Paul

Sewald

The deal is now official. Sewald provides Cleveland with some experienced high-leverage relief depth in a setup role ahead of elite stopper Emmanuel Clase. The 34-year-old veteran lost his grip on the closing role last year in Arizona during a second-half slide, but he represents a worthwhile low-risk gamble for the Guardians’ pitching apparatus. He’s compiled 84 saves in the big leagues since 2018 and would be the clear favorite over outstanding youngster Cade Smith to take over as Cleveland’s ninth-inning option should Clase wind up missing any time due to injury.

The contract has a guaranteed one year at $7 million which also includes a $1 million signing bonus, and a $10 million team option for 2026 with a $1 million buyout. Sewald will also earn an extra $100k escalator as he hits any of his 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 appearance benchmarks in 2025. Obviously, Sewald is not going to close in Cleveland, but he provides a tremendous setup option in front of Emmanuel Clase and makes this Guardians bullpen a strength year again in 2025. If Clase were to miss any time, Sewald could also be a huge waiver add for fantasy managers.

The Blue Jays just traded Jordan Romano to the Phillies, and even if they hadn’t have moved Romano, Toronto would likely be interested in upgrading their bullpen for 2025. Estevez is particularly interesting as a potential target here, as the 31-year-old was effective as a closer last year for both the Angels and Phillies. It seems very plausible that Estevez could end up trading places with Romano as the Toronto stopper in 2025.

Sewald was placed on the injured list with a neck strain Sunday, and if everything goes well, he could be back for the Diamondbacks before the end of the regular season. The question will be as to what kind of role, as Sewald has struggled considerably as of late and lost his closing gig.

Sewald will be out for two weeks, but can be activated before the end of the regular season as the assignment was backdated to September 12. Gabriel Moreno was activated in the corresponding transaction.

Sewald has pitched three scoreless innings since the Diamondbacks announced he was being removed from the closer’s role, so he might resume getting save opportunities soon. Ryan Thompson, A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez have all notched one save apiece in the interim.

Lovullo didn’t rule out the possibility of Sewald regaining the role eventually, but the Diamondbacks are going to turn to some of their alternatives moving forward. It was Ryan Thompson who was summoned to protect a two-run lead on Friday night in Pittsburgh, but we’re assuming Justin Martinez, Kevin Ginkel and newly-acquired A.J. Puk will be in the mix for save chances moving forward.

The Diamondbacks had gone to Paul Sewald to close out the game with a three-run lead against the Nationals. He struggled to find the zone, walking three batters and allowing a run in before leaving with one out and the bases loaded. Thompson stepped in and struck out his first batter before a wild pitch made it a one-run game. He induced a groundout for the final out to secure the win and his first save of the season.

The 34-year-old right-hander came on with a one-run lead to protect in the ninth inning. He was greeted by pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez who smacked a leadoff double and was replaced by a pinch-runner. Sewald then battled back to strike out Josh Palacios and Ke’Bryan Hayes before allowing an RBI double to pinch-hitter Joey Bart. Sewald then punched out Jared Triolo to end the frame. He’s still locked in as the Diamondbacks’ closer, but with AJ Puk in the mix now, he’s going to need to stay sharp to keep a firm grip on the role.

The struggles for Sewald seem to be over. He’s now saved five consecutive chances and looked good in this one with the pair of strikeouts and 11-of-17 pitches going for strikes. Sewald is now up to 16 saves on the season with a respectable — if slightly disappointing — 3.55 ERA.