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Reds Sign First-Round Pick Steele Hall

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The Reds announced that they’ve signed first-round pick Steele Hall. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports that the 17-year-old infielder receives a $5.75MM bonus. That’s below the approximate $6.51MM slot value for the ninth pick.

Baseball America and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel each had Hall as a mid-first round talent on their pre-draft rankings. Keith Law of The Athletic was quite a bit lower, placing him 36th. The 5’11 Hall” is a right-handed hitter with elite speed. He’s expected to stick at shortstop and is viewed as a hit-over-power player. Both BA and McDaniel write that Hall has an aggressive offensive approach, while Law expressed concern about his ability to handle breaking stuff.

While Hall may be a somewhat divisive prospect, his youth and athleticism made it clear that he’d be picked high enough to sign away from a commitment to Tennessee. His signing bonus is close to the slot value of the 12th pick, so the deal provides the Reds a bit of cost savings for the later rounds. Cincinnati took two other high school players within the top 10 rounds: second-rounder Aaron Watson and fifth-round pick Eli Pitts. It’s likely that one or both players will get an overslot bonus with some of the money saved by cutting a deal with Hall.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds are three games over .500 but 7.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. Their best path to the postseason is a Wild Card berth. They're 2.5 games back at the moment as they look for their first playoff bid since 2020 (just their second since 2013) and their first playoff win since back in 2012.

Record: 50-47 (Playoff odds 11.1%, per FanGraphs)

Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs, Rays, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Angels, Mets, Blue Jays, Mariners

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Corner outfield, first base, second base, reliever

The Reds' primary need, regardless of position, is simply another bat -- or multiple bats -- to bolster what has been a stagnant offense. Ideally, that'd come in the outfield corners. Austin Hays has been great when healthy but has only made it into 44 games due to a trio of IL stints. He and utilityman Gavin Lux lead the team in plate appearances as a left fielder. Jake Fraley, who just returned from a shoulder injury, leads the pack in terms of plate appearances as a right fielder. The Reds have used eight different players in right field and ten in left. No one has more plate appearances at either position than Fraley's 140 in right field.

Fraley and Lux are both hovering around league-average offensive output that's driven largely by plate discipline. Neither is slugging even .400. Fraley has a .152 ISO (slugging minus batting average) that's right in line with the .154 league average. Lux is down at .114. Neither is going to provide much power, and neither can hit left-handed pitching.

A righty-swinging corner outfield bat would fit the Reds nicely -- all the better if it's someone controlled beyond the current season. The Reds are fringe contenders in 2025 but have the rotation talent to make a stronger run in 2026 with better health.

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Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax

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Virtually every contender is looking for relief help come the deadline each season, and the 2025 campaign figures to be no exception to that. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, two members of the Twins’ bullpen are getting plenty of attention from rival clubs this trade season: closer Jhoan Duran and setup man Griffin Jax. Nightengale highlights the Phillies as one potential suitor, a suggestion that lines up with reporting last week regarding Philadelphia’s interest in the pair, and goes on to list the Tigers, Cubs, Dodgers, and Reds as other clubs that are intrigued by Minnesota’s impact arms.

It’s not hard to see why teams would have interest in the duo. Duran is the bigger name of the two. The 27-year-old has averaged more than 100 mph on his fastball every season of his career and pairs his impressive 31.0% career strikeout rate with a career ground ball rate of 63.9%. That ability to both miss bats and keep the ball on the ground is hard to match, and Duran’s 2.38 ERA since making his big league debut back in 2022 speaks for itself. Jax, meanwhile, pitched poorly as a starter in his rookie season but has posted a 3.22 ERA with a 2.63 FIP, a 30.3% strikeout rate, and a 50.3% ground ball rate since moving to the bullpen in 2022.

A .391 BABIP has held Jax’s results back this year, but he’s striking out an absurd 38.0% of batters faced while walking 5.8%. Duran, meanwhile, has by far the lowest K-BB% of his career in 2025 but is making up for it with an eye-popping 69.2% ground ball rate. Duran is in the midst of the stronger season and has substantial closing experience that Jax lacks, but either one should bring Minnesota back a haul if traded this summer between their dominance and the fact that they can both be controlled via arbitration through the end of the 2027 season.

Of course, all of this hinges on the Twins actually being interested in selling. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey suggested just a few short weeks ago that the club was not “focusing on” the possibility of selling this summer. Minnesota has gone 11-8 since Falvey made those comments, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them decide to hold onto controllable pieces like Duran and Jax. On the other hand, trading one of the club’s two dominant relievers could make it easier for the club to address other holes in the roster while still retaining the other to serve as one of the sport’s best closers going forward.

Looking at the potential suitors, the Phillies and Reds make a ton of sense as teams that could desperately use reinforcements in the bullpen. Philadelphia’s gamble on Jordan Romano this past winter hasn’t worked out, and a PED suspension for Jose Alvarado means that he’ll not only miss half the year but be ineligible to pitch in the postseason for the Phillies this year. That leaves the club in desperate need of the sort of lockdown relief arm they lost when they allowed both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez to walk in free agency last year. As for the Reds, Cincinnati’s closer Alexis Diaz was torched to a 12.00 ERA in six outings before being optioned to Triple-A and eventually traded to Los Angeles, where he’s continued to struggle.

The Cubs and Tigers have less glaring needs at the back of their bullpen, but both figure to be very aggressive this summer as they currently sit positioned for a bye through the first round of the playoffs. Adding a dominant closer at the deadline can be a way to push a good team over the edge and make them favorites in the postseason, and while incumbent closers Daniel Palencia and Will Vest are impressive relievers it’s not hard to see why Chicago or Detroit would want a more proven option in the ninth for a playoff run. As for the Dodgers, the club’s splashy additions of Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to the back of their bullpen have looked a bit shakier than anticipated, and given how aggressively L.A. prioritized adding relief help in the winter it’s understandable they would continue to do so this summer with both of their star additions sporting ERAs approaching 4.00.

Reds Activate Jake Fraley, Option Christian Encarnacion-Strand

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The Reds announced that outfielder Jake Fraley has been activated from the 10-day injured list.  In a notable corresponding move, infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been optioned to Triple-A.

Fraley last played in a big league game on June 23, when he suffered a partial tear in his right labrum.  This is the latest in a series of shoulder issues that have bothered Fraley for a few years, and he received a cortisone shot in an attempt to play through the pain and hold off a potential surgery until after the season.

Time will tell if this gutsy approach will be successful, though Fraley’s numbers have declined over the last two seasons (he has hit .263/.330/.383 over 527 plate appearances since Opening Day 2024) as he has been dealing with multiple other injuries.  A calf strain sent Fraley to the IL for another stint earlier this season, and he missed time with a knee sprain in 2024.

The left-handed hitting Fraley figures to supplant Will Benson in the outfield mix, and between Fraley, Benson, TJ Friedl, and Gavin Lux, Cincinnati is a little overloaded with lefty-swinging outfield options.  Austin Hays is a right-handed bat that has been getting time in both left field and at DH, in a nod to Hays’ multiple IL stints this year.  As the Reds remain in the NL wild card hunt, a righty bat seems like an obvious need if the club is still in position to buy when the July 31 trade deadline roll around.

Encarnacion-Strand hit .270/.328/.477 with 13 home runs over 241 plate appearances in his rookie season, as he was one of many young position players that burst onto the scene for the 2023 Reds.  After tearing up minor league pitching en route to this impressive debut showing in the majors, it looked like CES was going to make himself a fixture in the Cincinnati lineup.

Unfortunately, Encarnacion-Strand has since sputtered to hit only .199/.227/.337 over 260 PA, as he missed most of the 2024 season recovering from surgery to fix a wrist fracture.  Back problems returned him to the IL in April and he didn’t return to the big leagues until early June, with Reds manager Terry Francona intimating that the club was viewing CES’ rehab assignment as a way for the 25-year-old to get on track the plate.

However, the results haven’t been much better since Encarnacion-Strand was activated, so he’ll now head back to Triple-A Louisville.  A 1.048 OPS over 359 career Triple-A PA indicates that Encarnacion-Strand doesn’t have much more to prove in the minors, yet the Reds can’t afford to give CES more time to find himself in the big leagues when the club is trying to fight its way deeper into the playoff picture.

Tyler Callihan Likely Done For The Year

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Infielder/outfielder Tyler Callihan is likely done for the year. According to the Reds’ injury tracker at MLB.com, he recently had a follow-up surgery on his left wrist and is not expected to return this season.

Callihan, 25, suffered a gruesome injury in just his fourth big league game. Playing left field on May 5th, he chased a Matt Olson fly ball towards the foul line, slid and crashed into the wall. He appeared to catch the ball but then immediately dropped it, with his left/glove arm in obvious pain. Olson rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run as Callihan was on the ground in discomfort.

The next day, Callihan was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left forearm fracture. The Reds announced that he had already undergone surgery, which would necessitate a shutdown period of six to eight weeks. He was transferred to the 60-day IL a few days later when the Reds acquired Connor Joe from the Padres.

After that shutdown period, it seems that Callihan was reevaluated and it was determined that another surgery was required. It’s unclear if he will be able to have a healthy offseason or be ready for next season. He will stay on the 60-day IL for the rest of the year. As a small consolation for this frustrating experience, he has been collecting big league pay and service time while on the IL and will continue to do so for the remainder of the season.

Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images

Dan Straily Announces Retirement

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Eight-year MLB veteran Dan Straily has announced his retirement, as relayed by Codify Baseball on social media. Straily pitched for the A’s, Cubs, Astros, Reds, Marlins, and Orioles in his MLB career.

Straily, 36, was a 24th-round pick by the A’s back in 2009. He made his big league debut a few years later during the 2012 season and provided league average results for Oakland down the stretch, with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts despite allowing 11 homers in those seven outings. He returned to the Athletics rotation for the 2013 season and was now able to post league average results with matching peripherals as he pitched to a 3.96 ERA (98 ERA+) with a 4.05 FIP across 152 2/3 innings and 27 starts. That performance was impressive enough to earn Straily a fourth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting that year behind Wil Myers, Jose Iglesias, and Chris Archer.

In 2014, Straily struggled a bit in seven early-season starts with the A’s and was optioned to Triple-A. That changed when Straily was traded to the Cubs alongside top prospects Addison Russell and Billy McKinney for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Straily made a few appearances with Chicago, but they weren’t productive outings. The Cubs saw fit to move on from Straily following the 2014 campaign, and during the offseason he was flipped to the Astros alongside Luis Valbuena in the deal that sent Dexter Fowler to Chicago. Straily once again spent much of the 2015 season in the minors, making just four appearances in the majors for Houston while pitching to a 5.40 ERA in those outings.

Straily was traded for a third time in early 2016, when he was dealt by the Astros to the Padres for Erik Kratz. San Diego promptly designated Straily for assignment, but was plucked off waivers by the Reds and managed to stick in the big leagues with Cincinnati. The righty had arguably the best season of his career with the Reds as he pitched to a 3.76 ERA in a career-high 191 1/3 innings of work. While Straily’s home run rate held back his peripherals (4.88 FIP), he was the exact sort of reliable, innings-eating arm a rebuilding club like the Reds needed.

The fourth trade of Straily’s career came after his strong 2016 season, when the Marlins sought to acquire some rotation depth and surrendered a package of talent headlined by eventual Reds ace Luis Castillo to acquire him. Straily pitched two seasons at the back of Miami’s rotation, with a 4.20 ERA and 4.79 FIP across 304 innings of work. He was released by Miami shortly before Opening Day 2019 and latched on with the Orioles, for whom he struggled to provide results across 47 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment in June of that year.

Straily’s stint with the Orioles was the end of his time in the majors, but it was by no means the end of his professional career as a player. The righty went overseas to the KBO League and went on to make 89 starts for the Lotte Giants with a 3.29 ERA in 503 innings of work from 2020 to 2023. He made brief stateside returns in 2022 and ’24 with the Diamondbacks and Cubs, but was unable to crack the big league roster with either club. Straily wrapped up his pro career with 32 innings of work for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the independent Mexican League this year, and exits baseball with a lifetime 4.19 ERA across 2351 1/3 innings of work between the major, minor, and foreign leagues he participated in. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Straily on a fine career and wish him all the best in his post-playing pursuits.

MLBTR Podcast: Depleted Mets’ Pitching, The Pirates Are Open For Business, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Griffin Canning’s injury dealing another blow to the Mets’ rotation (1:45)
  • Which playoff-caliber starters could be available at the deadline? (6:10)
  • What does Canning’s free agency look like with this injury? (12:55)
  • The Pirates reportedly having almost no one off the table at the deadline (15:10)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Could the Orioles be sellers at the deadline and then make a late-season run for a Wild Card berth? (28:35)
  • Should the Royals make Vinnie Pasquantino available at the deadline? (31:20)
  • Should the Cubs get Eugenio Suárez from the Diamondbacks? (35:30)
  • Should the Mariners get Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks or Alex Bregman of the Red Sox? (40:10)
  • If the Reds are sellers, should they make TJ Friedl available? (44:20)
  • The constant tough question of when a small-market team should sell a star player (47:05)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Reds To Sign Buck Farmer To Minor League Deal

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The Reds and right-hander Buck Farmer are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Farmer was with the Angels on a minor league deal but was released a couple of weeks ago, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will presumably report to Triple-A Louisville in the future but Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Farmer will report to the Arizona Complex League for now.

Farmer, 34, is a familiar face for the Reds and their fans. He pitched for Cincinnati from 2022 to 2024, generally producing solid results. He logged 193 innings over those three seasons with a 3.68 earned run average, 24% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate.

Things haven’t gone as smoothly here in 2025. He has been stuck in Triple-A, having signed minor league deals with Atlanta and the Angels, getting released from both. Between those two organizations, he has tossed 16 2/3 innings with an 8.64 ERA. There appears to be lots of bad luck in there, however, with a .423 batting average on balls in play and 50.6% strand rate. His 21.7% strikeout rate is around average, though his 13.3% walk rate is on the high side. His 4.61 FIP on the year isn’t an outstanding number but suggests his ERA isn’t sustainably atrocious.

In the past month, the Reds have lost Graham Ashcraft and Ian Gibaut to the injured list, subtracting a couple of arms from their bullpen mix. Additionally, starters Hunter Greene and Wade Miley hit the IL in June, putting more pressure on the pitching staff more broadly. Farmer will try to get into a nice groove so that he can perhaps be the next man up when the club needs a fresh arm.

Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images

Reds Select Sam Benschoter

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The Reds announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Sam Benschoter from Triple-A Louisville. Cincinnati also recalled southpaw Sam Moll from Louisville. Left-hander Joe La Sorsa and righty Connor Phillips were optioned to Triple-A in their place. The Reds already had an open 40-man roster spot after releasing Jeimer Candelario. Their 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Benschoter, 27, was an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State back in 2021. He’s spent the past four seasons climbing Cincinnati’s minor league ranks, reaching Triple-A late last season. That first run at the top minor league level didn’t go well, but the 6’3″, 215-pound righty has had a better showing in 2025. Benschoter has pitched 51 innings — 17 relief appearances, four starts — and logged a 4.06 ERA with a 21.6% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 51% ground-ball rate.

Benschoter relies heavily on a four-seamer that’s averaged 93.4 mph in 2025, combining that pitch with a sinker, slider, cutter and seldom-used curveball to round out his arsenal. He worked primarily out of the rotation in the lower minors but moved into more of a hybrid role in 2024. He’s progressively moved more and more toward a multi-inning relief role in 2025. Even in his four “starts” this season, Benschoter has pitched a combined 12 1/3 innings. He’s most commonly been used in relief for two to four innings at a time.

Top prospect Chase Burns lasted only one-third of an inning in yesterday’s drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox, forcing the Cincinnati bullpen to cover the rest of the game. The Reds turned to Brent Suter and the now-optioned La Sorsa and Phillips for two-plus innings apiece. All three men threw at least 31 pitches. That understandably prompted some moves to freshen up the relief corps. If today’s game gets out of hand one way or another, Benschoter would seemingly be an option for a long relief stint. He last pitched a week ago and should be able to cover several innings if need be.

Tucker Barnhart To Retire

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Former Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart is set to retire, as agent Steve Rath of the Ballengee Group tells Robert Murray of FanSided. Barnhart played for the Reds, Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Rangers across his 12 seasons in the majors.

Born and raised in Indiana, Barnhart was drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 2009 draft out of Brownsburg High School, just two hours from Cincinnati. As a high school catcher, his path to the big leagues was a long one. Barnhart didn’t make his debut until 2014, and only appeared in 21 games when he did finally make it to the show. The 2015 season saw him take on a much larger role, however, as Devin Mesoraco was sidelined by injury. That left the catcher position to Brayan Pena and Barnhart, the latter of whom proved to be a strong defender but hit a fairly lackluster .252/.324/.326 in 81 games.

Despite that unimpressive offense, Barnhart’s work behind the plate was impressive enough that he became Cincinnati’s primary catcher starting in 2016. His offense trended upwards enough from 2016 to 2018 that he was more or less on par with the average catcher in the league (87 wRC+), and he won the first Gold Glove award of his career in 2017 amid a 3.6 bWAR season. That 2017 campaign was enough to convince the Reds to sign Barnhart to a $16MM extension, locking him in with the club for at least the next four seasons. His offense took a step backwards starting in 2019, as he hit just .235/.318/.375 (79 wRC+) over his final three seasons with the Reds, but he remained a stalwart defender and won his second career Gold Glove during the shortened 2020 season.

After parts of eight seasons in Cincinnati, Barnhart was traded to Detroit ahead of the 2022 season, giving the Tigers the opportunity to exercise a $7.5MM team option on his services for that year. Barnhart struggled in his lone season with the club, however, hitting just .221/.287/.267 (67 wRC+) while his defense behind the plate slipped somewhat. Barnhart was still able to secure a two-year, $6.5MM guarantee from the Cubs that offseason, but he posted just a 55 wRC+ in 43 games before being designated for assignment by the club. Since then, Barnhart has caught for the Diamondbacks and Rangers in the majors after signing minor league deals with both organizations and also spent a brief stint in the Dodgers’ farm system. He’s appeared in 39 MLB games over the past two seasons with a .181/.294/.213 that’s offset somewhat by his continually solid defense.

Barnhart was let go by the Rangers earlier this month but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal shortly thereafter. Evidently, he’s decided he’d rather call it a career than play out the season in the minors. He’ll finish his career with 920 games played in the majors, two Gold Glove awards, 6.9 bWAR/5.8 fWAR, 662 hits, and 53 home runs. He hit .241/.318/.351 overall during his time in the majors. MLBTR congratulations Barnhart on a fine career in the majors and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

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