Will

Wilson

Wilson spent last year with the Guardians and hit .246/.325/.435 in Triple-A before making his MLB debut. Unfortunately, he slashed .192/.267/.244 slash with a 37 percent strikeout rate in 91 plate appearances for Cleveland. He can play anywhere in the infield, so the Mariners could view him as organizational depth at a few positions.

All six players have elected free agency instead of sticking around with the Guardians. No real surprises here as Cleveland clears some space on its 40-man roster heading into the offseason. Lively is the most prominent name by a considerable margin, but he’s going to miss a significant portion of next season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Wilson went 3-for-6 during his week in the majors, but the Guardians decided they no longer needed him as infield insurance. Today’s moves suggests that Angel Martínez will see more infield time than outfield time this month.

Not yet Travis Bazzana time. Wilson, who will probably only be up while Daniel Schneeman is on the paternity list, has hit .167/.250/.222 with one RBI and 34 strikeouts in 85 major league plate appearances this season.

The 27-year-old infielder was with the big league club to provide infield depth with Gabriel Arias (ankle) shelved, so with Arias returning from the injured list on Friday he’ll head back to an everyday role at Triple-A Columbus. Wilson has hit just .167/.250/.222 with zero homers, one RBI and a 34/7 K/BB ratio over 85 plate appearances with the Guardians this season.

Wilson returns to Cleveland’s bench mix prior to Sunday’s game against Detroit with Lane Thomas hitting the injured list with plantar fasciitis. The 26-year-old infielder got into 24 games earlier this season for the Guardians. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats.

Wilson had started five of the Guardians’ last six games, so this is something of a surprise. Still, he was hitting just .176/.263/.235 over 59 plate appearances. Wilson’s departure, combined with Lane Thomas’s return, suggests that Angel Martínez, who has mostly played center of late, will start seeing more middle infield time.

Will Brennan is up as his replacement. This was quite a while coming for Rocchio, who opened up as the Guardians’ everyday shortstop but had steadily lost playing time while hitting just .165/.235/.198 in 102 plate appearances. Although he’s long been viewed as a long-term regular, he’s been a liability offensively without showing above-average defense through 201 big-league games. He’ll get another chance at some point, but the Guardians should be fine without him for now. Gabriel Arias will serve as the primary shortstop, with Daniel Schneeman and Will Wilson likely platooning at second base. Juan Brito might be in line for a look at second once he gets healthy.

Ramírez will get some extra time off to rest and recover this weekend after suffering a mild right ankle sprain during Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays. The 32-year-old superstar appears to have avoided serious injury, but fantasy managers should anticipate the Guardians handling the situation with an abundance of caution. It’ll be rookie Will Wilson drawing into Saturday’s lineup at the hot corner in his place.

It would have been hard to envision this day a few months ago, but the 26-year-old Wilson, an apparent first-round bust who hit .216/.299/.296 between Double- and Triple-A in the Giants system last year, had a great spring after signing a minor league deal with the Guardians and kept it going by hitting .324/.418/.647 with six homers and a 15/10 K/BB in 79 plate appearances for Columbus. He’ll serve as an infield utiltyman and probably get some of the starts that had been going to Daniel Schneeman.