Nolan Jones: Everything you need to know

Jones accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus on Sunday, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The 27-year-old had the ability to reject the assignment and become a free agent, but he'll instead stick in the organization. Jones played in 136 regular-season games for Cleveland last year and had a .211/.296/.304 slash line with five home runs and eight steals.

The Guardians outrighted Jones to Triple-A Columbus on Friday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports. Jones has the choice to reject the outright assignment and become a free agent. The 27-year-old outfielder has been trending toward missing the Opening Day roster recently, as he slashed just .211/.296/.304 across 403 regular-season plate appearances for Cleveland last season and went 5-for-33 (.152) with 14 strikeouts this spring.

Jones is not included on the latest roster projection compiled by Zack Meisel of The Athletic. There are several reasons why Jones is not a lock to make the Opening Day roster, and those were established before he went 3-for-26 (.115) through nine Cactus League games. Jones' left-handed bat is redundant, the Guardians' decision to test Steven Kwan in center field and the need to give at-bats to prospects ready for MLB are signs that Jones is on the bubble. It was mildly surprising that Cleveland committed $2 million to the outfielder instead of non-tendering him last November, considering Jones was coming off a two-year backslide following what looked like a breakout season in 2023.