Former Guardians' star ditches contract with Phillies, could be candidate for Cleveland reunion

It's probably been a while since Cleveland baseball fans thought about the name Oscar Mercado.

He was once a rising star, a breakthrough rookie in 2019 on the shores of Lake Erie.

Since, then, his journey has been winding, though, going through St. Louis and Philadelphia in addition to lots of time in the minor leagues.

Mercado is available now, though, and with the Guardians in dire need of a legitimate right-handed hitting rightfielder, maybe it's time for a reunion.

What we know for sure is that Mercado is a free agent. He activated the opt-out clause in his contract with the Phillies and is now a free agent, per Steve Adams.

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Mercado hit .269 with 25 doubles, 15 homers and 15 steals in that first season with Cleveland. Since, he has played in 183 MLB games and hit just 11 more homers with a .200 average.

This season, Mercado has spent the entire campaign at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

With the Iron Pigs, Mercado was batting .252 with 35 steals in 43 attempts.

Mercado also has an encouraging statistic against lefties: He's put up a .941 OPS against southpaws.

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The Phillies traded for Harrison Bader at the deadline, likely making Mercado's path to the majors an impossible one.

Now a free agent, he'll see if there's a chance out there for him in another MLB city.

There have been no official links yet, but Mercado and Cleveland would be a logical fit right about now.

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