Cleveland, OH
Braves Reach Contract Agreement with Former Guardians Elite Reliever
Getty
CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 18: James Karinchak #99 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches against the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning of game one of a doubleheader at Progressive Field on August 18, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
The Atlanta Braves have popped up in the news again across Major League Baseball for making a signing. On the first day of the MLB Winter Meetings, not much has taken place in terms of players signing and trades taking place.
However, the Braves made a semi-meaningful move late Monday night by signing former Cleveland Guardians pitcher James Karinchak to a minor-league contract. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was first on the news.
More MLB on Heavy: Braves Writer Urges Atlanta to Make Trade with Brewers for 2-Time All-Star Starter
James Karichak Reaches Deal with Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves and James Karinchak agree on a minor-league deal, which gives the former Guardian pitcher a fresh start. It’s unclear if he will be on the big league roster come March, but it’s a cool reclamation project for the Braves to see if he has anything left.
He last appeared in an MLB game back in 2023 and failed to get past the minors in 2025 with the Chicago White Sox. He was cut by Chicago back in June. Karichak will presumably start the 2026 season in AAA-Gwinnett and add some organizational depth to the pitching staff.


GettyCLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 18: James Karinchak #99 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches against the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning of game one of a doubleheader at Progressive Field on August 18, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
Because of shoulder injuries, which is the reason he missed all of the 2024 season, Karichak has had a hard time making it back, but his career numbers are actually pretty productive. He pitched in parts of five seasons with the Guardians, posting a 3.10 ERA over 165.2 innings and 253 strikeouts.
2022 was Karinchak’s best season as a pro. He posted a 2.08 ERA in 39 innings and 38 appearances. His arsenal features a fastball and a hard 12/6 curveball, which has the ability to really keep hitters off balance.
More MLB on Heavy: Braves-Rays Trade Idea Sends $73 Million All-Star to Tampa in Return for Shane Baz
Karinchak Was Even Briefly the Guardians’ Closer
James Karinchak has plenty of service time in MLB. The question is whether his shoulder is healthy or not. Back in 2021, he recorded 11 saves for the Guardians and was considered a good backend bullpen piece for Cleveland.
This is yet another small move for the Braves front office this offseason. After re-signing closer Raisel Iglesias to a $16 million deal, Atlanta also signed reliever Joel Payamps to a $2 million deal. The bullpen is considered a position of need for the Braves heading into 2026.
Among other things, Atlanta could also use another infield bat and a depth starter.
It will be interesting to see what kinda buzz starts to pick up at the winter meetings throughout the rest of the week, and if the Braves are a part of the fun.
More MLB on Heavy: Braves Predicted to Cut Ties with 3-Time All-Star Amid Offseason Decisions
More Heavy on Braves
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Cleveland, OH
Tornado touched down in Wayne County on Tuesday night
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down in Wayne County as severe thunderstorms raced through Northeast Ohio Tuesday evening.
The Wayne County tornado touched down and lifted at 9:56 p.m.
It traveled .11 mile with a width of 75 yards and peak wind of 85 MPH, NWS confirmed.
Tornado warnings were issued in these counties:
- Cuyahoga
- Geauga
- Holmes
- Lake
- Stark
- Wayne
19 News reached out first responders in the areas where tornado sirens were set-off, but there was no significant damage reported.
However, thousands of people remain without power Wednesday.
Check the outage maps by FirstEnergy, Cleveland Public Power, and AEP for the latest developments.
Get the latest on the severe weather on the 19 First Alert Forecast webpage
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
Cleveland, OH
Many dealing with damage after severe weather rolled through northeast Ohio
CLEVELAND — A line of storms blew through northern Ohio Tuesday night, spurring Tornado Warnings, especially in the Cleveland area.
Gusts of 74 miles per hour were recorded hitting the region, and many are waking up without power on Wednesday morning, with some debris to clean up.
The storms prompted a Flood Warning overnight, and high water remains to be an issue in some areas.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 30,000 people were without power, mostly in Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties. Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced some schools are closed due to power outages as well.
In an update early Wednesday, Cleveland Public Power said it has worked through the night and restored power to approximately 75% of customers.
“Our crews are facing challenges such as uprooted trees and aluminum siding as well other debris blown into powerlines. We appreciate your patience as they work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power,” Cleveland Public Power wrote in a post on Facebook.
The National Weather Service reported multiple trees down, including a tree that went through a house in Wayne County. There are also massive trees blocking sidewalks and roadways, including in Shaker Heights.
Over in Willoughby Hills, fire and police warned of high water from the Chagrin River, creating flood hazards. Some roads were closed in the area, including Bishop Road and White Road. Flooding was also reported along SOM Center Road. The river crested at about 15 feet at 4 a.m. Wednesday.
“Police, Fire and Service Departments are actively working to address these issues and assist residents,” Willoughby Hills Police said. “Please use extreme caution while driving. Do NOT attempt to drive through water of unknown depth.”
(Willoughby Hills Fire Department)
To the western side of the state, Toledo also faced some damage from the strong storms.
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Cleveland, OH
Cuyahoga County takes a beating during Tuesday night’s severe weather
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Tuesday night’s storm ravaged various parts of Cuyahoga County, including Shaker Heights, Cleveland and North Olmsted.
Tornado Warning issued for 3 Northeast Ohio counties
During our travels throughout the county, we saw a massive tree uprooted out of a field near Woodbury Elementary.
The tree stood inches from South Woodland Road and luckily snapped in the direction of the field rather than the residential homes on the other side.
Over in Cleveland on West 54th Street and Courtland Avenue, police blocked off a section of that intersection due to a downed tree that fell near a playground.
There was also a telephone pole that snapped and was hanging over the top of the road.
In North Olmsted on Birch Circle, there were several downed trees in front yards.
“Oh, it was a mess the second, I mean, coming down and seeing those four trees lying up. There’s three in the front here just lying on their side all over the driveway, and all the neighbors outside, wondering what to do, you know, where to start,” Taylor Wright told me.
Wright wasn’t home at the time of the storm. Neither was his partner, Candace Kepler.
Kepler said she was down the street at Target when the store started making announcements to take shelter.
“They made an announcement saying that everybody needed to be escorted to the tornado hall, and they made us all just leave our shopping carts and everything. We all went to the back of the store and huddled in this little metal hall in the back of Target,” Kepler said.
For 35 minutes, Kepler said she was stuck inside the store, worrying about her teenage daughter who was home alone.
“She was pretty scared because she saw the trees come down,” Kepler said. “I wanted to leave, but they wouldn’t let me leave, so I just kept her on FaceTime and tried to see if our neighbors… they came over and grabbed her, so that was good. Just keeping her safe was really just a priority.”
Luckily, their daughter is safe and sound, and so are they.
“Had you seen anything like it before?” I asked Wright.
He said, “Not this bad, especially not around here. This was the worst I’ve seen it over here with trees for sure.”
As of 8:30 p.m., Kepler and Wright were without power.
They were anticipating that it would come back on by 9:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, neighbors are already acting fast to chop the downed trees into pieces.
“They were in the neighbor’s driveway, so I grabbed my chainsaw, and then Sam, our neighbor, his kid came over with one, and we just got them all picked up, chopped them all up, and put them all in the tree lawn,” Wright said.
Stick with News 5 as we continue to monitor the latest on storm damage.
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