The Reds announced the signing of outfielder Austin Hays to a one-year deal. The MAS+ client is reportedly guaranteed $5MM. That takes the form of a $4MM salary for the upcoming season and a $1MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option for 2026. Hays can earn an additional $1MM via incentives. Right-hander Casey Legumina was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Hays, 29, gives the Reds the right-handed-hitting complement they’ve been seeking for the lefty-swinging outfield group of TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley and Will Benson. He’s a career .277/.331/.469 hitter against left-handed pitching and has experience playing all three outfield spots — though he’s generally better suited for corner work than center field.
As recently as 2023, Hays was an All-Star in Baltimore. He had a down showing in the second half after a monster .314/.355/.498 first half of that season but still finished out the year with a hearty .275/.325/.444 batting line in 566 plate appearances.
The 2024 season, however, was an abject nightmare for Hays. He struggled immensely on the field, due to a pair of leg injuries (hamstring strain, calf strain) and, far more concerning, a kidney infection. As Rosenthal detailed earlier in the offseason, Hays described that kidney infection as “the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.” Upon discovering it, doctors told him he’d likely been suffering from the ill effects of that infection for weeks prior.
Hays told Rosenthal that his symptoms included nausea, lightheadedness, lower back pain, sluggish legs and even a “brain fog” that would at times cause him to lose focus and forget what he was talking about mid-conversation. Hays initially chalked some of the exhaustion, leg fatigue and back pain up to the rigors of a full season and the prior hamstring/calf strains still impacting him. As time wore on and his symptoms increased, it became clear something else was at play.
A healthy Hays could well be a boon to the Cincinnati outfield, particularly if he’s in line to face a large slate of left-handed pitching. The move from Baltimore to Cincinnati should favor him considerably, too. Camden Yards has become a wasteland for right-handed power hitters in recent years, following the team’s decision to alter the dimensions in left field. Since 2022, when the O’s initially altered their park and installed a towering wall in left field (often referred to as “Mount Wall-timore”), their stadium has been the third-worst in MLB for right-handed home runs, per Statcast, leading only Cleveland’s Progressive Field and Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, meanwhile, ranks as the third most-favorable park in MLB for right-handed home runs, by those same park factors.
Hays’ presence in Cincinnati could open up some more infield and/or DH at-bats for fellow righty Spencer Steer, who played primarily in the outfield last year. Steer is an infielder by trade, but his versatility was leveraged when the Reds’ infield became increasingly crowded.
The trade of Jonathan India and overwhelming struggles of Noelvi Marte last year have perhaps lent some extra clarity to the infield, however. There’s still some playing time to sort out this spring, but Steer could see time at the corners and DH alongside Jeimer Candelario, who also struggled in an injury-marred 2024 season, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who missed most of the year due to wrist surgery. Matt McLain (who missed most of the season due to shoulder surgery) and Elly De La Cruz are in line to serve as the primary second baseman and shortstop, respectively. Trade acquisition Gavin Lux could also see time at second base and in left field. Broadly speaking, the Reds’ lineup will feature quite a few moving parts for new skipper Terry Francona to juggle based on matchups, health and workload management.
Hays’ $5MM guarantee will push the Reds’ payroll just north of $110MM, marking an increase of about $10MM over their 2024 budget. Even an increase of that level looked questionable just weeks ago, but the team’s surprise agreement with Main Street Sports/FanDuel Sports Network (the rebranded Diamond Sports/Bally RSN provider) afforded president of baseball operations Nick Krall some additional resources to further build out the 2025 club. The Reds have also been tied to relief upgrades, Carlos Estevez most notably, but it’s not clear whether ownership’s budgetary preferences can accommodate both Hays and another bullpen arm — particularly one of Estevez’s caliber and likely asking price.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Hays and the Reds had agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal with $1MM in incentives. Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the salary breakdown and the mutual option.
Least now the Orioles won’t be tempted!
My O’s should have bought low on him
Hays in Orange and Gray would look Great!
He didn’t want to come back. He didn’t like how things ended.
Then why not change the failure to victory and become a #OriolesLegend like #BrianMatusz?
110 million? Get out the defibrillator. It’s the big one!
There are worse choices.
dewey – Certainly I’d rather have Hays than O’Neill when the contracts are considered.
Hays was a great teammate but the man could not stay healthy enough to produce for an entire season from start to finish. If he struggled in the 1st half, he came back balls to the wall and we great in the 2nd half. If he posted a great 1st half, he all but disappeared in the 2nd half. Then there were other times where he only played part of a season. Great guy but the injuries never allowed him to play strong from beginning to end.
Gotta disagree hard on this one, FPG.
O’Neill has superstar upside, while Hays has solid regular upside.
FPG – Seek medical attention immediately.
King – I respect your opinion, but $16.5M annually for a guy who has put up a 4.1 WAR combined over the past 3 years?
This is a guy who throughout his career has followed a decent year with two awful years. He had the decent year last year, a contract year. Mission accomplished, he got the big contract.
Lets put it this way, if Hays is a bust this year then no big deal …. only $5M. If he has just a good first half, he gets flipped for decent talent and it costs the Reds all of $2.5M.
If O’Neill is a bust this year, you’re stuck with him at $50M. If he has a great year, he’s gone.
Other teams can absorb a $50M gambling loss, but not the Orioles … not the way they spend.
I hope O’Neill can have another 2021, but I would never bet on it. The guy cares more about lifting than baseball.
Orioles – But it hasn’t been 4 hours yet.
Should have used that O’Neill money on a better SP
It’s a pretty solid signing IF he’s over whatever ailed him.
That makes zero sense
Uncle – That’s the thing, it’s not just one “ailment”. The guy has not played in 205 of his team’s games over the past three years combined …. that’s a lot.
Some of the “injuries” are downright fishy, such as last year’s leg infection that he claims he has no idea how it happened.
If there’s a betting line somewhere with him playing 120 games, I’m definitely taking the Under.
O’Neill has reached heights that Hays never has and most likely never will.
I’d rather pay the extra cash and chase the much higher upside than save a few bucks for “comfortably okay.”
King – That’s fair, I know some people are more supportive of risks if it’s not their money. I just hope the contract doesn’t end up handcuffing the O’s for the next 3 years.
I agree Hays is unlikely to ever have a season that O’Neill had in 2021.
Personally, O’Neil strikes out too much for my liking. That said; I’m thinking having him in the line up has gotta help Mountcastle. Mounty no longer the lone right side power bat taking on the (now newer hybrid) deep left field wall dimensions. I’m happy for ya’ Ryan. This roster move should help Mayo’s game as well.
In regards to Hays, what a tease.
Healthy, he’s more than decent at the plate. And boy oh boy oh boy oh boy he complimented Mullins well defensively. Quite the dynamic duo in a sixth sense kinda way patrolling the outfield confines of OPACY.
All said; all kinds of injury (and illness) issues cropped up way too often year in and out here in Baltimore. I wish him well, but prudent move by FO to move on from him.
Somewhat confident this new ownership and the GM wouldn’t fling it out there if they knew it was a likely chance to handcuff them enough if it went wrong.
FPG — To me, some dudes are just more injury prone, and some aren’t. It’s not a talent thing, as there are guys like Buxton that fit that mold too.
Not all injuries are the same (pulled body parts vs. hit by baseball thingy) but those that have self sustained injuries seem to have recuring issues. (Tommy John not part of that self sustained thing to me. TJ is the black lung of baseball to Coal mining).
It makes fantasy drafting easier not drafting injury guys, lol
Fever, long delay in responding. While I loved TO last year, I would never have signed to what the O’s are paying. Very little chance by history he outperforms that deal. and he struck out too much to be the only righty power bat for the Sox. Him or Ceddane not both.
O’s – You nailed it with self sustaining injury. MLB has a history of over-muscular players constantly dealing with muscle pulls etc such as Stanton. I would be surprised to see O’Neill cut back on the lifting to stay off the IL, he’s too absorbed with it. That’s why I’m skeptical of him having a healthy season.
The issue is most teams are salary constrained…..so the Extra Money they put in for O’Neil is NOT going to other spots such as the Starting Rotation or the Pen. The O’s are not the Mets or Dodgers. The “Upside” is questionable with 1 good year out of the last 3 when he is reaching an age where OFers tend to platuea and enter a slight decline….So it would not be statistically shocking if the O’s get 3 years of performance just a tad under the 2022/2023 average….which would be a disaster. And Hayes has actually had BETTER availability than O’neil over the last 3 years.
Bob – Fantastic post, thank you!
The money was going to go to a competent corner outfield/right handed bat no matter what, simply a matter of who it was, it’s not like this specific money was going to be reserved for a B-tier pitcher.
Royals should have been in on Hays.
I agree with you
Aren’t they trying to make playoffs? They should have been on someone better.
I thought they were going to have a busier offseason. I like the India acquisition, but they need another bat in that lineup I think. Maybe Grichuk is a fit for them.
Grichuk would be nice.Throw in Verdugo as well. Outfield needs a lot of help.
I don’t know how Renfroe can be considered a starter anymore.
And they should have been on someone better last year when they signed Renfroe. I didn’t understand that one.
They already had LH hitters for the platoon. He’s perfect for the role they have for him.
D lil pricey. Tauchman cost much less. Has much sexier obp.
That may be true, but Cincy has lefty outfielders…they needed a right handed outfielder. Hays has the sexier obp against left handed pitching.
If a platoon is all they want than Grichuk is the superior choice. Will cost more $ so that’s probably the reason. But you get what you pay for.
Yeah you’re correct Grichuk would be the better option for the outfield platoon. Grichuk will inevitably cost more money than 5 million and the Reds are still looking to add a reliever…so, I am guessing that the front office chose the cheaper option in Hays so that they can still add a quality bullpen arm.
I’d gladly pay 7 or 9 for Grichuk. More than 10 Hays is the guy. Or Canha cheaper and can play 1b. Pillar cheaper.
Good relievers have gone cheap so doesn’t look like pen is priority. Still a few left as well.
There have been numerous reports of the Reds interest and talks with Carlos Estevez so I’d say the bullpen is very much still a priority for the team.
I think Hays is decent, solid player. He hits RH, which Reds need. Good for Cinci and good for Hays
I agree. If he is healthy, he could be just what the Reds need considering the cost of other options.. I am not as concerned with the bullpen as they have several good options about to be ready. You could move Phillips to the pen. They also have Maxwell, Ashcraft, and Spiers. Many fans forget about Santillan, who is also a good pitcher out of the pen. They could add a low cost option to the pen. I think they are set for the most part as far as the roster. Now we just have to hope for good luck with injuries which destroyed the team last season..
Good pickup Cincy
I was shocked when he got traded last year..
He is definitely an undervalued player
He’s perfectly valued. When he first came up he was looking like a 5 tool superstar in the making on the way to a $100m future deal. Injuries slowed him down a bit recently but he generally just didn’t play up to expectations.
@gr8
Well said. I saw plenty of Hays as an O’s fan and he’s definitely a serviceable hand but more suited for platoon duty at this point. He’s one of those muscled-up dudes like Tyler O’Neill or Stanton and it seems like the full season grind gets to him after a certain point. He’s got a pretty pronounced negative first v. second half split for his career.
Could definitely still see him having a few more good seasons if used correctly but this deal seems about right.
He absolutely stunk for the Phillies, but he did suffer some health issues.
I was okay with the trade for him, as at least he was a potential upgrade in Philly. Beyond his health issues however, I just didn’t like his fundamentals at the plate. Glad that we moved on.
0 walks with the Phillies. That’s horrendous discipline.
Hays come from the school of Adam Jones and Anthony Santander — learned how to hit the unhittables rather than learning to take those pitches. Seemed like that was the pre-Elias organizational philosophy. (Glad to see it gone).
I just can’t imagine not walking in 50+ plate appearances.
Von – Allow me to introduce Ceddanne Rafaela.
He’s gone 142 PA’s without a walk going back to August 9th, and the record is held by Mariano Duncan who went 323 PA’s without a walk in 1994-1995.
Haha. I remember Duncan very well. Rafaela I didn’t recall. That’s incredible!
Mariano Duncan was on the Reds last World Series champion in 1990. The team did a rap video after they won it all called ‘Reds Hot’ and Mariano’s one line in the song was ‘You can’t touch this’
Looking back on that I guess it could have been a subtle jab at the A’s since M.C. Hammer was once a batboy for the A’s.
I didn’t see him getting any better. Sure Hays and agent are thrilled.
great bounce back candidate. IMO this is a good pick up for them. He had an awful run of injuries last year.
Great ballpark for hitters, too.
After Hays goes 10 for 120 with 10 singles they’ll IL him for the rest of the season. If only they could’ve afforded Grichuk
Prior to last year (a 2023 AS)he was putting up Profar numbers. Apparently SD can’t afford this kind of deal. Still looking for the $1 M AS I guess.
I don’t think the padres will be signing anyone until they trade someone
Great point ! He should be a padre.
In 2023 Profar was putting up 2024 Hays numbers so maybe it all evens out.
Not my favorite signing. Hie advanced metrics are not good at all. He doesn’t walk much. Strikes out too much. Not a good defender. Not very fast. His only plus tool is his arm. He should be fine if he’s strictly a platoon bat vs LHP. I wish he brought more to the table.
I believe he was a gold glove finalist when he was healthy… I recall his defense being good to great in Baltimore. He was a CF playing lf… his bat was ok but he got hurt often as hit on hands or leg issues which hurt his offense or kept him on IL. I had hoped they would bring him back in platoon, Def replacement role. Good low risk move by cin
I am hopeful that he’s a good player for the Reds. I just did a deep dive on all right handed OF free agents a few days ago. In 2024, he has -3 Outs Above Average and -8 Defensive Runs Saved in 74 games in LF.
CF85 – He was hurt last year. His defensive metrics are pretty solid prior to 2024. Not great, but certainly decent for a 4th OF with some pop (109 OPS+ from 2021 to 2023 is from his power because his OBP was basically league-average). There’s a good chance he’ll be a bust, I didn’t want the O’s to resign him, largely because he’d be our 5th OF and we don’t have roster room, but there’s some solid upside if he proves that 2024 was an outlier due to his injury.
He can’t play D and is always hurt. Fits right in with the rest of the team ! Why did it take so long for reds to sign him ??
I think it’s best reds could have done. They couldn’t afford profar and Robert was going to cost too much prospect capital. He’s got a sky high ceiling
He strikes out less than the league average. And he is above average defender, you can’t look at one single season where he dealt with a hamstring Paul, a calf strain, and a kidney infection and complain about his defensive numbers. Or his speed, which is also above average. And his career splits do not scream platoon player only.
He does walk less than the league average There’s that.
For this contract, a platoon bat is all you can expect. Anything more is bonus round time.
Finally the Reds add an outfielder.
Waste of a roster spot.
Apparently you haven’t seen the bottom of the reds roster lol
Solid move…marks the beginning of free agents taking what they can get with three weeks left?
Good for the Reds, I bet Hayes will enjoy playing for Tito in a launching pad.
It’s a perfect spot for him to try to rebound and I really hope he does. He was a rare bright spot during the darkest years of the Orioles rebuild.
Votto should be brought back for a 1 or 2 year retirement tour, least they can do for him. 550 At bats in 2025, 500 in 2026.
Lol. 500 combined for 2 years is something worth signing him for ( if trying to sell tix and let him reach some more milestones )
Votto should be brought back as a hitting coach. He was the one to say he knows his playing days are over after struggling in the minors last year.
I like this move for both of them.
Votto hitting from the right side would be more productive than Hays.
This is a take it or leave it pick up to me. Can’t see it being much better or worse than last year for the Reds. Hopefully it works out well. But your response gave me a good chuckle. And it may be true.
How is the 40-man roster going?
Great fit for both sides.
Here’s hoping he has a nice bounceback season for them!
He may run like mays but he hits like shHIS SISTER
was hoping the rangers would take him as the short side of Pederson platoon. dang, don’t think they could have offered 5 at this point though
I don’t want to say I get a Wil Myers vibe here, but…
Shocking!
Did u have the wil Myers vibe before they signed him ? I liked the Myers signing at the time. Dude was a solid player for many seasons
Actually, yes. He had regressed while already with the Padres. Candelario and Pagan had one good year before they were signed. These are the type of guys they sign, not long and still established guys.
*afford
I am sure he’s still salty over the Orioles trading him to the Phillies.
Wait how is Will Benson still in the bigs?
No way this character starts over Hays vs RHP, right?
The Reds should option Benson and put Steer in LF. Hays in RF versus LHP, Fraley versus RHP.
Bingo
Right. No way. He had his chance last season to earn a spot and he could not do it. He will get some at bats most likely but nothing like last season
Hays will definitely benefit by not having to try to hit the ball over the Gleyber Torres Memorial Wall in LF.
To be fair, we are bringing the LF wall back in a bit this year.
Where grichuk
he Reds have agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal with outfielder Austin Hays,
Yay!!!
Last year Hays had 9 walks with the Orioles and 0 with the Phillies. Amazing.
Good sign for them
Really nice pick up for them.
Somebody had to do it! Congratulations to the Reds and Hays, may you bore wonderful fruit together.
Good signing…now you don’t have to play Fraley or Benson. His metrics vs RHP are over .700 OPS too…
Good low risk signing. It’s a steal if Hays rebounds and no budget buster if he doesn’t. Francona will at least position him for success.
He was way too expensive for the Pirates so they signed Frazier who can also play second base. Problem is they don’t need someone to play that position since they have Gonzales and Triolo among others.
Reds outspending the Pirates, now that is sad.
Reds always outspend the Pirates.
That time of year where all the small to mid market teams mop up the leftovers big market teams dont want on the cheap!
Nice pickup for the Reds.
Bizarre signing. Massive overpay for production/past performance and still exceptionally cheap by MLB standards- which makes sense since it’s the Reds.
I do not understand how the Reds function.
I’m not trying to be mean here. They just seem utterly irrelevant, incapable of attracting top tier talent and for all the homegrown guys that are decent and on contracts that aren’t *dirt* cheap it’s just token spending, it seems.
I wonder how/when they will claw back to true relevancy.
Makes me think of their Ken Griffey, Jr. era and how it felt like his generational, legendary talent was unfortunately wasted.
Totally disagree. This was a solid signing.
The Reds needed a RH hitting OFr. Hays has a decent bat and his power should play up in GABP. He’s good in the field with a strong arm. Ultimately, the Reds need to play the youngsters and Hays won’t block anyone long-term.
Nice RH platoon partner with Fraley in RF.
Is this 2025 or 1985? $5M for a starting OF is a “massive overpay?” Not even close.
Griffey joined a 96-win team. And by that time, he was no longer a generational talent. He accumulated 12.9 bWAR in 9 seasons with Cincy and was expensive.
Best news is now Krall can concetrate onfinding 2-3 upgrades for that bullpen.
Go get that guy they are linked too ! Decent enough roster to have me excited for spring !
Signing Estevez means trading Diaz.. Reds won’t pay both. I’d prefer Signing Buck Farmer and clearing space for a waiverwire pickup- or a trade. Prospect(s) for a controllable reliever.
Def don’t trade Diaz ! He needs to recoup some trade value
Good low-risk signing for the Reds and almost certainly the best deal Hays could hope to see for this offseason. I know some O’s fan wish we signed him instead of Carlson but Carlson has minor league options.
Tired of “low risk” signings. One of these years the Reds will get serious.
i’ll take things the pirates should’ve done instead of adam frazier reunion for 600, alex
@TrillionaireTeamOperator
That’s the definition of cognitive dissonance.
Top-tier free agents are attracted to money. The Reds don’t want to offer it. Remaining in the middle of the pack with an outside chance of grabbing a WC spot is also a good business model for some team owners. Watch what they do and stop listening to what they say.
Hal said last season that a $300M payroll is “unsustainable” yet here we are entering another season at $300M+. Not that I’m complaining.
Good grab for the Reds! Both sides should enjoy this.
Reds fans will like the “type” of player Hays is–max effort, hair on fire, run through out field walls type. He plays with a “cat that ate the canary” grin on his face.
Buck Schwalter once said “you’d rather have players you have to tell do less, rather than those you have to ask more of.”. Well, Hays is that guy. He definitely plays at 110%, possibly to his detriment during ABs. Probably more of a “see it, hit it” guy with a bit of educated-guesses. When it works, it l’s loud and fast. When it doesn’t, he looks lost.
The arm is legit! It’s not a cannon, but a precision thing. It stops a lot of extra bases by opponents.
Great guy, good character dude, and always fun to watch in the OF or AB’s. He will be missed in Baltimore, good luck Austin!
Sounds like my kind of player. Never get tired of watching players like that.
This dude is gonna be the next “Cubs Killer” since Jindia is on the Royals meow.
Good low value, but high potential pickup.
I like this pickup. Like many on the board I think Hays is a solid bounce back candidate.
He’s not old and if you take out his injury riddled 2024 he’s been about 10% better than average offensively over his career.
“Brain Cloud! I knew it!”
Tom Hanks in the much underrated movie, Joe vs the Volcano.
youtu.be/oAB9Y2CVqZU?feature=shared
The Reds have quietly had a good offseason. Acquiring Brady Singer for Jonathan India gave them some more depth for the starting rotation by dealing from their surplus of infielders. Then with losing India they get Gavin Lux from the Dodgers to replace him. Trevino will be valuable as a backup catcher and now Hays to complete the platoon with Fraley.
None of these are Earth shattering moves but having one of the best managers in the game with the hiring of Terry Francona, I think these moves improve the team from where it was the last few years and we all see some winning baseball in Cincinnati this year. Tito is going to work his magic.
True. By signing Hayes, the best thing is they didn’t have to give up any players for him. They may need to add to the BP and bench, but basically they should have the roster set and need to hope for no significant new injuries and a good bounce back for those who are returning from last year’s injuries. CES and McClain are the ones to watch for me along with moving Elly to 3B.
Completely agree with you. As with all teams health is the biggest factor this year for the Reds. I see McLain being even better than he was two years ago. I think CES is the wild card. Hoping he is the power in the lineup the Reds were lacking last year.
Pump the brakes a bit on McLain being better. He was great two years ago but hasn’t faced big league pitching in a year. He will probably start slowly. We all have see n what he is capable of though, so he will adjust and come through in the end. Just don’t get down on the kid if he starts slowly.
If Rece Hinds can cut down on that swing and show a fraction of what he did after getting called up, we will really have a surprise, especially if CES returns to form too. Those two and Elly could be quite the Murderer’s Row.
You have a great point about McLain. I just have faith that he is the real deal and am being overly optimistic. I’m liking how the team looks on paper and think we should see a lot of good and winning baseball this year from them.
There’s no reason to move Elly from SS at this time. They’re strong up the middle with EDLC, McLain, and Friedl.
Elly’s arm and range play up at SS
His body build and errors don’t play going forward. I would go ahead and move McClain to SS. because it is pretty much a certainty Elly is not a long term SS. With his size, he will gain weight and slow down losing range.. Not a problem so much at 3B as it is at SS. Also, if Elly doesn’t cut down the amount of errors at SS, it is a moot point. McClain is already a steady SS. Another reason is the Reds aren’t going to be able to retain Elly long term financially unless the looming strike changes things. They have a better chance of holding onto McClain long term.
Nonsense. Elly has an elite arm and elite range. He gets to balls that other players merely dream of. The errors will continue to come down as he gets older. What is he, 22-23 years old? As for him bulking up, are you kidding me? The man doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him.
The other player you speak of is McLain. MCLAIN. He’s not moving to short because the Reds already have EDLC’s eventual replacement in Arroyo.
I would hope with them going with Hayes instead of Grichuck that they are planning on signing another reliever.
Man it sucks being a Twins Fan. Was hoping they would at least throw a flyer out for Hays. $5M should have been doable. Oh well BUSTon better stay healthy to run down the balls missed by Wallner and Larnach.
Just what the Reds needed a huge injury risk and on the decline. Orioles fans happy they didnt bring him back says a lot. No i don’t care about him being a good guy.
How is Hays a “huge” injury risk? Luis Robert is a huge injury risk, not Hays. And there been just as many Orioles fans extolling his virtues as there have been negative comments.
This was a good signing.
To each there own. Mediocre improvements aren’t helping this team a lot.
Perfect player for Tito.
Reds will start out a bit slow as the players adjust their games, Tito learns about them and has the coaches work with them. Even with injuries he’ll have then them for the stretch run. They’ll be WS contenders this year. His team always finish fast.
Best manager in MLB…..and managers matter!
I like it. They needed a RH OF, and I think Hays has good bounce back potential.
Always interesting to hear how people say should have signed this guy or that guy as if the reds can just pick who they want. Maybe none of those guys were ready to commit to the Reds right now. Or even wanted to. Reds address a need get a bullpen piece now and see how it goes.
Reds FO has caught some flak for this offseason. The moves were not earth shattering but IMO the team was improved with each one. Singer improved the rotation. Losing India was tough but Lux is arguably as good or better. Hays is better than Fairchild. Retaining Martinez is huge. Trevino is an upgrade from Maile. Francona was the biggest addition bringing his experience and knowledge to Cincy. Could be a very interesting season in store. Throw out the first pitch and let’s go!
I’d love to see Krall make one more splash this offseason. Signing Estevez and keeping Diaz would qualify. So woud a 1 year deal with Justin Turner. Later on (afterplayers report and Reds have 2 roster spots open) a trade with Cleveland for a couple of their young relievers (Herrin, Aleman) for say Ricardo Cabrera or Carlos Jorge could really ramp up that bullpen.
That would be two big moves. Sheen and Diaz would form a nice 1-2 punch
Turner and Hays would really help them punish LH pitching
Will Myers 2.0
My fear as well. Oh well it will be onto the next project player.
See now, had the Tigers hired the Superfife …
The Tigers could have helped the Reds by taking all of Emilio Pagans’ underwater contract given them Wenzel Perez + more…the Tigers have relievers.
And all it would have cost them is….A Duno!
Tiger FO asleep at the wheel…..
With his Health as key to this signing, I think he’s an excellent acquisition that will solidify their OF without a doubt…if they can get a reliever with closers experience this team is a legit contender in the NL…as always health and younger players growth provided
I like it. Best option available if you consider dollars and talent. He doesn’t have to be a superstar, if he is better than Fairchild then this is an upgrade and that’s all you can ask for.
I actually really like this signing for the reds. Up until his injury plagued season last year Hays has been a consistent slightly above average hitter. Maybe the confines of the Great American Small Park will benefit him as well!
“Meanwhile” has to START the sentence; it can’t come in the middle between commas. And “too” should not have a comma before it.
If he is healthy this could be a very good deal for both sides. The Reds get a good outfielder, Hays gets to hit in a good hitter’s park.
Good. Very good.
THE REDS AGAIN! THEY ARE RUINING BASEBALL.
Still not official?
Good signing if he can stay healthy