CLEVELAND, Ohio — Last week George Valera was hit with a double whammy. No, we are not talking about another injury to the long list of ailments that have hounded the left-handed hitting outfielder.
We’re talking about Valera being designated for assignment on Tuesday when the Guardians set their 40-man roster for the Rule 5 Draft and non-tendered on Friday when the team had to offer contracts to all their pre-arbitration and and arbitration eligible players.
It turns out they were only procedural moves.
The Guardians announced Monday that they have re-signed Valera to a minor league contract and invited him to big-league camp in spring training in February.
Valera, 24, is not expected be an active participant in camp. He underwent surgery on his right knee on Sept. 18 after rupturing the patellar tendon while colliding with the outfield fence in pursuit of a fly ball for Class AAA Columbus. Recovery time is six to nine months.
After getting a late start on last season because of a spring-training hamstring injury, Valera was hitting .248 (80 for 323) with 17 homers and 50 RBI for Columbus when he was injured playing right field.
Cleveland signed Valera as a international free agent in July of 2017. He received a $1.3 million signing bonus and his path to that bonus was unique.
Valera was born in Queens, New York and was eligible for the first-year player draft. But the family returned to the Dominican Republic because of his father’s health, and Valera signed with the Guardians as a free agent.
He played only 79 games in 2023 because of a wrist injury related to a previous operation on the hamate bone in his right hand. He also missed time due to a hamstring injury and a six-game suspension for an on-the-field fight.
In 2022, Valera’s last healthy season, he hit .250 (121 for 464) with 24 homers and 82 RBI at Class AA Akron and Columbus. His 2021 season was interrupted by an oblique strain and he lost the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Winter ball update
Utility man Gabriel Arias might not have a spot on the Guardians’ roster in 2025, but he’s swinging the bat like he’s trying to impress someone.
Arias is hitting .500 (13 for 26) with five homers and 11 RBI for the La Guaira Sharks in the Venezuelan winter league. Arias is out of option and must make the 26-man roster at the end of spring training or be exposed to waivers.
Last season Arias was one of several Guardians who played all over the diamond. Arias, however, hit just .222 (34 for 153) with three homers and 15 RBI. He struck out 53 times compared to six walks.
Arias’ last game in the big leagues was July 10. He spent the rest of the year at Columbus where he hit .317 (53 for 167) with six homers and 20 RBI.