In our next installment of “Free Agents Who Make Sense for Your Cash-Strapped Cleveland Guardians,” may I present for your consideration one Austin Hays?
Last season, Austin Hays put up a 105 wRC+ with a 25.7/7 K/BB% for the Cincinatti Reds. He had 155 wRC+ against LHP and that tracks with his career 124 wRC+ against LHP very well. He had -2 Defensive Runs Saved and 1 Out Above Average in left field, but for his career, he has been a good outfielder in all three outfield spots (20 Defensive Runs saved) or around average in all three spots (-2 Outs Above Average) depending on your preferred metric.
The Reds declined to pick up their option on Hays (being a similarly “payroll-constrained” organization), so Hays is now available for the Guardians to pursue. In comparison to other right-handed hitters on the free agent market – from the more expensive options like Harrison Bader to the cheaper ones like Lane Thomas and Chas McCormick – Hays may make the most sense for the Guardians to pursue. Hays played on 1 year, $5 million contract for the Reds, and may stand to improve on that a bit in free agency but should still land in the $8-10 million range for a year (perhaps with a team or mutual option year). That price would be more than doable for Cleveland.
With Hays as the primary fourth outfielder, the Guardians could proceed with plans to have Chase DeLauter, George Valera, Angel Martinez, CJ Kayfus, Juan Brito and Khalil Watson compete for potential outfield spots in the spring, knowing Hays can hit LHP and play left field, center field and right field adequately-to-well. Hays doesn’t have great high leverage numbers, overall, but he still has managed a 113 wRC+ against LHP in high leverage spots for his career. It’s hard to know what to read into “clutch” stats, but that number against southpaws in tight spots.
For fans who are appreciate of more traditional numbers, Hays put up a .266/.315/.453 slashline in 2025 with 15 homers and 7 steals (and wasn’t caught stealing once!). He has above average sprint speed and is in the 88th percentile for arm strength. He shows all the signs of continuing to perform well against left-handed pitching and be fine defensively in any outfield position he is asked to play for 2026. Angel Martinez is the current best in-house option for this role, and his xwOBA from last year is .060 points lower than Hays’ career wOBA of .322. Hays has a career hard-hit rate against LHP of 34% and Martinez’s hard-hit rate against LHP is 23%. It’s certainly possible that Martinez grows and develops, but to upgrade from what he is likely to provide in 2026 to what Hays is likely to provide is an inexpensive way to provide a noticeable upgrade to the Cleveland roster.
It won’t send fans in droves to the Guardians’ website to buy season tickets, but trying to sign Austin Hays would make a lot of sense for the Cleveland front office.