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Valera went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last weekend. The 25-year-old former prospect will stick around as organizational depth at Triple-A Columbus after hitting .216 (8-for-37) with zero homers and six RBI during 13 games for the Guardians this season.

The Guardians needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for the return of Gabriel Arias on Sunday and unfortunately it looks like Valera drew the short straw this time around. The 25-year-old outfielder has hit just .216/.237/.297 with no homers and six RBI in 38 plate appearances with the Guardians this season. It’s possible that he could pique another team’s interest on waivers.

Valera hadn’t started since April 25 and was hitting just .216/.237/.297 in 37 at-bats. Perhaps CJ Kayfus will get another opportunity here, or perhaps the Guardians simply will roll with Angel Martínez since he’s hot and add another bench player.

Valera spent the first couple weeks of the season on a minor league rehab assignment where he hit .294 (10-for-34) with two homers and 12 RBI in eight games. The 25-year-old former top prospect will occupy a bench role with Cleveland with CJ Kayfus heading back to the minors.

Valera hit the injured list at the end of spring training with a left calf strain and figures to remain stationed on the doorstep of the majors once he wraps up his rehab assignment. The 25-year-old was one of the most promising prospects in Cleveland’s system a few years before injuries stalled his progress.

Valera had been the favorite to win the left or right field job in Cleveland, but his injury seems to have opened the door for Angel Martinez to get first crack at that. There is currently no clear timeline for Valera’s return.

Brito’s case was pretty obvious, but this is actually a second straight extra option year for Valera. He never used one in 2025, though, since the Guardians non-tendered him and then re-signed him to a minor league contract. He finally made his major league debut in September and performed well enough overall to keep himself in the Guardians’ plans for 2026. However, now there’s no pressure on the team to save room for him on the Opening Day roster. The Guardians will still have Nolan Jones, Jhonkensy Noel, Brayan Rocchio and Gilbert Arias as out-of-options players, which could make it more difficult for C.J. Kayfus, Angel Martínez and maybe Daniel Schneeman to make the team, depending on how the rest of the offseason goes.

Valera took Casey Mize deep to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The 24-year-old has shown flashes of why he was once widely considered one of the best prospects in baseball, but this was obviously the biggest hit of his (very) young career.

Cleveland is now one game up on Detroit. The fates really put the exclamation point to their AL Central preference tonight, as Valera hit a rare one-ballpark-out-of-30 homer at Progressive Field. That can only happen in an area a bit to the right of dead center, and Valera made it happen with a 393-foot fly just over a jumping Parker Meadows. He has two homers and a .242/.359/.485 line in 39 plate appearances since debuting at the beginning of the month.

Valera pulled a ball 358 feet to right against Joe Ryan. He’s started three out of the last four games at DH after being included in the lineup just five times in his 15 games on the roster, and he’s gone 7-for-26 overall. He’ll probably continue to start against most righties, especially now than Nolan Jones is out.