Nov. 8: Blandino is now a free agent, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Nov. 4: The Reds announced Thursday that infielder Alex Blandino went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Louisville. He’s no longer on the 40-man roster. Cincinnati also reinstated infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel and righties Tejay Antone and Brandon Bailey from the 60-day injured list. Their 40-man roster is now at 36 players.
Blandino, 28, was Cincinnati’s first-round pick back in 2014 but has yet to produce in 279 trips to the plate as a big leaguer (.226/.339/.291). He missed a sizable chunk of the 2021 campaign with a broken hand, which surely couldn’t have helped his production in Triple-A Louisville, where he batted just .102/.289/.153 in 18 games this season. That said, Blandino did turn in a much heartier .247/.386/.379 slash in 70 Triple-A contests back in 2019.
Senzel, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2016 and one of the top all-around prospects in the game prior to his debut, has yet to find much consistency in the big leagues. Arthroscopic knee surgery performed back in May didn’t help matters in 2021, as Senzel was limited to just 124 plate appearances and batted only .252/.323/.315 when healthy (72 wRC+). He didn’t play in a big league game after May 17 on account of a left knee injury, and the 26-year-old has just 616 cumulative plate appearances over parts of three MLB seasons.
Bailey missed the entire season recovering from February Tommy John surgery. Since Tommy John rehab processes often around fourteen months, it seems likely he’ll start next season on the IL as well. Antone underwent the same procedure in August. He’s likely to miss all of 2022 recovering.
Let’s see Suarez and Senzel designated now. Let’s get rid of any extra fluff
Senzel is likely the Reds opening day CF and Suarez was fine after they abandoned the horrible SS experiment.
Suarez will bounds back , senzel I would trade , can’t stay healthy
You can’t trade someone and get nothing in return. Release him.
Same goes for Suarez. He got hot for less than a month at the end of the year. Cut bait and let ‘em go.
Senzel is likely on the DL to start the year. If healthy, trade him.
Senzel could possibly be traded, I don’t see Suarez having any takers.
I say keep them both. Gino was coming off of that shoulder surgery, and just cross your fingers on Senzel. They’re the best two options at their positions…
Senzel needs to play SS
Reds have 2 Short Stops. Farmer and Barrero.. Nowhere to put Senzel and besides MLB’s favorite song is what have you done for me lately. The DH will fix the Moose/Geno issue.
Blandino needs to ask to be trade! He needs a greener pasture.
Dean Blandino’s son? 🙂
You mean Marlon Blaindo ??? @SteveAdams
Weak.
Better trade Senzel before he gets broken again. Is there a “Lemon Law” for MLB players?
Blandino is AAAA player