Avila, 29 next month, was designated for assignment by the Guardians less than a year ago. Not long after, he moved on with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and went on to play fifteen games for the Swallows in Central League play. Avila posted the results of a back-end starter in those outings, posting a 4.04 ERA in 82 1/3 innings of work. While he struck out just 17.8% of his opponents, he generated a solid 43.9% groundball rate and held opponents to an 8.7% walk rate. None of these numbers jump off the page, but his impressive ability to limit home runs and hard contact allowed Avila to post a 3.09 FIP and a 3.38 xFIP during his time abroad.
Now that he returns to the United States, Avila will have the opportunity to establish himself at the big league level. The righty signed with the Nationals of Venezuela as an amateur in 2015, but came up primarily through the Padres system, making his big league debut in San Diego in 2019. He spent most of his career with the Padres, but didn’t get a good taste of the big league level until 2023, when he pitched to a solid 3.22 ERA with a 3.67 FIP in 50 1/3 innings of work as a swingman for San Diego. However, in a rough start to the 2024 campaign, the Padres released Avila, and he was acquired by the Guardians in mid-April 2024 as part of a small trade.
Upon arriving in Cleveland, Avila served as a solid option for long relief. The right-hander consumed 74 2/3 innings of work in just 50 appearances with a strikeout rate of 23.0% against a walk rate of 9.4%. All told, his work in Cleveland was good for a 3.25 ERA and a 3.76 FIP, both marks well above league average. That likely made Avila an easy choice to keep in 2025, but the Guardians made the surprising decision to release him last winter. Perhaps that was partly due to the fact that Avila was out of options, and as a result, would have to be exposed to waivers to be able to take him to the minor leagues.
This split contract offers a potential opportunity to use Avila as an up-and-down player this year despite his lack of options. By guaranteeing the right-hander a salary above the minor league rate and a larger sum of money for time in the majors, the Guardians make Avila a slightly less attractive possible waiver claim for rival clubs. That should make it more likely that Avila will clear waivers if they are approved, while also making it less likely that Avila will opt for free agency if he successfully clears waivers. That’s because the right-hander would have to leave his guaranteed money on the table with the Guardians in order to leave via minor league free agency, something the right-hander is unlikely to be inclined to do. In other words, the split nature of the contract gives Avila a 40-man roster spot and a more significant salary than he would otherwise have earned in both the major and minor leagues, while creating additional roster flexibility for the Guardians that should be valuable for a club with a deep bullpen that doesn’t have many suitors to consider.
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