The Reds announced that outfielder Wil Myers, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has now been released.
It’s hardly a shock to see Myers released, given the combination of his contract and results this year. The club signed him to a one-year deal in the offseason with a $7.5MM guarantee. That came in the form of a $6MM salary this year and a $1.5MM buyout on a mutual option. The rebuilding Reds were surely hoping for Myers to serve as a reliable veteran presence who became a trade candidate by midseason.
Unfortunately, Myers hit just .189/.257/.283 through 141 plate appearances before landing on the injured list in May due to kidney stones. By the time he was ready to come off the IL, various Cincinnati prospects had hit the ground running in the big leagues and vaulted the team into first place. With the rebuild suddenly appearing to be over, there was little room left for Myers to get the necessary playing time to get into a groove, so he was designated for assignment instead.
Myers will now head to the open market in search of his next opportunity. Despite his poor results this year, clubs may be intrigued by his career output. He’s hit .252/.326/.437 for a wRC+ of 107 in 1100 career games dating back to 2013. He can be slotted into an outfield corner or first base, and can even play third in a pinch. He also hit .261/.315/.398 for a wRC+ of 106 as recently as last year.
Any club willing to take a chance on Myers would do so with no financial risk. The Reds will remain on the hook for what’s left of that contract, leaving any other club free to sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Reds pay.
Myers is currently at 965 career hits, we’ll see if a team picks him up and if he can get to 1,000.
Hoping the Sox pick him up even to just temporarily replace AV and see if he can add some pop from the right side. I realize he hasn’t in years but it has little risk.
??????? Are you sure?
Ugh…
Stevie Wonder saw this coming
I do have vision problems,,,my point is there is little risk and look at Aaron Hicks in Baltimore.
LOL, you have vision problems but you tell me to “look” at Hicks in Baltimore..
66 abs do not make a season or a 1/2 season, or 1/4 season.
A revival can take as little as a breathe, a comeback takes a season, a career takes a life time.. Call me when he retires, if i need to, I’ll eat my words. The man has been paid so much it’s obscene. He owes somebody.
Curly. Again with no risk it’s a short term move and if you don’t catch lightning in a bottle, you move on.
You do realize that reaching 1,000 hits is sort of like reaching 80 career home runs. It’s meaningless. Heck, Zoilo Versalles has 1,246.
Milt – in the mind and heart of a real MLB player, it could mean something. For you fantasy leaguers, maybe not.
1,000 hits might not mean anything to you, but it surely means something to the players.
No takers obviously. Pretty bad when you can’t get a 29 year old pitcher coming off Tommy John or a 30 year old catcher with bad knees for a guy.
I wish the Tigers had the same courage to cut bait with Jonathan Schoop who has a similar dash line, pay, and age as Myers.
Tigers will resign schoop
I’m guessing that the Tigers will release Schoop before the All-Star break. It’s time.
Ok Preller, time to bring him home. Dump Pedro Avila.
He’s always hit the snot out of the ball at the Giants ballpark. Maybe SF takes a chance?
Another candidate for the game:
can the padres swing a minor league nostalgia depth deal?
He would be the next depth option for a lot of potential injuries in SD, and his average this year is in line with theirs sad to say.
Chicago Cubs might take a chance.
I can see this happening. Don’t follow NL games much, but I’ve heard that 1B is a bit of a carousel in Chicago.
C’mon Phils, pick this guy up and drop Harrison ( who will also get picked up, cause he only stinks in Philly) Clemens and Sosa play way too much and have been exposed.
Rather give Myers a shot….especially after watching Clemens/Harrison in RF last week
In two easy moves, the Phillies can pick up low risk high reward players Wil Myers and Jose Iglesias and give them a shot. If they don’t work out, the trade deadline is right around the corner and go grab a guy like Matt Duffy and/or an outfielder. I’d take a shot on Zach Plesac too.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the Dodgers bit on him at league minimum. Michael Busch doesn’t seem ready at 3rd.
Are you suggesting Myers play 3b for the Dodgers? I really don’t think any team should rely on Myers for regular work anywhere but: 1b, RF, LF, DH.
In 2022 he was pretty ok with the bat, and played those positions and a few cameos at 3b, CF, and P.
I am a Padres fan. I was ok with letting Myers walk this past offseason. He was pretty ok with the bat in half a season in 2022. And he played 6 positions, including 4 appearances of mop up pitching.
I am happy to see that he hit the full 10 year pension in early June.
It seems that the Reds release him early, probably thinking that no team would claim him off waivers, so they might as well give him a head start on moving on with this life and career.
I wonder if SD might pick him up? I don’t know what happened with his bat in Cin, but perhaps he can rebound in SD.
SD currently has: Jake Cronenworth, Nelson Cruz, Matt Carpenter, and Brandon Dixon playing 1b/OF/DH with Cruz’s OPS the highest at .701. I think Myers has a good chance of improving on that, while also offering more defensive versatility, and he is a fan favorite. And not too many players have played 9 years in SD.
Pods have enuf sub 200-hitting strikeout machines. No need for Myers.
Totally agree. AJ should take a flyer on him. They’re still paying him. Heck, he’ll even get the first round after the playoffs
I don’t think SD is still paying Myers. They are still paying Hosmer.
You are correct Lemonade. This got my thinking. It wasn’t that Myers was bad but more that he was overpaid (could say similar about Hosmer).
So, if SD signs him for league minimum and maybe they get similar to 2022 out of him, they can better average out their cost.
I’ll still take him over Cruz at this point.
I’d rather have Wil at league minimum than a 43 year old Cruz. At least Wil can wear a few fielders gloves.
Wil doesn’t wear batting gloves and Cruz didn’t bring a fielder glove to SD because they aren’t letting him near RF or 1B.
Nelson Cruz actually played 1b for one inning this season, and it wasn’t some fluke emergency.
I don’t know if dumping Cruz would be a wise move.
A) His OPS of .701 is higher than that of Carpenter, Cronenworth, or Dixon. Yeah, I know they can’t dump Cronenworth.
B) Cruz did SD a solid by signing for only $1mm. And he is good friends with Tatis and Machado. I think that dumping Cruz would create bad vibes in the clubhouse and around the league.
I think that dropping Dixon or even Carpenter makes more sense.
Of course neither of us know what other offers were out there but really, I think at 43 with his stats last year, no competitive team was begging him to sign – even at only 1 million.
I think it more likely that he saw a chance to continue his career, maybe get those few HR’s he needed and play for a contender with those guys you mentioned.
I think SD took a flyer and he jumped at the chance as opposed to doing them a “solid”.
@lemonade
Its not like SD is known for its happy go lucky clubhouse. Cruz certainly isn’t the gel that holds it together. I would think anyone that improves their place in the standings will be welcome no matter who they replace.
Myers has always hit really well in San Francisco and the Giants are a bit dinged up. I wouldn’t be surprised if FZ takes a flyer on him.
Wil Myers slow start and then injury doomed him. So many Reds prospects made it to the dance and have performed. It was a roster numbers crunch. Myers could have a decent 2nd half. I’d rather have a couple Wil Myers than half a Mikey Moose- which still weighs more than a couple Wil Myers.
I think he’s def better than an Oswaldo Cabrera in left. Calhoun gone now, I mean why not? They clearly aren’t ever gonna use florial. Bauers is not a good fielder. Just my opinion.
Guys like Volpe and Cabrera need time to develop. Bauers hasn’t been that bad. If Stanton, JD, and DJL didn’t suck and Bader can stay on the field, we wouldnt be having his conversation.
Florial went thru waivers and no GM thought he was worth a look for free. Don’t sweat it.
Should spell Grisham at CF. Yes Grishams defense is outstanding but his bat is streaky. Could spell Cronenworth at first. Pads need to bring him back. That said, of course it won’t happen.
Even if they got him, the ridiculous strike zone & dead balls the Pobres regularly receive from MLB would render him as useless as he was last time he collected checks from the Pobres.
I’d rather “platoon” Wil in RF/ Grish in CF & Junior in the opposite those days. Send Dixon down and find a DFA (or a couple 2, 3) for the 40 move.
I also like a little Myers in LF and Soto to DH every now and then.
But really the padres need to start using DH to get Bogaerts/Machado/Soto some half days instead of insisting Odor is worth the spot when the old man platoon isn’t in.
I do concur. Wil would be a great fit with the team…
Will Benson has been on fire lately, which I’m sure factored into this decision. It’s looking like the Guardians picked the wrong guys to trade from their hitting surplus in Benson and Nolan Jones. They could use both of them pretty badly right about now.
Stros should DFA Abreu and give Meyers a chance. Even if the same at least it would be a change
The Astros committed $50M to Abreu. There’s no way they would DFA him 1/2 way through his first year with the team. Abreu will rebound in the 2nd half. If they can get him back on track and get Brantley back, the Stros can still win the AL West
Seattle should take a flier
25 and 40 man roster spots, If you have openings or have players you planned to DFA, I suppose it could be worth a minimal-cost look, but he’s unlikely to be a difference-maker. Maybe a team with an injured regular at IB corner OF who is expected back in August, and then you just cut Myers loose.
I am happy to see that most people are optimistic of some team signing Myers.
I guess this means that Hosmer’s MLB career really is over. Hosmer was released almost a month ago. And other 1bers get designated and picked up by other teams, while Hosmer still sits at home. Not shocking. I don’t think Hosmer has much to offer at this point.
…bringing a giant glass of ice cold truthlemonade with that post.
Most 1B who are cut don’t have the earnings coming in that Hosmer has. He can refuse to take a minor league assignment, stay home, and get paid the same.
Carpenter is LH and his contract is prohibitive of a DFA so you can forget that.
Cruz had a hot streak of about 7-10 game a long time ago so those numbers are not present day numbers and declining.
On a minor league deal?
Surely at league minimum there is a team that could take a flyer / improve their 26 spot – see above re Nelson Cruz. Now, maybe he doesn’t want to play for just any team? I don’t think he takes a milb deal in 2023 but if they is all he gets come ST next year then he wil (see what I did there?)
He always hit well at Coors Field! I think the Rockies could use some 1B help.
Back to Rays. Off the bench piece.
Cleveland?