Cleveland Guardians made right call moving on from Bobby Bradley and Franmil Reyes

The Cleveland Guardians have made tough calls on Bobby Bradley and Franmil Reyes.

The Cleveland Guardians were banking on Bobby Bradley and Franmil Reyes being big-time players for the team this season. They both came in to start the season on the squad. Yet, both men were big swinging, power-hitting, strikeout machines and were each sent down to the minors at various points in the season.

Bradley had 74 strikeouts in 167 at-bats in Triple-A Columbus, while Reyes had 104 in 263 at-bats. Neither man was hitting well, with Bradley hitting just .174 in Triple-A and Reyes hitting .213 in the Majors and has been just 1-11 since returning to Columbus.

Both moves were beyond needed, as neither player has proven their worth. The team is filled with rookies who are out-hitting them both, and while the homerun threat is gone, the team can still clobber their fair share.

Bobby Bradley and Franmil Reyes are not both gone

Despite what you may think the Guardians didn’t send both Bradley and Reyes to the unemployment line, just Bradley. Bradley was released from his contract way later than I would’ve held on to him for. A once vaunted, power-hitting prospect, Bradley failed to catch on. At 26 years old and having spent bits of the past four seasons in the Majors, it was clear he wasn’t going to develop into what the team had hoped for.

There are better prospects behind him in the system who deserve opportunities. Plus, it’s more than likely either releasing him or sending him down to Double-A and at this point, even if asked, I doubt Bradley would have taken too well to that.

As for Reyes, he’s technically still with the Guardians club. What happened here is that the team took him off the protected 40-man roster. In doing so, they designated him for assignment. So what does that mean? Basically, it means that over the course of X-amount of days, a team has the opportunity to claim him and put him on their 40-man roster.

If no one claims him, the Guardians can keep him. That is, until his contract either expires or someone claims him in the Rule 5 Draft.