The Reds have re-signed reliever Pedro Villarreal to a minor league deal, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. Villarreal could provide a depth option for a Reds bullpen that figures to look quite different in 2015 after the offseason losses of Aroldis Chapman, Manny Parra and Burke Badenhop.
The Reds non-tendered Villarreal last month after he posted a 3.42 ERA and 2.2 BB/9 in 50 innings last season. That line also included a medicore strikeout rate (5.2 K/9), and that inability to miss bats might have been part of the reason the Reds were willing to part with Villarreal even though he only had 1.034 years of service time and wasn’t yet arbitration eligible. By re-signing him, the Reds will get to keep him in the organization without using a roster spot or paying him a big-league salary, at least not for the time being.
Rebuilding by keeping the same terrible players in the system I see.
Rebuilding by clearing underachieving players off the 40-man, yet keeping them as organizational depth with the potential for a breakout, I see.
Pedro Villarreal breakout…bahahahahaha.
To a minor league deal to fill out depth, that’s not a bad move. And his numbers don’t seem bad considering he can’t strike guys out.
I hope the shoulder impingement Villarreal had at the end of the 2015 season has been fixed
I hope the shoulder impingement he had at the end of the 2015 season has been fixed