The Reds announced that they’ve designated infielder/outfielder Chris Dominguez for assignment in order to clear space on the roster for catcher Kyle Skipworth (Twitter link).
The 28-year-old Dominguez inked a minor league deal with the Reds this offseason after being released by the Giants, and he worked his way onto the big league roster early in the season and again last month. Dominguez has appeared in a total of 14 games for Cincinnati, collecting 23 plate appearances and going 6-for-23 with a homer, a double and a triple. Dominguez has a solid Triple-A track record, but he’s struggled with Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville this season, batting just .216/.264/.368 in 221 plate appearances. The Reds will have 10 days to trade him or place him on waivers for the purpose of outrighting him.
Brayan Pena trade? Why else call up Skipworth?
Probably just to have a bat until Cueto’s replacement is called up.
Skipworth’s bat isn’t much of an asset. He’s been hitting .237 in AA. He’s actually been working backwards in the system this year, starting the season with the Reds (filling in due to an injury), going to AAA where he’d hit .160, then back to AA for most of the season.
Skipworth is no better a hitter than Chris Dominguez, only he’s a catcher rather than a utility player.
At this point I don’t see a huge deal whether I have minor leaguers on the bench this far into the season. I hope to see Bruce leave this trade deadline. Only two pieces the Reds will have to build around are Votto, Phillips, and Frazier. Hopefully a deal can be done with Frazier for long term. Quality 3B are hard to find in the league.
The Reds need to make another roster move to fill Cueto’s rotation spot on Thursday. They will probably know by Thursday, a day before the deadline, if Pena is likely to be traded, even if nothing is in the works today. It seems like the odds of Pena being traded are pretty high, and this roster move does little do dismiss suspicion.
Chris would be a nice fit for the Pirates.