The Reds announced a number of non-roster invitees to spring training today. In addition to some names already covered by MLBTR, catcher Will Banfield and right-hander Hagen Danner are on the list. That indicates the Reds have signed those players to minor league deals.
Banfield, 26, just got to make his major league debut with the Reds last year. He got into seven games and made ten plate appearances. He struck out six times and grounded into a double play but also collected one hit, a single. The Reds non-tendered him in November, which sent him to waivers without him being exposed to waivers. They have now brought him back into the organization in a non-roster capacity.
He has never been a huge hitter, though he did launch 23 home runs at the Double-A level in 2023. He was once a notable prospect in the Marlins’ system thanks mostly to his strong defensive reputation.
The Reds have a catching group consisting of Tyler Stephenson, Jose Trevino and Ben Rortvedt. No one in that group can be optioned to the minors, so the Reds will need to have a three-catcher setup or bump someone off the roster, unless an injury changes the picture. However it plays out, Banfield gives the club a glove-first depth catcher. If he’s later added to the roster, he still has options.
Danner, 27, still has a limited track record. He was drafted by the Blue Jays as a catcher but stalled out and got moved to the mound. He got to make his major league debut with Toronto in 2023 but tossed just a third of an inning. In the minors, he has generally had decent strikeout and walks rates. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 114 minor league innings with a flat earned run average of 3.00. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced with an 8.3% walk rate.
The Jays bumped him off the 40-man going into the 2025 season. The Mariners claimed him off waivers and then later outrighted him. He spent last year at Triple-A Tacoma, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He logged 56 1/3 innings for that club with a 5.59 ERA, 21.4% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. He didn’t get his roster spot back by the end of the year and became a free agent. For the Reds, there’s no harm in a non-roster pact to add some more depth. If Danner gets a roster spot at some point, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
Going to have a lot of guys in camp, that’s about all one can say. No quality improvement for sure outside a couple bullpen guys who basically replaced the departed.
If there is one guarantee in life, you change the de facto GM and or the GM of the reds, continually to fall flat AND keep your job. What a pair of gigs tbh
Mmmm. Häagen-Dazs.
Can’t wait til spring training. Nice weather and birds chirping. Team will be basking in robins
Nick Krall is a bigger problem than the cheap owners. He is perfect for them. Just like David Bell, Krall will never hold the same position with another organization. Sad to see what the Reds have become. Even the Pirates appear to be trying.
Isn’t vice president of baseball operations a pretty good gig?
What specifically do you want Nick to do Franklin?
Make the team better. The offense is actually worse than last year on paper. Hays and Andujar are gone, havent been replaced. He needs to make the team better and he actually has made it worse.
I don’t agree. Seems almost all Reds fans concentrate on the lack of Reds offense and are oblivious to the Reds quality pitching. DJ and Krall have acquired and developed a great rotation, a good to great bullpen, and a lot of young pitching depth. As the Reds stand right now- they will still have a rotation of Greene (option), Abbott, Williamson, Burns Lowder, Petty, and Aguiar to choose from. I’ve been a Reds fana long time and cannot remember Reds having this much quality, young pitching.
They still have Brady Singer who is pretty good #3 in most rotations.
Hope the Reds deal some of it for Hitting…
Sorry, those choices were for the 2029 Reds rotation!
He didnt draft Greene. Lodolo, Burns and Lowder were high first round picks. Abbot was a second rounder. He deserves credit for getting out of the way and picking those players in the draft. Other than that show me what he has done besides trading away proven talent for lottery tix that have mostly flamed out. Marte looks like the only find from the purge of 2021. Moustakes 64 million, Candelario (45 million) is the highest paid player by a lot and is out of baseball. Frankie Montas for 21 million. Over 130 million given to Montas, Candelario and Moustakes. They gave the Reds NOTHING.
Sell the team Bob
Yes, sell the team Bob. Portland needs a team, Nashville needs a team, Montreal would like to have one too. Please sell the team, so these complainers won’t have to waste so much of their time thinking about how they would be able to fix the problems with the Reds organization. The free time these guys would have during the summer not having to watch or listen to games would surely enrich their lives. So, sell the team Bob and let them move on to another city where they will be appreciated. We can always get another one, just like when the Cincinnati Royals left town in the 60’s. It’s always fun to go downtown and watch our NBA team. Oh, that’s right WE never got another basketball team in Cincinnati. Hmmmm
MLB wouldn’t let the Reds leave Cincinnati but nice try.
Right. They don’t want to hundreds of millions that the new owners and city would have to pay to join the league. And the revenue for the Portland Reds official league merchandise. The league would hate to have all that cash. You have no idea what it would have cost the Rays new owners to move a few miles inland to Orlando. Maybe do your research instead of repeating,” The league would NEVER let the Reds leave Cincinnati.” Maybe 50 years ago that might be true, but today it’s all about the Benjamins. I remember when the Reds actually played the first game of the year, every year. Then there was the opportunity to start the year in Japan and expose a whole new audience to American Baseball and official league merchandise, and the honor of being the team to start the league season went out the window. Cincinnati almost lost the Reds and then Marge bought them and kept them in Cincinnati. With all the cities wanting a team, and the money for that city and the league that a move would generate they would be as good as gone. But, keep up your delusion, just like the guys who said the Cincinnati Royals would never leave.
2 things I want:
– My dad to come back from the store
– Pompous Yankees fans to crawl back into the sewers from whence they came
“Whiny Fanbase” you just described every Yankee fan.
I feel really bad for Reds fans. You guys don’t deserve this kind of tomfoolery from your front office. The Queen City deserves so much much better.
Such as what Ignorant? All these complaints and no specific suggestions.
I really like your three-way chili too.
Ive answered your question Mr Krall. Now go sign an outfielder.
Seems we are piling up catching depth for a reason. Stephenson could be on the block for obvious reasons. Package a combination of Singer/Lux with him for that power bat. All are gone next year anyway.
if only it were that easy 🙂
Alfredo Dino will be there fast. An absolute beast at the plate
Did the Reds onboard a group of interns to post on various MLB message boards? 😂
Not winning will make your fans whine. We love our team and its history. Unfortunately that’s all we have. For the last 13 years we’ve lost trades and got burned in free agent signings. Cheap ownership cannot fix that