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Reds Sign Tyler Naquin To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced Thursday that they’ve signed outfielder Tyler Naquin to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The Excel Sports client and former first-round pick his spent his entire career to date with the Indians.

Naquin, 29, hit the IL early in the 2020 season due to a broken big toe in his right foot. He returned in mid-August and scuffled through one of the worst stretches of his career at the plate, batting just .218/.248/.383 with four homers and a bloated 28.4 percent strikeout rate in 141 trips to the dish. Whether Naquin simply never found his timing at the plate, had difficulty maximizing the use of his lower half due to the injury or both, the struggles resulted in him being non-tendered after the season.

Naquin has had his share of productive stints in the big leagues, including both his rookie campaign in 2016 and a solid showing in 2019. A left-handed hitter, he’s always struggled against left-handed pitching but has handled righties at a solid .281/.329/.454 clip — good for a 105 wRC+ (or production that is five percent better than league average, when weighted for park and league). A healthy Naquin posted strong defensive marks in the outfield corners in 2018-19 as well, though he rated quite poorly as a center fielder during his rookie year.

In Cincinnati, Naquin adds an experienced option to an already muddied mix. Nick Castellanos, Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker and Shogo Akiyama are the favorites for playing time, but the club also has Aristides Aquino, Mark Payton and Scott Heineman on the big league roster, plus similar non-roster invitees in Nicky Delmonico and Dwight Smith Jr.

Reds Sign Cam Bedrosian To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced Tuesday that they’ve signed right-handed reliever Cam Bedrosian to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.

Bedrosian, 29, becomes the latest non-roster addition for a Reds club that has largely sat out the market for Major League free agents. The longtime Angels righty was non-tendered earlier this winter as he entered his final year of arbitration eligiblity.

Bedrosian, whose father Steve saved 184 games in a 14-year MLB career, looked like he might be prepared to go down a similar path not long ago. The former No. 29 overall pick notched a 1.12 ERA with a 31.5 percent strikeout rate in 40 1/3 innings back in 2016 and saved six games for the Halos a year later.

From 2016-20, Bedrosian totaled 225 innings with a 3.20 ERA and a 3.74 SIERA — including a solid 2.45 ERA in 14 2/3 frames in 2020. However, while that ERA looked to be one of the righty’s strongest marks yet, there were some underlying causes for concern. Bedrosian’s strikeout rate fell to a career-low 19.0 percent — a good ways south of the league average — while his 10.3 percent walk rate was his highest since 2015.

Bedrosian’s average fastball, meanwhile dipped to a career-low 92.3 mph, which is a full three miles per hour slower than that peak 2016 campaign; his velocity has ticked downward steadily each year since that ’16 campaign. For a pitcher who has recently spent time on the IL due to forearm and adductor strains, that trend was surely a cause for some concern.

All that said, adding Bedrosian is a perfectly sensible move for the Reds — particularly on a no-risk, non-guaranteed deal of the minor league variety. If his velocity rebounds in camp or he looks able to miss bats at his previous levels with slightly reduced heat, he’d make a fine addition to a relatively unsettled bullpen mix. Bedrosian has a track record of success in the Majors, a fair bit of late-inning experience (nine saves, 44 holds) and has yet to turn 30. He’ll join Shane Carle, Josh Osich, Brandon Finnegan, Jesse Biddle and R.J. Alaniz as non-roster bullpen options invited to Spring Training.

Reds Announce Coaching Staff For High-A Dayton

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  • Jose Moreno, the Manager of the Year in the Venezuelan Winter League this season, will take over as manager for the High-A Dayton Dragons in the Reds’ system, per the Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans (via Twitter) and a press release from Dayton. It will be Moreno’s second season with the Reds after spending 19 years in the Seattle Mariners’ organization. As the Dragons make the move from Low-A to High-A, they’ll do so with with Darren Bragg, Brian Garman, and Daryle Ward on Moreno’s staff as a development coach, pitching coach, and hitting coach, respectively. Ward returns as the Dragons hitting coach after serving in the same role with the club in 2016 and 2017. Garman, meanwhile, was hired for the 2020 season before the cancellation.

Reds Sign Shane Carle To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced this morning that they’ve signed right-hander Shane Carle to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Carle last appeared in the big leagues with the Braves in 2019. The 29-year-old righty enjoyed strong results out of the Atlanta bullpen in 2018 when he notched a 2.86 ERA in 63 1/3 frames, but that impressive mark appeared unlikely to be sustained for a number of reasons. Carle punched out just 16.6  percent of opponents that year, against a 10.4 percent walk rate that was north of the league average. He also benefited from a .258 average on balls in play and a home-run rate so low it’d have been nearly impossible to repeat. Carle’s 4.59 SIERA told a much different story than that bottom-line ERA.

Regression was swift in 2019, as Carle allowed more home runs (three) in 9 1/3 innings than he did throughout the entire 2018 season. He was tagged for 10 runs in those 9 1/3 frames while walking more hitters than he struck out. Carle’s Triple-A work wasn’t much better (5.13 ERA), and he eventually was bounced from Atlanta’s 40-man roster, landing with the Rangers, where his Triple-A struggles continued.

In all, Carle has a 3.89 ERA in the Majors thanks to that 2018 season, but the rest of his numbers aren’t nearly as encouraging. He’s also been tagged for a 5.49 ERA in 221 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball, but the Reds will likely try out a new plan of attack to help him maximize his strengths. Carle did average better than 95 mph on his heater in 2018, he gets ground-balls at an average clip, and opponents have put up pitiful numbers in plate appearances ending with his slider (.203/.260/.319) and curveball (.108/.175/.216).

Reds Claim Max Schrock

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The Reds have claimed infielder Max Schrock off waivers from the Cubs, per a team announcement. Chicago had recently designated Schrock for assignment. The move fills the Reds’ 40-man roster.

Schrock, 26, was a 13th-round pick by the Nationals back in 2015 but has since been traded to the A’s (in return for Marc Rzepczynski) and the Cardinals (in exchange for Stephen Piscotty). He made his big league debut with the Cards in 2020, going 3-for-17 with a home run, but was then claimed off waivers by the Cubs at season’s end. The Reds’ claim will put Schrock on his third NL Central roster in a span of just four months.

While Schrock won’t do much for the Reds’ glaring lack of a shortstop — he’s played just 78 innings at the position in his pro career — he gives them a left-handed bat with experience at second base and at third base. He’s never shown much power, but Schrock is a career .300/.354/.406 hitter in five minor league seasons, including a .260/.324/.350 line in 760 Triple-A plate appearances.

Reds Sign Braden Shipley To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed right-hander Braden Shipley to a minor league contract that contains an invitation to Major League Spring Training, per a team announcement.

Shipley, 29 later this month, was the No. 15 overall pick by the Diamondbacks in 2013 and was considered to be among the game’s more promising pitching prospects in the years after that draft.  Things obviously haven’t panned out that way, however.

Shipley had some success in the low minors, but his strikeout rates plummeted in Double-A and have yet to really recover. His fastball velocity upon reaching the Majors in 2016 was south of its peak levels from his top prospect days, and Shipley wasn’t able to fool opponents over parts of three seasons on the D-backs’ staff. From 2016-18, he totaled an even 100 innings of work but was clobbered for a 5.49 ERA and a 5.31 SIERA to match. Shipley was punching out nearly a quarter of the hitters he faced in the low minors, but in the Majors he’s managed a dismal 14.3 percent strikeout rate against a 10 percent walk rate — the latter of which is considerably higher than his minor league rates.

Shipley hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2018, and in addition to his struggles at the game’s top level, he’s been hammered for a 5.17 ERA in Triple-A — albeit in a very hitter-friendly setting (and with a juiced ball in 2019). He’s whiffed just 16.7 percent of opponents in Reno and hasn’t offset that lack of strikeouts with plus control or a heavy ground-ball rate.

Still, Shipley is a former high-end prospect who’ll pitch all of next season at 29. There’s little risk in bringing him in to see if the Reds’ pitching factory can unlock something, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that the Reds haven’t really brought in any outside pitching help aside from their recent agreement with Sean Doolittle.

Lucas Sims Expects To Be Ready For Opening Day

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  • Reds general manager Nick Krall said right-hander Lucas Sims would be “delayed” heading into 2021 because of elbow tightness, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. However, Sims tweeted Monday that he’ll be ready for opening day. That’s welcome news for the Reds, as the 26-year-old Sims turned in a quality season out of their bullpen in 2020. He threw 25 2/3 innings of 2.45 ERA/3.34 SIERA ball with a well-above-average strikeout rate of 33 percent. Sims also averaged a career-best 94 mph on his fastball.

Reds Sign Dee Strange-Gordon To Minor League Deal

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FEB 8, 4:19pm: Strange-Gordon will earn a base salary of $1MM if he makes the Reds’ roster, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com tweets.

10:25 am: The Reds have announced the signing of Strange-Gordon. He’ll get an invite to spring training with the opportunity to compete for playing time at shortstop and/or in a utility role.

FEB 7: The Reds are in agreement on a minor-league deal with infielder Dee Strange-Gordon, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (via Twitter). The deal contains an invitation to MLB spring training, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic.

A two-time All-Star and three-time stolen base leader early in his career with the Dodgers and Marlins, Strange-Gordon was traded to the Mariners in advance of the 2018 season. His tenure in Seattle proved to be a disappointment, though. Strange-Gordon never took to the Mariners’ attempt to convert him to a center fielder that year. At the same time, his production at the plate had a significant drop, limiting his opportunities to do damage on the base paths.

Over the past three seasons, Strange-Gordon has hit a meager .266/.293/.343 (73 wRC+). That made Seattle’s decision to decline a $14MM option on his services for 2021 easy. Still, there’s no harm for the Reds in bringing in a respected ten-year veteran on a non-guaranteed pact and giving him an opportunity to compete for a roster spot.

Cincinnati has a glaring hole at shortstop, the position at which Strange-Gordon broke into the big leagues. He’s mostly played second base over the past seven years, but he’s continued to pick up sporadic playing time at short (as well as in the outfield). That’s likely his path to regular playing time with the Reds, who have Mike Moustakas lined up for the lion’s share of work at the keystone. Nevertheless, given Strange-Gordon’s pronounced struggles over the past three years, it’d be surprising if the Reds didn’t bring in additional competition for incumbent shortstop options José García, Kyle Farmer and Kyle Holder. Cincinnati has been in recent contact with Jonathan Villar, arguably the top shortstop still available in free agency.

Reds, Sean Doolittle Agree To Deal

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FEB 8: Doolittle has officially signed with the Reds, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (via Twitter).

FEB 2: The Reds are moving toward an agreement with free-agent reliever Sean Doolittle, according to C. Trent Rosecrans and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). The two sides are in agreement on a one-year deal for the 2021 season, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Doolittle’s deal is worth $1.5MM in guaranteed money, according to Jon Morosi, plus performance bonuses.

Sean Doolittle | Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Doolittle, 34, has spent the past three and a half seasons with the Nationals, leading the team with 75 saves over that stretch. Along the way, he’s pitched to a 3.03 ERA and 3.40 SIERA with very strong strikeout and walk rates: 28.2 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively.

The 2020 season didn’t go well for Doolittle, as he was hampered by both a knee injury and an oblique strain. That pair of injuries combined to limit Doolittle to just 7 2/3 innings, during which time he yielded five earned runs on nine hits and four walks (two intentional) with six punchouts. His average fastball velocity dropped from 93.5 mph in 2019 to 90.7 mph in 2020.

While it was an ugly year for the lefty, Doolittle is still a two-time All-Star with a lengthy track record of success. A converted first baseman, Doolittle made debuted on the mound with the A’s in 2012 and went on to log 398 innings with a composite 3.02 ERA and 2.71 SIERA through the end of the 2019 season.

Doolittle played an integral role in the Nationals’ World Series run that year, standing out as one of the few members of the bullpen that manager Dave Martinez trusted in high-leverage spots. Doolittle pitched 10 1/3 innings in the 2019 playoffs, allowing just two runs on six hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. He held the Astros scoreless in three innings of work during the World Series.

If a deal ultimately comes together, Doolittle would provide the Reds with some badly needed left-handed help in the bullpen. It’s possible that he could be in the mix for saves in Cincinnati, given his track record, but he’ll more importantly give manager David Bell a second southpaw alongside Amir Garrett (another closer candidate). Doolittle and Garrett would be the only two left-handed locks for the bullpen, though recently acquired Cionel Perez could be a third option if they opt to use him out of the ’pen rather than as a starter. The Reds will also have Josh Osich and Jesse Biddle in camp this spring, but they’re on minor league deals and would need to earn a spot on the 40-man roster.

More broadly, a deal with Doolittle would be the first Major League addition to the Reds’ roster all winter. The club technically added right-hander Noe Ramirez as well, but they only did so in the trade that more or less dumped former closer Raisel Iglesias’ $9.125MM salary on the Angels. The Reds have also non-tendered Archie Bradley and Curt Casali in somewhat surprising fashion.

General manager Nick Krall has spoken of reallocating the savings from that series of subtractions, although the prevailing wisdom until recently had been that the Reds would try to do so at the shortstop position. Top free agents Ha-Seong Kim, Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons and Didi Gregorius all signed elsewhere, however, leaving the free-agent market without a clear, starting-caliber option at the position. The Reds could still look to the trade market for an option at short, but it seems that with the top names at that position off the market, they’ll at least spend a bit cash to address other areas of need.

Sean Doolittle Discusses Talks With Reds, Nationals

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  • Sean Doolittle also spoke with reporters (including Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post) about his own free agent experience, which concluded when he signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Reds last week.  Cincinnati was in touch with Doolittle early in the free agent process and he ended up choosing them amongst a few suitors, though Doolittle admitted that he held out hope for much of the winter that he would end up re-signing with the Nationals.  There were some negotiations between Doolittle and the Nats but once Washington signed Brad Hand in late January, Doolittle began to pivot to other teams.
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