The Clock Is Ticking on Jonathon Rodriguez

 Unless there is something that I don't understand, one day after the World Series ends Jonathon Rodriguez becomes a 6 year minor league free agent.  Drafted in 2017 and counting the 2020 season when minor leaguers did not play, Rodriguez has played for the Guardians for 6+ years even though he is only 23 years old (he will turn 24 this week).  

With the World Series now 3-1 in favor of Texas the whole thing could be over on Wednesday night, meaning JRod could be a free agent as early as this Thursday.  

However, for 5 days he can only negotiate with the team he played for this year, so there is that window.

Now, like with Oscar Gonzalez in the winter of 2021-22, the Guardians could sign Rodriguez to a minor league deal during that 5 day period.  They could even sign him after that but risk that he could get an offer from another team to be on their 40-man roster.  

So the Guardians are on the clock.  The game they played with Gonzalez would not have worked if there had been a Rule 5 draft in the winter of 2021.  There will be one this winter so Rodriguez would likely be snapped up in that draft.

So the Guardians are on the clock.  As I see it they have 3 paths:

• They put JRod on the 40 man roster before the end of the WS
• They sign him to a minor league deal and add him to the roster before the roster freeze on Nov. 15th.
• They sign him to a minor league deal but don't add him to the 40 man and hope he makes it through the Rule 5
• They trade him to another team to avoid having to roster him.
• They simply let him become a 6 year free agent and he signs with another team.

The only course that makes sense for me is putting him on the 40-man roster right now.

We are talking about an organizational all-star here, a guy who has is young and at AAA with great power, a great arm and developing plate discipline.  Plus he hits right handed and can play RF.  

He is a legitimate prospect who is probably still underrated by ranking   He is currently rated 24th in our system my MLB Pipeline.  

There is room on the 40-man roster once guys hit free agency after the WS.  Rostering him is a no-brainer but we have seen what our no brain FO has done in the last few years with Junior Caminero, Nolan Jones, Will Benson and others, giving them away for nothing.  Even Oscar Gonzalez could have been lost before his breakout season in 2022 because the Guardians did not roster him.  The only thing that saved him was that there wasn't a Rule 5 draft in 2021.  

So, c'mon Guardians.  Roster this kid.  It is the only choice that makes sense in an organization that has to build from within given its budget.  What's it going to be?  Another stupid move or, like the rostering of prospects in the off-season of 2021, do the right thing.