Ohio Notes: Arroyo, Rodriguez, Bruce, Reds, Tribe

Here are some notes from the Buckeye State’s two teams…

• The Reds still have an interest in a reunion with Bronson Arroyo, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets.  Cincinnati has been linked to the veteran righty on a couple of occasions this offseason, though GM Dick Williams has stated that his club’s interest is dependent on whether or not Arroyo is recovered from his Tommy John surgery.  Arroyo hasn’t pitched since June 2014 due to that surgery yet the Reds are one of at least seven teams who have checked in on his status.
• Also from Sheldon, outfielder Yorman Rodriguez will get a long look during Spring Training given the Reds’ needs in the outfield and Rodriguez’s out-of-options contract status.  Rodriguez originally signed with the Reds as a 16-year-old in 2008 for $2.5MM, then a record bonus for Venezuelan amateurs.  He’s hit .261/.314/.399 with 50 homers over 2546 minor league plate appearances and his MLB experience consists of an 11-game cup of coffee with the Reds in 2014.  Baseball America ranked him as Cincinnati’s 10th-best prospect prior to the 2015 season, and in a November chat about the Reds’ farm system, BA’s J.J. Cooper predicted Rodriguez will be the Reds’ Opening Day left fielder.
• Since the Reds and Indians recently had discussions about Todd Frazier before the third baseman was dealt to Chicago, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer figures that Jay Bruce’s name probably also came up given the Tribe’s need for outfielders.  That said, Hoynes doubts Bruce was or is a fit for Cleveland due to his notable salary ($12.5MM in 2016 and a $13MM club option for 2017 with a $1MM buyout) and inconsistent play.  For what it’s worth, the Indians aren’t one of the eight teams on Bruce’s no-trade list.
• The Indians have used information provided by MLB Advanced Media’s new Statcast player-tracking technology when evaluating players this winter, GM Mike Chernoff tells MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.  While “scouts have been measuring tools of players for a long time, and they’re really good at it,” Chernoff said Statcast “is a way to get a slightly more accurate reading on some of those things.  This should be a huge relief for scouts and a huge complement to what they do.  [It] allows a scout to process the information rather than just have to transmit information to whoever is going to be reading his report.”