The Cleveland Guardians’ season ended on Monday in Game 6 of the ALCS when the Tampa Bay Rays knocked them out.
By Wednesday, the Guardians’ roster for next season had already begun to take shape with a pair of pitcher contract decisions.
Two right-handed relief pitchers, Connor Brogdon and Carlos Hernandez, have officially elected free agency, according to Guardians Prospective.
Cleveland #Guardians RHP relief pitchers Connor Brogdon and Carlos Hernandez have elected free agency.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) October 21, 2026
This is more of a procedural move than anything. Those pitchers both concluded the year in the minor leagues, which means that when the season is done, they can activate their free agency — and for a minor leaguer, just the individual team’s season needs to end, not the World Series.
So with the Guardians’ season done, Brogdon and Hernandez made it official that they’re entering the free agent pool and ready to sign with any team that wants them.
Connor Brogdon
Brogdon is the one in this pairing who pitched more for the Guardians in 2026.
He’s a 6-foot-6 right-handed pitcher who will turn 32 in January.
Brogdon was originally a 10th-round pick of the Phillies in 2017, and he has since pitched in 202 MLB games.
He spent most of his career with the Phillies, and he had a 3.88 ERA in 142 games with Philadelphia.
Brogdon then pitched one game for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024, then 43 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 2025 with a 5.55 ERA.
The lanky righty came to Cleveland for this season and got 16 outings out of the Guardians’ bullpen. He put up a 5.06 ERA in 16 innings with 15 strikeouts and just three walks.
The reason for a team to believe in Brogdon would be his improved walk rate in a small sample size this year — but he’s been hit around pretty good the last few seasons at the MLB level, so he’s not without risk.
Still, a 6-foot-6 righty reliever is going to get more chances from someone.
Carlos Hernandez
Hernandez is a 6-foot-4, 255-pound righty reliever who will turn 30 in March.
He spent most of his MLB career with the Kansas City Royals, throwing in 150 games (25 starts) over five seasons with a 4.95 ERA.
Hernandez then spent the 2025 season between the Phillies (25 games), Tigers (11 games) and Guardians (5 games).
The big righty had a 3.86 ERA in five games with Cleveland in 2025.
He returned to the Guardians for 2026 and got just 3.0 innings at the MLB level across two games, allowing two runs (6.00 ERA) and striking out four.
Hernandez pitched in 16 games at Triple-A Columbus this season, as well, with a 4.50 ERA. He too will likely get another chance from at least one team, although he’ll likely have to sign a minor league contract with an invite to big league spring training and hope to prove himself again.
2 Guardians Pitchers Leave Contracts Suddenly After Season Ends