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Mark Melancon Expected To Miss Multiple Months With Shoulder Strain

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The D-Backs announced on Wednesday that veteran reliever Mark Melancon would miss the start of the season after experiencing shoulder discomfort. Manager Torey Lovullo provided a disheartening update on Thursday afternoon. The four-time All-Star will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection to address a subscapularis strain, an injury the skipper said will be measured in “months, not weeks” (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic).

Signed to a two-year, $14MM free agent contract over the 2021-22 offseason, Melancon had a rough first season in the desert. The righty posted a 4.66 ERA through 56 innings. It was his worst run prevention mark in a decade, while his 14.2% strikeout rate was his lowest since his abbreviated rookie season in 2009. His 44.1% grounder percentage was the worst of his career. The D-Backs pulled Melancon from the closing role towards the tail end of the season.

His hope for a bounceback showing has been set back out of the gate. There’s some hope the PRP injection can get him back on track eventually but it now seems that’s a midseason goal. Given the stated timeline, the 14-year MLB veteran figures to wind up on the 60-day injured list whenever the club needs a 40-man roster spot.

Melancon isn’t the only Arizona reliever dealing with a concerning shoulder issue. Right-hander Corbin Martin left last night’s Spring Training contest with an injury. Lovullo told reporters the 27-year-old was going for imaging on Thursday (relayed by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). The club won’t know a timetable for Martin’s return until there’s more clarity on the diagnosis, yet it’s an obviously unfortunate situation for a pitcher still looking to establish himself at the MLB level.

A former second-round pick of the Astros, Martin reached the majors with Houston two years after being drafted. He made five starts and had been optioned back to Triple-A when he required Tommy John surgery in July 2019. Within a few weeks, Houston dealt him as one of four players in the deadline blockbuster to acquire Zack Greinke. A top 100 caliber prospect at the time, Martin was arguably the headliner of a package that included former first-rounders J.B. Bukauskas and Seth Beer, as well as infielder Josh Rojas (who has been the most successful of the bunch to this point).

Martin hasn’t established himself in the wake of that surgery, bouncing on and off the active roster for the past couple seasons. He allowed a 4.84 ERA in 22 1/3 MLB innings last season and was hit hard for a 6.08 ERA over 17 Triple-A starts. This spring, the D-Backs moved him to relief in an effort to get him on track. He’d gotten off to a nice start this spring, striking out nine with only a pair of walks in 5 2/3 frames before the injury.

Orioles Move Mike Baumann To Relief

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The Orioles are converting right-hander Mike Baumann to a short relief role, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after today’s Spring Training contest (relayed by Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun). Baumann worked one inning, the eighth, in today’s game against the Blue Jays.

Prospect evaluators have suggested for a few seasons that Baumann might be better served for a bullpen role. The former third-round selection has drawn praise for a quality fastball-slider combination at the front of his arsenal. His changeup has drawn more middling reviews, while frequent double-digit walk rates in the minor leagues have led to concerns about his command holding up out of a rotation.

Baumann had worked exclusively out of the rotation in the minors until last season. The O’s deployed him as more of a swing option last year. He started nine of 20 appearances with Triple-A Norfolk but threw 60 innings, typically working multiple frames regardless of role. It was a similar story in his big league action. Baumann started just four of 13 MLB outings but tallied 34 1/3 frames and reached or exceeded six outs in eight of his appearances.

Now it seems the O’s are planning to simplify things by deploying the 27-year-old in shorter stints. While Baumann could still work multiple innings on occasion, he’ll be no longer be in consideration for a rotation or swing role — at least in the short term. He’s down to his final minor league option year, meaning the O’s only have one more season to determine whether he can be a permanent member of the big league staff in some capacity.

Baltimore’s bullpen was strong last year. The relief corps finished ninth in ERA despite a middling strikeout rate, one of the main reasons they surprisingly finished above .500 and flirted with a postseason spot. Baltimore brings back breakout rookie Félix Bautista in the ninth inning, while free agent pickup Mychal Givens steps into a setup role alongside Bryan Baker. Left-handers Keegan Akin and Cionel Pérez are strong matchup weapons. The O’s will be without Dillon Tate for at least the first month of the year due to a flexor strain in his forearm, though, leaving some opportunity for another right-handed middle innings option.

There’s no guarantee Baumann will crack the Opening Day roster, much less jump right into high-leverage innings. The O’s will evaluate his repertoire in shorter stints over the final couple weeks of exhibition play and into the season.

Converting Baumann to relief removes one of the many options for the back of the rotation. Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson are locks, while the final three spots have yet to be defined. Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Spenser Watkins and Austin Voth all took a decent amount of starting work last season. Bruce Zimmermann has done the same in prior years. The O’s have maintained that top prospect Grayson Rodriguez will be given a legitimate opportunity to break camp after a lat strain dashed his hope of making his big league debut last year.

Manny Pina Visiting Wrist Specialist

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Earlier this week, the Athletics announced that veteran catcher Manny Piña was uncertain for Opening Day after experiencing discomfort in his left wrist. It was an alarming development considering Piña lost almost all of last season after suffering ligament and cartilage damage in the joint that required surgery.

This afternoon, Oakland informed reporters that Piña was headed for evaluation with the specialist who performed last May’s procedure (relayed by Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). The club is still awaiting the results of that examination and doesn’t have a timetable for Piña’s return.

The A’s haven’t officially announced that Piña will start the season on the injured list but it seems likely with Opening Day two weeks out. If that proves to be the case, the club will have to make a roster move. Shea Langeliers is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. A Piña injury would necessitate an addition.

That could be one of the non-roster backstops in Spring Training. Yohel Pozo, who played 21 MLB games with the Rangers two seasons ago, is in camp on a minor league deal. Oakland also invited minor leaguers Kyle McCann, Tyler Soderstrom and last year’s first-round selection Daniel Susac to Spring Training.

Susac certainly isn’t in consideration for an MLB job. McCann, a fourth-round pick in 2019, played most of last season with Double-A Midland. Soderstrom, Oakland’s first-round pick out of high school in 2021, traversed three levels last year. The 21-year-old mashed over 89 games for High-A Lansing, continued to perform well in Midland, and secured a late-season cup of coffee with Triple-A Las Vegas. He’s now regarded by most evaluators as the top prospect in the organization.

Given Soderstrom’s youth and questions about his defense, it seems likely he’ll head back to Vegas to open the season. Still, Oakland general manager David Forst suggested this week there’s at least a small window for either of Soderstrom or third base prospect Zack Gelof to take a big league job — if not out of camp, then at some point this year (link via Martín Gallegos of MLB.com).

“Anything can happen,” Forst said. “Those guys have performed in Triple-A. They’ve played in the Fall League. They’re here getting starts in Major League games, so I think it would follow that you hope their opportunity to contribute comes this year at some point.” Gelof is also a 2021 draftee, though he was selected out of college and is two years older than Soderstrom. The Virginia product hit .271/.356/.438 in 87 Double-A games before a late-season bump to Triple-A.

The A’s have a number of options at third base if they wish to get Gelof more developmental work. Sending Soderstrom to Las Vegas, which still seems the likeliest move, would clear a path for Pozo or McCann to crack the roster as Langeliers’ backup if Piña misses time. It’s also possible the front office looks outside the organization as Opening Day draws nearer.

There are a number of non-roster players with other clubs who’ll be made available if they don’t break camp with their current team. The Guardians, for instance, have each of Meibrys Viloria, Cam Gallagher and Zack Collins in camp battling for the chance to back up Mike Zunino. At least one of those players won’t make the roster and could get to explore other opportunities. The Angels have two catchers who can’t be optioned, Max Stassi and Matt Thaiss, competing for jobs with top prospect Logan O’Hoppe and non-roster veteran Chad Wallach. Those are just two examples of organizations whose depth could get squeezed once roster decisions have to be made later this month.

Royals Sign Jake Brentz To Two-Year Deal

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The Royals announced Thursday evening they’ve signed lefty reliever Jake Brentz to a two-year contract. It’s a big league deal that reportedly guarantees $1.9MM with an additional $700K in attainable incentives. Brentz, a client of the Bledsoe Agency, will make $850K for the upcoming season and $1.05MM in 2024.

Kansas City created a 40-man roster spot yesterday by placing southpaw Ángel Zerpa on the 60-day injured list. They’ll likely soon do the same with Brentz. The 28-year-old underwent surgery to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow last July. He’ll miss most or all of this season but the Royals are clearly intrigued by the potential he brings for the 2024 campaign.

There’s no injured list over the offseason, so the Royals had to reinstate Brentz at the end of the ’22 season. Rather than carry him on the 40-man roster all winter, they designated him for assignment and opted not to tender him a contract. He lingered on the open market all winter but now returns to Kansas City. With Spring Training underway, the Royals can transfer him back to the 60-day IL whenever the need for a roster spot arises.

Initially an 11th-round draftee of the Blue Jays, Brentz was traded twice as a prospect. It wasn’t until following a 2019 release by the Pirates and subsequent signing with Kansas City that he got a big league opportunity, however. Brentz cracked the roster in 2021 and showed some promise as a rookie. He tossed 64 innings over 72 appearances, working to a 3.66 ERA while striking out an above-average 27.3% of opposing hitters. His 13.3% walk percentage was an obvious concern but the Missouri native averaged 96.9 MPH on his fastball and held left-handed batters to a woeful .116/.292/.203 line in 91 plate appearances.

Brentz entered 2022 as a fairly high-upside member of the K.C. relief corps. The season proved disastrous, though. He coughed up 15 runs and walked 10 in only 5 1/3 innings in April. His fastball velocity was down a tick. At the end of the month, Kansas City placed him on the injured list with a flexor injury in his forearm. A few months later, the club announced he’d go under the knife.

Kansas City’s front office is obviously willing to chalk up that disastrous first month to injury. They’ll roll the dice for little more than the league minimum to see if Brentz can return to his 2021 form after the surgery rehab. It’s equally easy to see the appeal of this deal from the player’s perspective. He’ll secure a guaranteed salary and a 40-man roster spot while collecting major league service for time spent on the injured list. He’ll get to rehab for an organization with which he’s familiar and try to again secure a bullpen job down the line.

Brentz has exactly two years of major league service time. He’ll still be eligible for arbitration twice more once this contract runs out, meaning Kansas City again controls his rights through the end of the 2026 campaign. If he can get back on track, he could again profile as an affordable bullpen piece for multiple seasons.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the $1.9MM guarantee and incentives. Anne Rogers of MLB.com was first with the financial breakdown.

The Dodgers’ Rotation Options If Tony Gonsolin Misses Time

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The Dodgers were dealt some undesirable news last week when All-Star starter Tony Gonsolin rolled his left ankle during a pitcher-fielding practice session. He was diagnosed with a sprain and unable to put much weight on the leg for a few days.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters yesterday that Gonsolin has again started throwing (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). He’s progressed to long toss from 120 feet but has yet to return to the mound. With Opening Day two weeks out, it seems increasingly likely he’ll require a stint on the 15-day injured list.

If that proves the case, the Dodgers will have to add someone to the season-opening rotation behind Julio Urías, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard and Dustin May. Los Angeles doesn’t have the luxury some clubs do of many built-in off days early in the year. They’re scheduled for games in 13 of the first 14 days and 24 of the initial 26 days of the regular season. Unless the club wants to cover some starts via bullpen games, they’ll need a fifth starter if Gonsolin isn’t available.

Likely Front Runners

Ryan Pepiot, 25, two minor league option years remaining

Pepiot seems the favorite for the job. He started seven of his first nine big league games last season, working to a 3.47 ERA over 36 1/3 innings. Pepiot struck out an above-average 26.3% of opponents but his 16.9% walk rate was untenable for a player hoping to stick in a rotation. He showed more serviceable control in the minors, walking 9.8% of batters faced with a lofty 30.9% strikeout rate and a 2.56 ERA in 91 1/3 frames for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

A former third-round pick, Pepiot has developed into one of the better pitching prospects in the sport. The Butler product has a wipeout changeup and plus spin on a fastball that averaged just under 94 MPH last season. Evaluators have expressed trepidation about his breaking ball and especially the consistency of his strike-throwing. Still, he’s an intriguing young pitcher with upper minors success who has shown a decent ability to miss bats early in his time at the big league level. He’s not a finished product but could be capable of providing the Dodgers with a few solid starts in a fill-in capacity.

Michael Grove, 26, two options remaining

A second-round pick in the 2018 draft, Grove overcame some early-career injury concerns to reach the majors last year. He started six of his first seven big league games, posting a 4.60 ERA through 29 1/3 frames. That came with a modest 18% strikeout rate and a lot of hard contact. The 6’3″ righty did a solid job throwing strikes, though, limiting walks to a roughly average 7.5% clip.

Like Pepiot, Grove had a solid 2022 campaign in a hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting. He posted a 4.07 ERA in 59 2/3 Triple-A frames, fanning 26.7% of batters faced against an 8.2% walk percentage. Grove held right-handed batters at the top minor league level to a .213/.266/.368 line over 263 plate appearances. Lefties, on the other hand, teed off at a .279/.344/.541 clip in 192 trips to the dish. It was a similar story at the MLB level. Righties hit .241/.293/.389 in his limited look, while left-handers managed a .275/.333/.522 slash.

Grove doesn’t throw a changeup, relying on a fastball/slider/curveball combination. Prospect evaluators have raised questions about his ability to handle left-handed hitters without a pitch that breaks away from them. That has led to concern about whether he can stick in an MLB rotation long term, though the Dodgers could match him up against right-handed heavy teams like Colorado and the Cubs in the season’s first couple weeks.

Top Prospects

Gavin Stone, 24, not yet on 40-man roster

Stone fell to the fifth round in the 2020 draft. That now looks like a coup, as the Central Arkansas product is a top 100 prospect on lists from Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic and ESPN. He’s now the second-best pitching prospect in the organization (more on that in a minute) after an utterly dominant minor league season. Across three levels, he combined for a 1.92 ERA with an elite 33.9% strikeout rate and serviceable 8.9% walk percentage through 121 2/3 frames. That culminated in six Triple-A outings, in which he allowed only six runs over 23 1/3 innings.

It now seems a matter of when, not if, Stone will make his big league debut this season. Evaluators credit the 6’1″ righty with a mid-90s fastball and one of the best changeups in the minor leagues and suggest he could be a mid-rotation arm in the near future. He doesn’t have a ton of Triple-A experience and isn’t yet on the 40-man, so the most straightforward move would be to send him back to Oklahoma City to open the season. Given his minor league dominance, there’s at least an argument for plugging him in above Pepiot and Grove immediately, even if it’d require a 40-man roster move to do so.

Bobby Miller, 23, not yet on 40-man roster

The Dodgers’ first-round pick in that ’20 draft class, Miller has shot through the minor league ranks and now ranks among the best prospects in the sport. The Louisville product had a 4.45 ERA over 20 outings for Double-A Tulsa last season. That’s not the most impressive mark but it seems the product of an unlucky 62.5% strand rate. Miller struck out an excellent 30.5% of opponents, induced grounders at a quality 48.2% clip, and kept his walks to an 8.1% rate. He earned a late-season bump to Oklahoma City, where he posted elite strikeout and ground-ball marks over four outings.

He’s now almost universally regarded as the organization’s best pitching prospect and a top 50 minor league talent overall. The righty draws unanimous praise for an upper-90s fastball, a pair of power breaking pitches, and an advanced changeup. Miller’s command is still a work in progress but there’s little question the arsenal can play against major league hitters.

Miller doesn’t figure to be an option for the season-opening rotation. Roberts told reporters last week he was being built up slowly to monitor his workload and was unlikely to pitch in a Spring Training game (relayed by Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). He’ll almost certainly be in the majors at some point in 2023 though.

Further Down Depth Chart

Andre Jackson, 26, one option remaining

Jackson has never started a big league game, coming out of the bullpen for all seven of his MLB appearances from 2021-22. The Utah product has worked as a starter in the minors, opening 19 of 21 outings with Oklahoma City last year. He allowed exactly five earned runs per nine innings in Triple-A. Jackson had decent enough strikeout and ground-ball numbers but walked an astronomical 17.2% of opposing hitters.

That’d put him behind Pepiot and Grove on the depth chart. Jackson is on the 40-man roster, though, seemingly giving him a leg up compared to the non-roster invitees in camp. He’s headed into what would be his final option year, so he’ll need to improve his control before long if he’s to earn an extended MLB look in Los Angeles.

Dylan Covey/Robbie Erlin

Both Covey and Erlin have some big league experience and are in camp as non-roster veterans. The 32-year-old Erlin was hit hard in 77 innings with Oklahoma City last season. Covey, 31, returned stateside after a couple solid years in Taiwan’s top league. Covey, in particular, has gotten out to a good start in camp. He’s struck out eight without issuing a walk over six innings. Still, neither seems likely to leapfrog the younger arms in the organization for a season-opening rotation look.

Nick Nastrini/Landon Knack

Nastrini and Knack are both fairly recent college draftees who reached Double-A last season. They’re each among the mid-tier prospects in a strong L.A. system and flashed bat-missing potential with Tulsa. Both pitchers could eventually get an MLB look, though neither figures to be in consideration for a job out of camp. They’re not yet on the 40-man and have yet to reach Triple-A.

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The Dodgers again have a few exciting pitching prospects, two of whom have already gotten a taste of the majors. Pepiot and Grove would accordingly be the safest choices to take the final rotation spot if Gonsolin can’t start the season but they’re not as touted as Miller and Stone. The latter two figure to take the Dodger Stadium mound at some point in 2023, the next in a long line of pitching talent to come through the system.

Mark Melancon Likely To Miss Start Of Season Due To Shoulder Strain

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March 16: Manager Torey Lovullo today told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com that Melancon subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. He is getting a PRP injection and will indeed start the year on the injured list.

March 15: The Diamondbacks expect to be without veteran reliever Mark Melancon to open the season because of a shoulder injury, general manager Mike Hazen said this evening (relayed by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). The issue’s severity isn’t clear but apparently will send him to the injured list at the start of the year.

It’s an unfortunate beginning to the four-time All-Star’s hope for a bounceback season. Melancon had a tough opening campaign in the desert. Signed to a two-year free agent deal over the 2021-22 offseason, the righty posted a 4.66 ERA through 56 innings. It was his worst run prevention mark in a decade, while his 14.2% strikeout rate was his lowest since his abbreviated rookie season in 2009. His 44.1% grounder percentage was the worst of his career. The D-Backs pulled Melancon from the closing role towards the tail end of the season.

Rough 2022 campaign aside, Melancon’s track record offered some hope he could improve his results this year. He’d allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in each of the previous four seasons, including consecutive sub-3.00 showings in 2020-21. Melancon doesn’t sport the high-octane, overpowering arsenal of most elite relievers. Yet he’d consistently been successful keeping runs off the board for over a decade on the strength of pristine control and strong ground-ball numbers.

The Diamondbacks made a handful of additions to their bullpen over the winter. Miguel Castro, Scott McGough and Andrew Chafin all came aboard on low-cost free agent deals. Arizona also nabbed Cole Sulser off waivers from Miami. That group and in-house options like Kevin Ginkel and Joe Mantiply give skipper Torey Lovullo a little more flexibility in the late innings than he’s had in recent seasons.

Lovullo had already suggested he was prepared to take a closer by committee approach early in the year. Melancon, who has saved 262 MLB games in his career, could factor into that mix at some point. He’ll now first have to get healthy, with little public clarity about his overall recovery timeline.

Edwin Diaz Helped Off Field With Right Knee Injury

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Star reliever Edwin Díaz was carted off the field after tonight’s World Baseball Classic contest. The Mets closer threw a perfect inning to save Puerto Rico’s 5-2 win over the Dominican Republic and injured his right knee while the team celebrated its victory on the mound (video provided by Fox Sports MLB). The Mets announced he’s going for further imaging on Thursday.

Díaz was helped off the field by trainers without putting weight on his right leg. He was helped into a wheelchair and taken off the field in a surreal scene, one which turned from jubilation for the Puerto Rican players and fanbase into dismay. Players from both teams were visibly distraught by the injury, with Díaz’s younger brother Alexis Díaz breaking down in tears as Edwin was taken off the field.

Obviously, it’s far too soon to know the extent of the injury. Marly Rivera of ESPN tweets that Díaz was evaluated at the stadium by an on-site orthopedic specialist. Andy Martino of SNY tweets that he also went in for x-rays on Wednesday night.

Needless to say, a serious injury to Díaz would be a massive blow for the Mets. The 28-year-old righty is the sport’s best reliever. He’s coming off one of the greatest relief seasons in recent memory, throwing 62 innings of 1.31 ERA ball while striking out more than half his opponents. The Mets retained him this offseason on a five-year, $102MM contract days before the start of free agency. That marked the largest commitment to a relief pitcher in MLB history.

Jake Odorizzi To Begin Season On Injured List

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Rangers manager Bruce Bochy informed reporters this afternoon that right-hander Jake Odorizzi will start the season on the injured list (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). General manager Chris Young had indicated last week that was a possibility, as Odorizzi has been delayed in camp by arm fatigue.

Acquired from the Braves at the start of the offseason, Odorizzi initially looked ticketed for a back-of-the-rotation spot in Arlington. The veteran hurler was squeezed out of the starting five by Texas’ subsequent moves, as the Rangers added each of Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi on multi-year free agent deals. With Martín Pérez returning via the qualifying offer to join Jon Gray, the Rangers go into the season with a high-upside starting five.

Each of deGrom, Heaney, Eovaldi and Gray has had recent red flags from a health perspective, however. No team goes through the same five starters through an entire season but the Rangers are taking on as much health risk from their rotation as any club. That makes depth of particular importance.

Odorizzi’s absence will deal an early hit to that group. It doesn’t seem there’s huge concern but Bochy told reporters the club would be “cautious” with his build-up. He has still yet to get into a Spring Training game. The club hasn’t provided much of a timetable for when he might get on the mound.

In the interim, Dane Dunning and Glenn Otto figure to move up a peg in the rotation hierarchy. Dunning is a solid sixth starter in his own right. He’s been a rotation fixture in Texas for two years, including 29 starts of 4.46 ERA ball with an excellent 53.3% ground-ball rate last season. He’s provided the club with serviceable back-of-the-rotation innings for consecutive seasons since being acquired from the White Sox for Lance Lynn. Otto has had a little tougher go at the MLB level, serving up a 4.64 ERA with subpar strikeout and walk rates through 135 2/3 innings last year.

Both Dunning and Otto have multiple minor league option years remaining. They can either continue to work as starters at Triple-A Round Rock or open the season in Arlington as long relief options. Grant writes that both deGrom and Eovaldi are expected to be on pitch limits early in the season — unsurprising caution for pitchers who each started camp a little slowly thanks to minor discomfort — so the ability to work multiple innings out of the bullpen could give Dunning or Otto a leg up on an Opening Day roster spot.

Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds had another slow offseason, their second straight winter defined mostly by inactivity. It’s a rebuild in Cincinnati, with the upcoming season again more about evaluating the future than winning in the short term.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $11.675MM
Total spending: $13.925MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Reds stripped things down over the 2021-22 offseason, dismantling a team that had finished a few games off a Wild Card appearance. Payroll constraints led to a reboot of the roster, with a number of veterans shipped out for young talent either last winter or at the summer deadline. That teardown paired with brutal injury luck resulted in the second 100-loss season in franchise history.

It’s an organization now clearly amidst a rebuild. There was never much expectation for the Reds to do a whole lot this offseason, and general manager Nick Krall essentially confirmed as much before the winter got underway.

Unlike last winter, when the likes of Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Jesse Winker and Sonny Gray were on the roster, Cincinnati didn’t go into this offseason with many obvious trade chips. The most apparent candidate was shortstop Kyle Farmer, who was headed into his second-to-last season of arbitration control. Farmer is a low-end regular at shortstop or high-quality utility piece who’d have modest appeal to a contender. Cincinnati indeed cashed him in for young talent.

It was a one-for-one swap with the Twins that brought back Double-A swingman Casey Legumina. The Gonzaga product had just been added to the Minnesota 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He’ll start the season in the upper minors but could factor into the MLB mix later in the year.

Hours after trading away Farmer, Cincinnati backfilled at shortstop with another stopgap veteran. The Reds and division-rival Pirates aligned on a deal that brought in Kevin Newman for middle reliever Dauri Moreta. Newman is also in his penultimate arbitration season and broadly brings a similar profile to the departed Farmer: a contact-oriented offensive approach at the bottom of a lineup and solid glovework. Newman is a little more affordable and could be a midseason trade chip.

He steps into an infield that has a handful of players vying for reps. It’s unknown if Joey Votto will be ready for Opening Day after last summer’s rotator cuff surgery; once healthy, the former MVP will be back at first base. Jonathan India is looking for a bounceback year at second base.

Newman is the presumptive starting shortstop. Jose Barrero could also get one more look to see if he can piece things together offensively. Barrero was a fairly recent top prospect based on his power and defense. He’s coming off an atrocious season in both Triple-A and the big leagues, though, and the clock could be ticking for him to carve out a role. Elly De La Cruz has now firmly emerged as the likely shortstop of the future; he’ll start the year in the upper minors but could make his MLB debut at some point in 2023.

Third base also features a few talented but unproven players trying to cement themselves. Spencer Steer, acquired from the Twins in last summer’s Mahle trade, made his debut last September. He struggled in his first 28 outings but had an excellent age-24 season in Triple-A. He’ll get the first crack at the hot corner, though there was plenty of buzz in Cincinnati camp regarding corner infield prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

Also part of the Mahle trade package, Encarnacion-Strand mashed between High-A and Double-A last season. The Oklahoma State product tore the cover off the ball in Spring Training. Cincinnati reassigned him to minor league camp yesterday, taking him out of the running for an Opening Day roster spot, but he could push Steer for reps before long. That’s also true of Noelvi Marte, a power-hitting infield prospect brought back from the Mariners in the Castillo deal.

The Reds made a firm commitment to the infield youth movement when they released Mike Moustakas in early January. The three-time All-Star was headed into the final season of an ill-advised four-year, $64MM free agent deal. Moustakas had hit only .216/.300/.383 in just 654 plate appearances as a Red. His 2022 campaign was diminished by both underperformance and foot injuries. With little hope of another team taking any notable portion of the $22MM he was due this season, the Reds acknowledged the sunk cost and opened a clearer path to reps for younger players like Steer and Encarnacion-Strand.

Cincinnati should also have room on the bench for a non-roster Spring Training invitee or two. The Reds had arguably the best minor league signing of last winter with Brandon Drury, and they again leveraged their lack of certainty on the roster to bring in a swath of veterans on non-roster pacts. Chad Pinder, Henry Ramos and Jason Vosler are among the position players in camp, while Cincinnati brought in over 10 relievers with some level of MLB experience on minor league deals.

As with the left side of the infield, the outfield is up in the air for players to seize a job. Jake Fraley probably has the leg up on a corner spot after a solid second half. The Reds have maintained they’re going to give former top prospect Nick Senzel another crack in center field. He won’t be ready for Opening Day, so the likes of TJ Friedl and Stuart Fairchild could get on the roster.

The Reds rolled the dice on a pair of former top prospects to add to that mix. Their first move of the offseason was to bring in Nick Solak from the Rangers for cash. It was a no-risk flier on a player who has hit well in the upper minors but struggled to carry that over against MLB pitching. Solak doesn’t have a great positional fit — he struggled mightily at second base and is a fringy corner outfielder as well — but he’s a former second-round draftee who has a .293/.370/.510 line in parts of three Triple-A seasons.

While the Reds didn’t give up anything for Solak, they parted with last year’s second-rounder Justin Boyd to take a shot on 24-year-old Will Benson from the Guardians. A first-round pick in 2016, the 6’5″ Benson has moved extremely slowly up the minor league ranks thanks to huge strikeout totals. He’s shown as patient an approach as anyone in affiliated ball, however, and he clearly has raw power potential. While he’s taken some time to climb the ladder, he’s consistently fared better in his second crack at a level than during his first. That was particularly true last season in Triple-A, when Benson sliced his strikeout rate to a personal-best 22.7% en route to a .278/.426/.522 line.

In addition to those fliers on upside plays, the Reds added to the corner outfield in their biggest free agent move of the winter. Cincinnati guaranteed $7.5MM to Wil Myers on a one-year deal, giving him a chance to rebuild his stock in a hitter-friendly home ballpark. Myers had an up-and-down tenure in San Diego, hitting for power but struggling to make enough contact to be a middle-of-the-order caliber hitter. At age 32, he’s not a long-term core piece for Cincinnati. He’s a perfectly reasonable veteran addition to a young team, one who’d surely be in trade conversations this summer if he’s performing.

Myers is likely to see the bulk of his playing time in right field. That’s in large part because the club is planning to give young catcher Tyler Stephenson more time at designated hitter. The 26-year-old went on the injured list three times last season, all of which were related to incidents behind the plate. He was concussed in a collision with Luke Voit and both fractured his thumb and clavicle on foul tips. Those injuries were all fluky in nature, although there’s little doubt Stephenson will have a better chance of sticking in the lineup if he’s not donning the tools of ignorance as often.

Skipper David Bell told reporters at the start of Spring Training the Reds were aiming for Stephenson to play around 65 games at catcher and 80+ contests at first base/DH (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). With that in mind, Cincinnati added a pair of veteran backstops to take some of the workload. Northern Kentucky native Luke Maile signed a one-year, $1.175MM pact in November. He was joined by power-hitting veteran Curt Casali, who received $3.25MM in January to return to the Reds for a second stint.

The Reds didn’t do as much to augment the pitching staff, even on lower-cost pickups of the Maile/Casali ilk. The only such addition was right-hander Luke Weaver, who signed for $2MM after being non-tendered by the Mariners. Weaver is another former top prospect who showed some early-career success but has fallen on hard times of late. Great American Ball Park isn’t an ideal venue for a pitcher to try to rebuild value. That said, the Reds are likely to afford the 29-year-old another shot to get the ball every fifth day and take a crack at developing a breaking pitch he feels comfortable using regularly.

Weaver will step into the fourth spot in the season-opening rotation. The top three will go to second-year hurlers Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft. All three have a chance to be core pieces of the next competitive Cincinnati team, with Greene and Lodolo former top ten picks and consensus top prospects. The final rotation spot is up for grabs this spring. Justin Dunn is out of the immediate mix thanks to shoulder issues. The likes of Connor Overton, Luis Cessa and minor league signee Chase Anderson are battling for the job. Prospects Brandon Williamson and Levi Stoudt could join the group over the summer.

Open competition is also the story of the bullpen. Cincinnati didn’t add any MLB veterans to a relief corps that was among the league’s worst. The only acquisitions were Legumina and waiver claim Bennett Sousa, both of whom could start the year in the minors. Cincinnati should welcome back Lucas Sims from an injury-plagued season. They’d hoped for the same with Tejay Antone but he suffered a forearm strain while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and will start the year on the injured list.

Cincinnati has breakout reliever Alexis Díaz ticketed for ninth-inning work. One of the few bright spots of the 2022 campaign, the hard-throwing righty reportedly drew some trade interest over the winter which Cincinnati rebuffed. Sims and Buck Farmer should have high-leverage work and could be trade candidates this summer. The middle relief corps is wide open, with the likes of Silvino Bracho, Daniel Norris, Derek Law, Alex Young and Hunter Strickland trying to earn jobs in Spring Training.

Broadly speaking, the 2023 campaign will be about evaluating players for the future and identifying what veterans could be shipped off in the coming months. It’s hard to envision this team finishing higher than fourth in the National League Central. The Reds are near the lowest period of the rebuild, with most of the veteran players shipped away. They’ll continue to incorporate young talent as they look ahead to next offseason, one which could see a relative spike in activity.

Cincinnati doesn’t have a single player under guaranteed contract for 2024, with option buyouts for Votto, Moustakas, Myers and Casali representing the only firm commitments. The slate is almost clean for the front office to chart a new path back to contention. In the interim, the fanbase is in for another losing season.

MLBTR is conducting team-specific chats in conjunction with the Offseason In Review series. Anthony Franco held a chat about the Reds on March 16. Click here to view the transcript.

(poll link for app users)

How Would You Grade The Reds' Offseason?
D 37.60% (796 votes)
F 29.95% (634 votes)
C 23.67% (501 votes)
B 5.90% (125 votes)
A 2.88% (61 votes)
Total Votes: 2,117

 

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