Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Reds Rumors

Braves Claim Phil Gosselin From Reds

By | at

The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed infielder Phil Gosselin off waivers from the Reds and assigned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta had open space on its 40-man roster, so there’s no corresponding move necessary with Gosselin’s claim.

This will mark Gosselin’s second stint with the Atlanta organization, as the Braves were the club to initially select him out of the University of Virginia in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. Gosselin went on to make his Major League debut for the Braves three years later, and in parts of three seasons with Atlanta, he slashed .282/.321/.345 through 185 trips to the plate.

Since being traded to the Braves in the deal that saw Atlanta effectively purchase pitching prospect Touki Toussaint from the D-backs by absorbing the remainder of Bronson Arroyo’s contract, Gosselin has spent time in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Texas and Cincinnati. All told, he’s a lifetime .263/.314/.361 hitter that’ll provide the Braves with some depth at second base, shortstop and third base while playing at the Triple-A level.

Reds Release Dean Kiekhefer

By | at

  • The Reds parted ways with left-handed reliever Dean Kiekhefer, releasing him from their Double-A club. The 28-year-old tossed 22 innings at the big league level with the Cardinals in 2016, working to a 5.32 ERA with 14 strikeouts against seven walks (four intentional) and two hit batters in that brief time. Kiekhefer landed with the Mariners via waivers in the 2016-17 offseason but was outrighted off their 40-man roster shortly thereafter. Last year, he logged a 4.47 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 0.61 HR/9 and a 46 percent grounder rate in Triple-A. He opened the season with eight innings of one-run ball in the Cincinnati organization, albeit at the Double-A level.

Reds Working To Fix Luis Castillo

By | at

  • Righty Luis Castillo was a key part of a Reds-Marlins trade in 2017 that also involved Straily, and the former has struggled mightily this year after looking like a potential long-term cog last season. The Reds are now working to fix Castillo, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com details. “They all agree that his arm angle has changed a little bit,’ interim manager Jim Riggleman said of pitching coach Danny Darwin, bullpen coach Ted Power and coach Derrin Ebert. “His hand is maybe not getting on top of the ball like it needs to. What that does, is it causes the ball to flatten out instead of sink. Hitters love that when the ball moves [flat] across the plate instead of having some sink. It’s kind of running right into their barrel.” Hitters have indeed barreled up against Castillo, who has seen his ERA rise from 3.12 in 2017 to 7.85 this year. Along the way, the 25-year-old has experienced a velocity drop and allowed more hard contact, Sheldon explains in a piece that’s worth checking out in full. It’s been a discouraging development for the Reds, who haven’t had much success developing front-line pitching from within.

NL Notes: Bruce, Kang, Stratton, Panik, Gohara, Pennington

By | at

Mets outfielder Jay Bruce has been taking ground balls at first base, James Wagner of the New York Times reports. Wagner adds that the Mets may consider playing him there in order to open up room for Brandon Nimmo to receive everyday playing time again. First base incumbent Adrian Gonzalez has struggled mightily thus far, with just a .203/.300/.320 batting line on the season. It’s still only April, but in light of his struggles last year with the Dodgers, Gonzalez’s leash might be fairly short. That’s particularly true since Nimmo reached base in half of his 38 MLB plate appearances this season. It’s fair to think that the Mets are looking hard for ways to lock Nimmo into an everyday role.

Other news out of the NL…

  • Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang won’t receive any discipline from MLB, nor will the team dole out any punishment, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. Kang was denied a U.S. visa for all of last year due to multiple DUI-related arrests. He’s finally able to return to the Pirates as of Thursday.
  • Today, the Giants reinstated Chris Stratton from the paternity list, optioning outfielder Austin Slater to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. Within hours, however, the club reversed its reported stance on Mac Williamson’s status, placing him on the seven-day concussion DL. The move allowed the Giants to recall Slater, who’s directly replacing Williamson. Stratton sports an impressive 2.32 ERA and 2.69 FIP across five starts this season, though the fact that he hasn’t allowed any homers despite a 37.8% hard contact rate suggests he might have been a bit lucky in that regard. Stratton will take his scheduled turn through the rotation today against the Dodgers.
  • In other Giants news, second baseman Joe Panik has been placed on the disabled list with a sprained left thumb. The club correspondingly purchased the contract of second baseman/outfielder Alen Hanson, who leads the Triple-A Pacific Coast League with a .403 batting average. The club moved Mark Melancon to the 60-day DL in order to clear room on the 40-man roster for Hanson.
  • The Braves have reinstated left-hander Luiz Gohara from the disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Gohara suffered a sprained ankle during a spring training outing, and had exhausted the maximum amount of time allotted for rehab starts. He’ll likely make a couple more starts in the minors before returning to help the Braves at the major league level. Gohara had figured to be a prominent part of Atlanta’s rotation before the season began.
  • The Reds announced that infielder Cliff Pennington has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville. Pennington, who signed a minors deal in the offseason, made the club out of spring training camp as a bench player. However, he’s struck out in nearly 40 percent of his plate appearances thus far and has yet to sock an extra-base hit.

Reds Activate David Hernandez

By | at

  • A number of other players are already coming off of the DL. The Reds have activated righty David Hernandez and the Mariners have brought back first baseman Ryon Healy. Both were relatively significant offseason acquisitions for their organizations. Meanwhile, the Rays activated infielder Matt Duffy and the Rangers did the same with righty Tony Barnette.

Reds Activate Eugenio Suarez, Select Rosell Herrera

By | at

The Reds announced a series of transactions today spurred by the return of third baseman Eugenio Suarez from the DL. Cincinnati has also selected the contract of utilityman Rosell Herrera and optioned outfielder Phil Ervin and infielder Cliff Pennington to open active roster space.

Suarez had been rehabbing a fractured thumb that put him on the shelf after just eight games of action. He’ll look to pick up where he left off after opening the season on a .296/.424/.630 tear after signing a long-term extension over the winter.

Also coming to the MLB roster is Herrera, a 25-year-old switch-hitter who once rated as a significant prospect with the Rockies. He’ll get his first shot at the majors after joining the Reds organization on a minors deal last fall. Herrera was off to a strong start at Triple-A, posting a .311/.373/.607 slash in 68 plate appearances.

Ervin and Pennington will head down to Louisville while holding onto their 40-man spots for the time being. The former has been viewed as a quality prospect in the past but will need to wait for another opportunity after struggling with his brief chance this year. As for Pennington, who limped out of the gates after being added to the roster out of camp, it’s not immediately clear whether he has accepted the assignment. An 11-year MLB veteran, he’d have the right instead to choose free agency.

Outrighted: Quackenbush, Adams, Brothers, Ravin

By | at

Here are the latest players to be outrighted off of their teams’ 40-man rosters:

  • The Reds announced that righty Kevin Quackenbush has been outrighted after clearing waivers following a recent DFA. The veteran could have elected free agency but has instead decided to remain in the Cincinnati organization, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. Quackenbush did not produce a very appealing stat line during his ten appearances with the Reds. He surrendered 11 earned runs, with a 7:6 K/BB ratio, in just nine innings of action. In over two hundred career innings at the game’s highest level, Quackenbush carries a 4.38 ERA.
  • Outfielder Lane Adams and relievers Rex Brothers and Josh Ravin were all outrighted by the Braves, the club says. Both Adams and Ravin had recently been designated for assignment, so had already been removed from the 40-man. As for Brothers, a 30-year-old southpaw, he’ll lose his spot after a rough start to the season. He has issued eight walks in his six Triple-A frames — an area that has long been a challenge — and does not appear to be in the team’s immediate plans. The Braves will pay Brothers at a lesser rate in the minors under the split contract he agreed to last fall. Adams, who has been productive in limited action at the MLB level over the past two years, will remain on hand as an outfield depth piece. Ravin, who was claimed over the winter, will likely be among the first pitchers considered if a bullpen need arises.

Reds Designate Kevin Quackenbush For Assignment

By | at

The Reds announced on Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Kevin Quackenbush for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to fellow righty Kevin Shackelford, who has been reinstated from the 10-day disabled list.

Quackenbush, 29, was tagged for 11 runs on 13 hits and six walks with seven strikeouts in nine innings out of the Cincinnati bullpen this winter. He’d been in camp with the Reds on a minor league deal and made the club out of Spring Training, but his stay in Cincinnati looks like it’ll ultimately prove to be brief.

Prior to the 2018 season, the entirety of Quackenbush’s MLB experience had come with the Padres. He was excellent in his debut season as a 25-year-old back in 2014 (2.48 ERA, 9.3 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 0.3 HR/9) and pitched to a respectable 3.50 ERA in his first three big league seasons. Quackenbush struggled through a disastrous 2017 season, however, yielding five homers and issuing 16 walks in just 26 1/3 innings, en route to a 7.86 ERA.

Reds Release Barrett Astin

By | at

The Reds announced that they have released right-hander Barrett Astin. He had been outrighted off of the 40-man roster last fall.

The 26-year-old Astin is a former third-round pick who landed in Cincinnati as the player to be named later in the 2014 swap that sent Jonathan Broxton to the Brewers. Astin cracked the majors last year, but issued seven walks while recording only two strikeouts in his eight innings of action.

Though he had a promising season at Double-A in 2016, Astin has largely struggled at the highest level of the minors. He carries a 5.91 ERA in 56 1/3 total innings for Triple-A Louisville and has surrendered over a dozen base hits per regulation game along with 7.8 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.

Reds Release Adam Brett Walker

By | at

  • Also via Eddy, the Reds have released outfielder Adam Brett Walker from the organization. Walker, 27, was a third-round pick of the Twins in 2012 and boasts huge raw power but plenty of swing-and-miss issues as well as a limited defensive skill set. Minnesota removed him from the 40-man roster after the 2016 season, and he landed with the Brewers, Orioles (twice), Braves and Reds via a series of waivers claims and minor league signings in 2017 alone. Walker’s power is evident in looking at his career .232 ISO in the minors, but he’s whiffed in 30.9 percent of his minor league plate appearances — including an enormous 37.4 percent strikeout clip in Triple-A.

    [SOURCE LINK]
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top