Guardians Select Johnathan Rodriguez

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The Guardians announced theyve selected outfielder  onto the 40-man roster. He lands a spot for the first time in his career.  Cleveland selected Rodriguez in the third round of the 2017 draft. A right-handed hitter out of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez moved slowly through the minors. He spent his first four-plus seasons at various rookie or A-ball levels. He reached Double-A late in 2022, struggling in his first 28 games there.  Rodriguez unsurprisingly went  Ryne Stanek Jersey unselected in last winters Rule 5 draft. He put himself on the radar for a 40-man spot with a breakout year in his first full season at the upper levels. Rodriguez spent the bulk of the season at Double-A Akron, hitting .289/.364/.512 in 88 games. He continued that pace after a bump to Triple-A Columbus, where he ran a .280/.376/.560 slash. Overall, the 23-year-old (24 tomorrow) hit .286/.368/.529 with 29 home runs over 565 trips to the plate. While a 28.8% strikeout rate is an alarming figure, he hit for enough power and drew sufficient free pa ses to earn a 40-man spot.  The impetus for Cleveland is the looming minor league free agent period. Players who have spent parts of seven seasons in the minors will qualify for free agency on Monday unle s theyre on a 40-man roster. Cleveland ensured they wouldnt lose Rodriguez via that proce s. He has a full slate of option years and could still be sent back to Columbus for the foreseeable future. If he holds the 40-man spot all offseason, hed have a good chance of making his MLB debut at some point next year.  Diosmerky Taveras Jersey