Guardians fans elated after reunion with Austin Hedges on one-year deal - "Game changer"

The Cleveland Guardians have announced the signing of catcher Austin Hedges, marking his second tenure at Progressive Field. Valid sources have reported that Hedges' one-year contract is valued at $4 million.

Given that the organization had David Fry, Christian Bethancourt, and Bo Naylor on its 40-man roster, the news was initially confusing. Hedges now has a space on the roster, as it was later revealed that the Guardians had dealt Bethancourt to the Marlins for financial considerations.

MLB fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their opinions on the announcement. While some were bemused, others were perplexed at the signing, questioning Hedges' catching abilities and hitting prowess as he ages.

"Good offseason so far" - ClevelandHQ_

"This is all cool and all, but let's the heavy hitters going now" - Whos_giggles

"There were wrong photos to post for this…but this one was right. Glad to have our king back in our dugout" - c0ry024

"I like the guy, but from a business side should we be proud of having a bunch of catchers batting .180?" - rustylal65

"Unserious franchise. We have all these bums on the 40 man yet we couldn’t find a spot for Nolan Jones last year?" - NMRBurner

"Game changer" - Goomba151

"So Hedgey and blue seats in the stadium are the big additions to the offseason…….hello darkness my old friend" - CLeveNation

"DADDIES HOME!!!!" - JamalGinsberg5

"WELCOME BACK SWEET PRINCE" - alys216

"Welcome home Hog!!!! You were greatly missed!!!!" - Icapwill

Despite having a career slash line of.189/.246/.321, Austin Hedges still has a lot of value in his glove. The 31-year-old, a superb pitch-framer, came in second place in the Majors in 2023 with 13 catcher-frame runs. With eight blocks above average, he also tied for sixth place. This is the kind of defensive performance that the Guardians would be thrilled to have for Naylor.

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Austin Hedges is back with the Guardians

An insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that Austin Hedges, who played for Cleveland from 2020 to 2022, will sign the contract after passing a physical because the transaction cannot be finalized until the medical examinations are finished.

Using their catching, the Guardians traded Christian Bethancourt to the Miami Marlins on Sunday, making two trades. In exchange, Cleveland, which on November 6 grabbed Bethancourt off waivers, will get cash.