CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Guardians announced today the following transaction relative to the 2025 Major League 40-player roster:
Signed free agent C Austin Hedges to a one-year Major League contract.
The roster is currently at 39 players.
Hedges, 32, has been an integral member of Cleveland’s last two AL Central Division championship-winning clubs, re-signing with the Guardians last December 15 after spending the 2023 season between Pittsburgh and Texas. In 2024, the club went 26-20 (.565) over his 46 starts behind the plate as Cleveland pitchers recorded a 3.93 ERA (173ER/396.2IP) during his 65 overall games catching while recording five Defensive Runs Saved for the year. He was credited with +6 Catcher Framing Runs* (8th-most in MLB; had +13 in 2023) and was in the 75th-percentile among MLB catchers in Blocks Above Average (4)*. He also appeared in eight of the club’s 10 Postseason games, catching 35.0 of the 89.0 total innings. Combined with his 97 starts in 2022, Cleveland has won 60.1% of its games (86-57) when he starts at catcher.
