CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Guardians today announced the following transactions:
Signed free agents C ZACK COLLINS, LHP PHILLIP DIEHL and RHP DUSTEN KNIGHT to Minor League contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training™ camp.
Collins, who turned 28 on Monday, was the 10th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox out of the University of Miami. He spent his first six seasons in the Sox organization, appearing in 114 games for Chicago from 2019-21. He split last season between the Toronto and Pittsburgh organizations after being acquired by the Blue Jays prior to Opening Day. He split most of the season between the active ML Toronto roster and AAA Buffalo before spending the last month with the Pittsburgh Pirates following a Sept. 7 waiver claim. He has appeared in 150 Major League games since 2019 and owns a career Minor League OPS of .827 in 409 career games.
Diehl, 28, split the 2022 season between the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets organizations, beginning the season in AAA Louisville after attending ML camp with the Reds in Goodyear. The Cincinnati native made his Reds debut on April 27, appearing five games in relief. On July 28th he was traded to the Mets with OF Tyler Naquin, spending the remainder of the season in Triple-A Norfolk (2022 AAA ERA was 5.90). The Cincinnati Bishop Moeller product pitched collegiately at Evansville and Louisiana Tech and was the 27th round pick of the Yankees in the 2016 draft. He debuted in 2019 with Colorado following a March 2019 trade to the Rockies and was claimed by the Red last April.
Knight, 32, spent the 2022 season in the Tampa Bay organization, spending four different stints over 6 appearances with the Rays during the campaign. He recorded a 3.42 ERA with 12 saves in 48 appearances at AAA Durham (55.1IP, 40H, 21ER, 66SO, .194 avg) and limited left-handed hitters to a .129 (12-for-93) average against for the year. The Tahlequah, OK native debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 2021 after nine professional seasons and stops in the Atlantic and Mexican Leagues. He was San Francisco’s’ 28th round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft after collegiate stops at Connors State and the University of Texas-Pan American.
The Guardians current non-roster player total stands at 18.
