Cleveland Guardians Complete Trade With San Francisco Giants

The Cleveland Guardians have acquired right-handed pitcher Spencer Howard in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, via Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle.

The Guardians will be sending cash considerations to the Giants in exchange for Howard.

The club posted an official release on the deal, as well.

Howard was designated for assignment by San Francisco recently. He made seven appearances and two starts with the Giants in 2024, going 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA while allowing 33 hits and registering 21 strikeouts over 24 innings of work.

The 27-year-old broke into the big leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies back in 2020 and was considered a top prospect at the time. He made six starts that season and went 1-2 with a 5.92 ERA.

The following year, Howard was traded to the Texas Rangers in the middle of the season. He had a miserable campaign overall, going 0-5 with a 7.43 ERA across 19 outings and 15 starts between Philadelphia and Texas. His peripherals also did little to help his case, as he logged a 4.72 FIP and recorded an awful 1.93 K/BB ratio.

The Rangers gave Howard another shot in 2022, but he continued to disappoint, going 2-4 with a 7.41 ERA through 10 appearances and eight starts. He then made three appearances out of the bullpen in 2023, surrendering four runs in 3.1 frames.

Perhaps Cleveland—which is in serious need of starting pitching—feels that it can resurrect the career of the former second-round pick.

Considering that the Guardians didn't actually give up anything of significance in this deal, one could say that it's worth a shot.