Guardians expected to pick up fourth-year option on infield prospect Juan BritoAccording to Zack Meisel of The Athletic earlier this week.
Typically, players have three optional seasons, one for each season, during which the player has at least 20 days of optional duty in the minor leagues. A player is considered optional for assignment while on the club’s 40-man roster but is sent to the minor leagues without rehabbing. Brito, 24, was named to Cleveland’s 40-man roster in November 2022, a move that exempted him from that year’s Rule 5 draft since he was acquired from the Rockies Nolan Jones. Since then, Brito has been optioned to the minor leagues in the 2023, ’24 and ’25 seasons and has played at least 20 days in the minors each year.
Under normal circumstances, that would mean Brito would have to clear waivers before being sent back to the minors starting in 2026. Occasionally, however, teams will grant fourth-year options to certain players, usually because the player has missed a significant amount of time due to injury. MLB.com explains that players with fewer than five full career seasons (defined as at least 90 days on the major or minor league active roster) are eligible for a fourth option year. That certainly applies to Brito, who was limited to 31 games this year after playing a full season for the first time in 2022 with thumb and hamstring injuries that ultimately required surgery. When teams grant fourth option years to their players, the most common scenario, like what Cleveland is facing now with Brito, is that the player misses a significant amount of time due to injury during one of the option years.
Assuming the fourth option year is picked up as expected, this should provide the Guardians with additional flexibility as they build their roster in 2026. Brito actually performed well in spring training and pushed for the Opening Day second base job before missing the 2025 season due to injury, but the team eventually cycled Daniel Schneeman, Angel Martinezand Gabriel Arias Take on the role before settling on Brayon Rocchio End of the year. All of these players ended up being well below average offensively, which means that if Brito can return healthy and effective in 2026, he should have a path to major league reps unless outside additions change the composition of the roster.
This is especially true considering Brito’s stellar results in a limited sample of healthy games. He hit .256/.365/.443 with 21 homers and 40 doubles in Triple-A in 2024, and he more or less replicated that line in 99 plate appearances this year, slashing .256/.357/.463 with a 13.1% walk rate and 21.2% strikeout rate. However, even if Brito ends up winning the job in March, it’s not uncommon for rookie players to be optioned back to the minors at some point during their rookie season if they start working to provide them with a less stressful development environment.
