Reds Willing To Entertain Offers On Raisel Iglesias

A pair of executives say the Reds are willing to listen to offers on closer Raisel Iglesias, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). The likelihood of a deal coming together isn’t clear at this point.

Iglesias, 29, has been one of the game’s more consistently effective closers for a few years now. But he’s mired in his worst season as a big leaguer. Meanwhile, the Reds’ hopes of maintaining competitiveness this year have taken a big hit over the past several weeks.

Through 43 innings on the season, Iglesias carries an unsightly 4.60 ERA. He does own a career-best 11.7 K/9, though he’s also dishing out too many walks (4.0 per nine) and long balls (1.9 per nine). That said, the 29-year-old is maintaining a career-best 15.6% swinging-strike rate and seems a candidate to bounce back if he can figure out how to get the home runsunder control.

Iglesias’s contract situation is also appealing. He’s earning $6MM this year with $9MM and $9.125MM guarantees for the ensuing two campaigns. That’s not especially cheap, but it’s quite a manageable rate of pay for an elite reliever — if that’s indeed how other organizations view him.

We’ve wondered in years past if the Reds would deal Iglesias, but the club has held its closer in hopes that the rest of the roster would catch up. There’s hope that high-leverage situations will have greater meaning in 2020, but perhaps also a sense that this could be an opportune moment to cash in on Iglesias. Several other quality relievers figure to be available, but the Giants’ run back into contention could also create a window for the Cincinnati organization to take advantage of a lack of supply.