The New York Yankees drafted Arkansas Razorbacks right-hander Trevor Stephan in the third round in 2017, and two years later the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Texan rose as high as the Yankees’ No. 7 prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline.
But one year after that, the Yankees chose not to add Stephan to their 40-man roster, leaving him exposed to the Rule 5 Draft where the Cleveland Guardians took him.
On Friday, three years after he last threw a pitch in the big leagues, Stephan is now out of the Cleveland organization as well, becoming a free agent, according to an announcement on the daily MiLB transactions ledger.
Stephan’s tenure on the Guardians’ books ended Friday, when the club declined his $7.25 million club option for 2027 and sent the right-hander into free agency. Cleveland will pay a $1.25 million buyout instead, according to MLB.com.
Stephan closed out 2026 with a 10.44 ERA over 25 innings at Triple-A Columbus. He has not pitched in the majors since 2023.
That’s a steep fall for a reliever who went 16-13 with a 3.73 ERA across 180 appearances from 2021 through 2023.
Stephan, who turns 31 on Nov. 25, went 92nd overall to the Yankees in 2017 out of Arkansas. The Magnolia, Texas, native signed for a $797,500 bonus and stands 6-foot-5.
He’s a power arm, with a four-seam fastball, a slider and a split-finger. Stephan struck out 27.5 percent of hitters in the majors.
So how did a pitcher the Yankees left unprotected become a fixture in Cleveland’s late innings?
Stephan’s Rule 5 Path From the New York Yankees
On Dec. 10, 2020, three Yankees prospects were selected in the Rule 5 Draft. Garrett Whitlock went to the Boston Red Sox, Kyle Holder to the Philadelphia Phillies and Stephan to Cleveland, as the franchise was still known.
Scouts liked the frame, but the velocity had not matched it, according to RotoWire. The pandemic also erased the 2020 minor league season, and the Yankees never invited Stephan to their alternate site.
“After that happened, I was hoping I got Rule 5’d, honestly,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2022.
Stephan struck out 16 of 44 hitters that spring, and the club, making its first Major League phase pick since 2016, kept him on the Opening Day roster.
By 2022, he was closer Emmanuel Clase’s primary setup man, with a 2.69 ERA in 66 appearances. In March 2023, Cleveland signed him to a four-year extension worth $10 million, with club options for 2027 and 2028.
Trevor Stephan’s Tommy John Surgery and 2027 Outlook
Why no major league outings since 2023? The elbow. Tests in 2024 spring training showed his ligament was “not providing adequate stability,” according to MLB Trade Rumors. Tommy John surgery followed in March, with up to 16 months of recovery projected.
He missed all of 2024. After rehab stints in Arizona, Akron and Columbus, Stephan allowed 11 runs and three homers in seven innings, and the Guardians outrighted him off the 40-man roster on Aug. 15, 2025. He stood about a month shy of service time that would have let him refuse the assignment and keep his salary.
Stephan’s velocity has lost more than four mph since 2023, from a 94.9 mph average to 90.7 mph in four spring outings this year, with a 91.8 mph stop at Triple-A in between. Vogt acknowledged the velocity still sat below its pre-injury level. The slider and split-finger he praised did not slip, and the Guardians still reassigned Stephan to minor league camp in March.
Yankees Former No. 5 Pitching Prospect Becomes a Free Agent as Offseason Begins