TODAY: The Reds officially announced their deal with Kemp. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (via X) reports that Kemp will earn $1.75MM if he makes Cincinnati’s active roster, with another $750K in bonuses available. Kemp can opt out of his deal on March 23 if he hasn’t been promised a spot on the Opening Day roster.
FEBRUARY 23: The Reds have signed infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp to a minor league deal, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Ballengee Group client also receives an invite to big league camp.
Kemp, 32, is coming off a down year with the Athletics. He walked more than he struck out, 10.5% rate to 9.5%, but didn’t do much damage when he put the ball in play. He slashed just .209/.303/.304 for a wRC+ of 77. The baseball gods may have been frowning on him a little bit, as his .221 batting average on balls in play was well below the .297 league average last year. But on the other hand, Kemp’s never been a huge threat with the bat, with poor career metrics in terms of exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate.
But there are some attractive attributes as well, including defensive versatility. He has over 2,000 innings of big league experience at second base and left field, in addition to brief time at the other two outfield spots and shortstop. He also racked up double-digit steal totals in each of the past two seasons.
The Reds are loaded with position-player talent all over the diamond, with Jeimer Candelario, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, TJ Friedl, Noelvi Marté, Jonathan India, Will Benson, Tyler Stephenson, Jake Fraley all battling for playing time. But many of the guys in that group are still fairly young and inexperienced. If any of them have some sort of setback in terms of results, the club would probably prefer they get regular reps in the minors as opposed to sitting on the big league bench.
The club has also signed veteran infielders like Josh Harrison, Erik González, Hernán Pérez and Mark Mathias to minor league deals. Kemp will jump into that mix and try to play his way into a veteran bench role at some point.
Can’t wait for people to overreact to a MiLB deal
Cue the HILARIOUS “World Series here we come!” comments
ws here we come
At least it’s not Matt Kemp again. Ahahaha!
Hall of Very Good.
That’s being overly kind to a guy with a career WAR of 3.5. The only Hall he would be in is a ‘Hall of Guys Who Played in the MLB’.
Totally have to agree with you. Very good AAA player. Well below average major leader. But he will add some leadership to the younger guys. He’s overall a pretty good guy
His ceiling is a backup OFer. MiLB deal is more than reasonable for a guy at his tier, for anyone thinking he should have gotten a big league deal.
If anybody needs more infielders, it’s Cincy.
How about signing someone we could use, like Robbie Grossman? An OF who can platoon against LHPs.
Krall is collecting infielders this offseason.
Well as the saying goes you can never have too much infielding.
Yet more money the Reds should have put toward signing Otani. This organization is hopeless.
see, your post was funny and so sarcastic people actually know it’s sarcastic (I hope) …very well done
Matt McLain tweaked his oblique and will miss the first 5 games of Spring Training. He missed the last month or so of 2023 due to an oblique injury. This is a good move. Brings leadership to the team and gives the Reds someone just in case McLain is hurt worse than expected.
His name is Jonathan India. Not this crap
Kemp and Harrison. If nothing else getting them around the youngsters has to help. Hopefully this isn’t a sign Mcclain’s injury is more serious.
Hmm another player linked to the pirates has signed elsewhere.
Not that I ever understood why the pirates would have been interested in the first place
For some players it’s just about getting into camp and getting AB’s, showcasing yourself for other teams rather than the team you are currently with
Tony Kemp could end up seeing considerable playing time at 2nd base for Louisville, but not a lot of leftfield at AAA and little chance of any ML time. Reds just too deep at those positions.
would be wise if they can trade some surplus for an SP
The Reds have a legit shot at the playoffs this year. I would love for them to sign JD Martinez and put him in the middle of the order everyday at DH. The Reds have surplus to still pull off a Dylan Cease deal.
But they won’t. They never do.
Love TK!! A great clubhouse presence, fun personality, and genuinely good human. Hope all the best for him (he was a bright spot for us A’s fans over the past few years)
Another day, another infielder rather than a prime starting pitcher, bullpen setup guy or right handed hitting outfielder they need.
The guy has just proved in multiple offseasons that he doesn’t know how to build a complete team despite his excuse makers.
Yeah, sorry. Nick Krall inherited a team that had just had 4 straight losing seasons, including 3 three seasons in a row with 94 or more losses. After he was promoted on 5/10/18 the Reds made it 4 in a row with another 95 losses in 2018.
Since then the Reds have had winning seasons in three of the five years. Krall did a masterful job in executing a total rebuild in 2022. With a young player base and a stocked farm system the Reds are truly contenders in 2024 and for years to come.
Why in the world would you add another starting pitcher when you have:
Greene
Ashcraft
Montas
Abbott
Lodolo
Williamson
Phillips
Martinez
A year ago no one thought Williamson was ready for MLB. He got his chance, and he excelled in his rookie campaign. Let the youngsters pitch. If an addition is needed, it can be made at the trading deadline.
In Krall I trust. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say that about a Reds GM.
A prime starter like Snell or Montgomery. Yes they are going to sit there and actually pay up for one of those guys when teams with more revenue and resources are not even touching those guys. There are no prime starters left. For the millionth time. They have young starters that they are building with. They also already signed relievers.
This is a minor league deal for depth and you act as if this some important signing.
Kemp’s best play occurred when he leapt high in the air to swat away the gum tub he tossed before it would have hit Verlander’s head. upi.com/Sports_News/MLB/2018/08/30/Houston-Astros-…
So Kemp is opting out on March 23. No way he makes the MLB roster with so many other infield options.
Seems mostly like this is where Tony Kemp wanted to go more than any other reason this signing happened. I think he’s a Nashville guy so wanted to be close to home while in AAA?