The Reds announced they’ve assigned catcher Austin Wynns outright to Triple-A Louisville after he cleared waivers. Cincinnati designated him for assignment on Tuesday as the corresponding move to sign Frankie Montas. The Reds also announced they received cash considerations from the Giants to complete the December 19 trade that sent outfielder TJ Hopkins to San Francisco.
Trading Hopkins was coincidentally necessitated by the signing of Wynns to a free agent deal. The Reds inked the 33-year-old backstop to a one-year pact. He held his spot on the 40-man roster for roughly three weeks. Tuesday’s DFA again leaves Cincinnati with Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile as the only catchers on the 40-man.
While it’s not the outcome Wynns had wanted, it’s likely one he knew was a possibility. He signed a split contract that would pay him at a $900K rate for time spent in the majors and $300K for whatever work he logs in Triple-A. Wynns is out of minor league options, so the only way he’d have gotten to Triple-A is if Cincinnati ran him through outright waivers at some point.
With over three years of big league service time, Wynns technically has the right to reject the assignment and return to the free agent market. Doing so would require forfeiting the $300K sum he locked in on the split deal, however. He’ll likely accept the assignment and report to big league Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. If he doesn’t land an Opening Day spot, he can start the year in Louisville while earning a decent salary for a minor league player.
Wynns stands as the top non-roster option if the Reds decide to go back to a three-catcher group — as they did last season with Stephenson, Maile and Curt Casali. Wynns is coming off a poor offensive showing in which he hit .208/.268/.277 over 51 games between the Giants, Dodgers and Rockies. He has never been much of a threat at the plate, but he has parts of five seasons of big league experience and rated as a solid defender last season. He thwarted an excellent 30.8% of stolen base attempts with career-best marks as a pitch framer.
I hate this for Wynns who was once a prospect for the O’s and actually showed some offense in his time in the minors for Baltimore. If he continues to offer some defensive upside, he might continue this up and down Quad A career for a while. He’ll need to make some wholesale changes to his plate approach to reach any more than a ceiling of a backup backstop.
OK I can’t resist…seems like a Wynn Wynn for Wynns and the Reds.
Reds 40 man roster in pretty good shape.. Krall can now concentrate on depth and any low hanging player/prospect that comes available.
Wynns should have been outrighted to Firestone.
Austin Loses
Austin’s window of opportunity is with the Bats.
“Wynns-do” of opportunity
I expect he will end up with some, but not many, games played when Stephenson or Maile get nicked up and need a break.
$300,000 to play in AAA? I get demoted, they take away my overtime and cut me to 1/2 hour for lunch.