The Cleveland Guardians suffered an 8-0 shutout to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday to start their season at 2-2, and before the game the team announced a trade for pitching depth. In return, the Guardians sent their No. 13 overall prospect, 26-year-old outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez, to the Baltimore Orioles. The move comes as Cleveland looks to reinforce its pitching depth early in the 2026 season.
The Guardians acquired right-handed pitcher Carter Rustad from the Orioles, as first reported by MLB.com Guardians beat writer Tim Stebbins and later announced via to the MLB transactions log. Rustad is not a highly touted prospect. The 24-year-old was the Orioles’ 15th-round draft pick in 2024, out of Missouri. But the Guardians clearly see potential in Rustad, who “had a velo spike at the onset of 2025 and altered his secondary stuff,” according to a FanGraphs scouting report. “He was sitting 92-93 at the end of the 2024 college season, but was 94-96 in his first pro outings.”
In Rodriguez, meanwhile, the Orioles receive a 2017 Cleveland third-round draft pick out of Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico, but a prospect who has been slow to develop. At age 26, Rodriguez is entering only his fifth year of full-season professional baseball. He spent his first five years in the minors without rising above the Rookie League and short-season Single-A levels.
Rodriguez was called up to Cleveland for his major league debut in 2024, and also made appearances at the big league level in 2025. But in 44 MLB games, Rodriguez has yet to make a serious impression, managing just a .586 OPS with two home runs.
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As for Rustad, according to an analysis by Guardians SB Nation writer Quincy Wheeler, the Guardians are getting “a solid return for a player who had no position and was blocked by several more promising prospects. Now, to see if the Guardians pitching factory can sprinkle some magic dust on him and get him to take a further step toward fewer walks and a spot in a major league pen.”
In fact, the Guardians had already given up on Rodriguez, designating him for assignment on Wednesday, the day before the Orioles opened their season with a 6-4 win over Seattle.
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