service time, MLBTR has confirmed that thats not the case with Lively, because of the fact that hed already spent a year back in the big leagues. As such, hes now under Guardians control via arbitration for another five seasons. If he spends the entire year in the Majors, hed likely be arbitration-eligible next offseason as a Super Two player. Lively is currently at 1.133 days of MLB service time, and this years Super Two cutoff was 2.118. Its feasible he could spend a week or two in the minors and still reach Super Two status, but hed be right on the bubble with even a brief stay in the minors. Yohan Ramirez Jersey