The Cleveland Guardians have a successful history of reclamation projects with pitchers. Most recently, they helped Matthew Boyd become an elite pitcher after he underwent Tommy John surgery.

With how elite Cleveland’s pitching development is, why not take on another mission of helping a former top prospect reclaim his status as a top pitcher?

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On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays designated RHP Yoniel Curet for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Even though the Rays are essentially giving up on the 23-year-old, that doesn’t mean he isn’t talented or has the potential to be a quality big-league pitcher, and the Guardians should definitely be interested in bringing in the right-hander to see if they can help develop him.

Mar 30, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Cleveland Guardians equipment sits in front of the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Mar 30, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Cleveland Guardians equipment sits in front of the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

During the 2025 season, Curet pitched 55.1 innings across Double-A and Triple-A. In those outings, he totaled a 3.90 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.

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Overall, pretty mediocre numbers, yes, but where Curet has real potential is with his swing-and-miss pitches.

Last season, the 23-year-old had a strikeout rate of 25.5 percent with a swinging strike rate of 10.8 percent. Those numbers are just from one season. Curet has a minor league career strikeout rate of 31 percent, an elite number for a starting pitching prospect.

The stuff is there for Curet to be an impact pitcher if he can put it all together.

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The Rays didn’t just decide to give up on Curet; there were some concerns present, too. The 23-year-old has lost significant development time due to injuries.

Earlier in 2025, Curet hit the injured list with a shoulder injury in March, and didn’t make it back to the minors until late July.

In many ways, Curet is very similar to Guardians pitching prospect Daniel Espino, but he’s getting healthy, which could incentivize the organization to add another project pitcher to the farm system.

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There are certainly some concerns with acquiring Curet, but it’s a low-risk, high-reward move that could help the Guardians add an elite arm to their staff at some point in the future.