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Reds Showing Interest In Didi Gregorius

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The Reds have started off an important winter by showing interest in free agent shortstop Didi Gregorius, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter).

Now 29 years of age, Gregorius spent his first five seasons as a professional with the Cincinnati organization and briefly debuted in the majors there in 2012. He ended up being traded away to the Diamondbacks and then on to the Yankees, where he established himself as a high-quality piece up the middle.

That’s not the only upper-tier free agent that has been linked to the Reds already this offseason — though others have been connected on a somewhat more speculative basis. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer recently highlighted backstop Yasmani Grandal as a possibility, writing that “all signs point toward a serious run” at securing his services. Young corner outfielders Nicholas Castellanos and Marcell Ozuna were also cited as possibilities.

MLBTR recently released its ranking of the top fifty free agents this winter. We predicted both Gregorius and Grandal to land with the Reds, banking on the organization to make good on its oft-stated intention to open the pocketbook up this winter.

Gregorius graded out as our 12th-best free agent. We toyed with the idea of guessing he’d settle for a one-year, make-good contract since he wasn’t in top form late in 2019 after returning from Tommy John surgery. But we ultimately guessed that he’d be able to secure a three-year contract. There are relatively few teams in obvious need of a regular shortstop, but there’s also a shortage of supply outside of Gregorius.

Reds Outright Four Players

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The Reds announced Monday that infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich, infielder Christian Colon, right-hander Jackson Stephens and right-hander Keury Mella all went unclaimed on waivers and were set outright to Triple Louisville.

Dietrich, 30, is the most notable name of the group and will surely reject the assignment to once again become a free agent. The former Marlin parlayed a minor league deal in Cincinnati this offseason into an Opening Day roster spot and went on one of the more memorable power surges in recent memory midway through the year. Dietrich launched a dozen homers over a span of just 68 plate appearances in May and carried a 1.000 OPS into June. However, he fell into a slump that was perhaps even more remarkable than that home-run binge; in his final 71 plate appearances, he hit just .071/.257/.179.

Mella, 26, was acquired from the Giants alongside Adam Duvall in the 2015 trade that shipped righty Mike Leake to the Giants. He was considered to be among the more promising pitching prospects in Cincinnati in the couple of years following that trade but has seen his stock dip considerably. The righty yielded 15 runs in 17 Major League innings across parts of three seasons, posting an uninspiring 13-to-12 K/BB ratio during those stints. At the time of his acquisition, Mella was averaging better than a strikeout per inning against older competition in Class-A Advanced, but in parts of three Triple-A seasons he has a 4.59 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 172 2/3 innings.

The 25-year-old Stephens had a big year with Double-A Pensacola back in 2016 but has limped to an ERA north of 5.00 in three trips through Triple-A Louisville while struggling to a 4.83 ERA through multiple MLB auditions. He spent the 2019 season in Triple-A, where he logged a 5.14 ERA with an 80-to-37 K/BB ratio in 84 innings, mostly as a reliever.

Colon, once the fourth overall pick in the draft and a top prospect with the Royals, appeared in just eight games with the Reds and made eight plate appearances. He’s a career .256/.321/.218 hitter in the Majors and batted .300/.372/.443 in Triple-A with the Reds this past season.

Reds Exercise Club Option On Freddy Galvis

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Nov. 1: The Reds have formally announced that Galvis’ option has indeed been picked up.

Oct. 31: The Reds will exercise their $5.5MM club option on Freddy Galvis for the 2020 season, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  The Reds had a $4.5MM decision to make on the veteran shortstop, as Galvis’ contract contained a $1MM buyout.

Galvis hit .260/.296/.438 with a career-best 23 homers over 589 plate appearances last season, coming over to Cincinnati in a midseason trade from the Blue Jays.  He was one of many players to benefit from inflated power numbers in the homer-happy 2019 season, as his batting average, OBP, and even his slugging percentage weren’t too far removed from career norms.  Playing mostly at shortstop in Toronto and then mostly as a second baseman with the Reds, Galvis posted decent defensive statistics at both positions, making him a flexible bench piece for next season as Cincinnati decides on its next step in the middle infield.

Jose Peraza and Derek Dietrich are also on hand as potential infield candidates, and Nick Senzel could also potentially factor back into the second base mix if the Reds opt to acquire an everyday center fielder rather than continue to deploying Senzel on the grass.  Galvis’ $5.5MM is more than either Peraza ($3.6MM) or Dietrich ($3.1MM) are projected to earn in arbitration, making one or both players expendable as non-tender candidates.  With the Reds firmly intent on a postseason berth next year, they could be aggressive in looking for an everyday shortstop AND center fielder, thus making Senzel the new second baseman and keeping Galvis in a utility infield role.

Reds Acquire Travis Jankowski

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The Reds have acquired outfielder Travis Jankowski from the Padres, as announced on San Diego’s official team Twitter feed.  International bonus money will head back to San Diego in return.

2019 was essentially a lost year for Jankowski, who suffered a broken wrist in Spring Training and didn’t start playing until July, turning him into something of an afterthought in a crowded Padres outfield mix.  Jankowski ended up appearing in only 25 games and receiving just 24 plate appearances.  Given that abbreviated campaign, Jankowski wasn’t expected to receive much of an arbitration raise, as MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected the outfielder to receive only $1.2MM in his second of four arb years as a Super Two player.  (Jankowski earned $1.165MM in 2019.)

It’s a minor enough sum that, despite Jankowski’s struggles last year, he was still an interesting option for a Cincinnati club that is looking to add outfield depth.  Jankowski has displayed some solid glovework at all three outfield positions, making him a decent candidate for bench duty or perhaps as the left-handed hitting side of a platoon.

Between the Jankowski trade and other recent transactions, the Padres have now cleared four spots off their 40-man roster.  San Diego faces something of a 40-man roster crunch given the number of prospects that have to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, so we could perhaps see even more minor housecleaning moves from the team in the coming days.

Offseason Outlook: Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds recently wrapped up a 75-win season, their sixth consecutive sub-.500 campaign. President of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Krall have seen enough. They have every intention of assembling a playoff-caliber roster for 2020.

Guaranteed Contracts

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Option Decisions

Free Agents

Most of the Reds’ focus last offseason went to their starting staff, and two of the three key acquisitions they made in that regard couldn’t have worked out much better. Picking up Sonny Gray from the Yankees has been a brilliant move thus far. Tanner Roark, whom the Reds landed in a trade with the Nationals, was effective for Cincinnati for a few months before the out-of-contention club flipped him to Oakland in July. Alex Wood wasn’t healthy enough to pitch for most of the season, so acquiring him from the Dodgers was the one starting addition that didn’t work out for Williams and Krall. But the two front office bigwigs swung a massive trade for then-Indian Trevor Bauer prior to the July 31 deadline, meaning the Reds are now slated to get a full year from him alongside Gray, Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani. It’s unclear who will primarily occupy the last spot on Cincy’s staff (perhaps Wood or another free agent on a one-year deal), but it’s obvious the rotation is no longer a major concern for the club.

The Reds’ main problem at the moment seems to be their offense, which finished 25th in the majors in both runs and wRC+ this year. Although he surprisingly struggled this season, first baseman Joey Votto isn’t going anywhere. Neither is third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who fell one home run shy of the 50 mark.

Aside from Votto and Suarez, the Reds’ position player cast certainly isn’t etched in stone. Nick Senzel will also start somewhere, whether it’s second or center field (where he played in 2019), and his flexibility will afford the Reds the opportunity to shop for help at either of those spots. The upcoming class of free-agent center fielders looks quite weak, however, so unless the Reds swing a trade for someone like Starling Marte of the Pirates or Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox, odds are they’ll be adding second base help over center field aid. Fortunately for Cincy, free agency will be teeming with passable second basemen once the offseason rolls around. Of course, we’d be remiss to ignore that the Reds have a few in-house second base possibilities besides Senzel. Jose Peraza, Derek Dietrich and Freddy Galvis led the club’s second basemen in starts this year, and all are controllable through next season. However, Peraza and Dietrich look like possible non-tender candidates, while Galvis has a $5.5MM option or a $1MM buyout for 2020. Even if the Reds keep Galvis, his track record indicates he wouldn’t make for more than a mediocre-at-best starter at either second or shortstop.

Short, like second, appears to be a position the Reds could give some attention in the coming months. The trouble is that free agency won’t be loaded with obvious solutions there. Jose Iglesias, who started the vast majority of the Reds’ season at the position, is due to hit free agency. The Reds could easily re-sign the defensively adept, light-hitting Iglesias for what surely wouldn’t be a sizable sum, but they’d be wise to hunt for a better alternative first. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Reds seek a reunion with Yankees free agent-to-be Didi Gregorius, whom Cincy signed as an international free agent back in 2007. Otherwise, would the Reds pursue a trade for the Indians’ Francisco Lindor or the Rockies’ Trevor Story? They’re a pair of star shortstops who are likely to come up in trade rumors during the next few months (the speculation has already started in regards to Lindor).

While the Reds could rekindle their relationship with Gregorius, the same holds true for pending free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal. Clearly the premier catcher set to hit the market in the next couple weeks, the Brewers’ Grandal was the 12th overall pick of the Reds back in 2010. Grandal never wound up playing a game for the Reds, but he’d be a massive upgrade now over the combination of Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali. That said, signing the soon-to-be 31-year-old Grandal at this point would likely mean forking over $60MM or more in guarantees. If the Reds aren’t willing to go that far, and if they do try to add a somewhat high-profile backstop to upgrade over Barnhart, they could wind up with anyone from the affordable trio of Jason Castro, Travis d’Arnaud or Robinson Chirinos in free agency.

The way the Reds map out their 2020 outfield will depend in part on their plans for Senzel. As mentioned earlier, though, finding an obvious center field upgrade in free agency will be difficult. It’ll be less of an arduous task in the corner outfield, where ex-Red Yasiel Puig, Marcell Ozuna, Nicholas Castellanos, Avisail Garcia and Corey Dickerson are all on the cusp of becoming free agents. The Reds traded Puig in July as part of the Bauer deal, though Krall expressed interest in a Puig extension shortly before that.

Whether the Reds bring back Puig or find one or two players from the outside, their corner outfield does look as if it should be a priority. Cincinnati has in-house possibilities in Jesse Winker, Aristides Aquino, Phillip Ervin and Josh VanMeter, granted. However, they all come with warts. The left-handed Winker was just about unplayable this year versus same-handed pitchers; Aquino came back to reality after a historically remarkable start; Ervin’s decent overall numbers were buoyed by an unsustainable first few months; and VanMeter didn’t produce much outside of a red-hot July.

Meanwhile, the Reds’ bullpen seems to be much less of an issue than their outfield, though it’s still an area they (like just about every other team) could attempt to improve.. Raisel Iglesias has been a prime trade candidate in the past, but if Cincy’s as bent on pushing for a playoff spot next year as it has indicated, he seems unlikely to go anywhere this winter. So, he’ll stay a key member of a unit that will also welcome back Amir Garrett, Michael Lorenzen, Robert Stephenson and Matt Bowman, while Cody Reed, Lucas Sims and Joel Kuhnel could also be among in-house arms pushing for innings. Kevin Gausman, whom the Reds claimed from the Braves in August, may be a part of the unit again, too (or even vie for the Reds’ fifth starter job); however, considering his lofty arbitration projection for 2020, it seems more likely the Reds will non-tender Gausman.

Deciding Gausman’s future is one of the more immediate tasks on the Reds’ plate as the offseason nears its official start. If the Reds do let Gausman go, it’ll further increase spending space for a team that’s all but guaranteed to boast a franchise-record payroll in 2020. The Reds opened this season with an outlay just over $126.6MM, and Williams has said that number will go up next year as the club tries to bring an end to its long-running playoff drought.

“The goal for us now, all we’re talking about is the postseason. That’s what matters,” Williams declared a few weeks ago. “That’s the goal next year. It’s not taking incremental steps in a rebuild. It’s about the postseason.”

Judging by the Reds’ win-now attitude, they could be among the majors’ busiest teams during the upcoming offseason.

Reds Name Alan Zinter Hitting Coach

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It appears that major league front offices are taking Thursday as their opportunity to announce new coaching hires, as the Reds have announced the installment of Alan Zinter as the club’s new hitting coach and the promotion of Donnie Ecker to an assistant hitting coach and director of hitting role.

This announcement won’t carry the same impact of the managerial hires reported around the game today, but Zinter’s hire could still prove crucial for a club looking to get over the hump in 2020. A former hitting coach with the Padres, Zinter has been working in player development for the last two years in the Giants organization. Turner Ward, the club’s former hitting instructor, was relieved of duty earlier this month after one season in Cincy.

Zinter will inherit from Ward one of the game’s bottom-half offenses. The club’s 2019 cumulative 87 wRC+ figure–which accounts for park factors–placed Cincinnati 26th among major league teams last year. Though they did unlock a massive breakout from Eugenio Suarez and a nice half-season from Aristides Aquino, the Reds coaching staff received disappointing seasons from the since-departed Yasiel Puig and cornerstone Joey Votto. If hitting is the archetype of the inexact sciences, then Zinter and Ecker will be tasked with undertaking some bold experiments in 2020 to tap into the potential of a largely stagnant group of Reds hitters.

Position Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

Here are the position players that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Reds, Red Sox Discussed Bradley Trade Last Offseason

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  • The Reds discussed Jackie Bradley, Jr. with the Red Sox last offseason, relays the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale. While there’s no indication talks progressed very far or have picked up since, it’s still noteworthy to hear Cincinnati’s front office liked the player not too long ago. Bradley’s one of the offseason’s most obvious trade candidates, as we’ve already heard rumblings Boston would shop him this winter to ameliorate payroll concerns. MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently explored Bradley’s market in full and noted that the Reds have some uncertainty in center field if they believe Nick Senzel to be more valuable at second base. Bradley didn’t have a banner 2019 season and comes with a rather significant arbitration projection ($11MM), but the free agent market in center field isn’t particularly robust.

Reds Outright Juan Graterol

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The Reds announced Friday that catcher Juan Graterol cleared waivers after being designated for assignment this week and has been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville. A a player who’s previously been outrighted, Graterol will have the opportunity to elect free agency, which seems likely with the offseason on the horizon.

Graterol, 30, appeared in six games with Cincinnati this season and tallied four singles in 18 trips to the plate. He’s played sparingly in several big league stints across the past four seasons, compiling a .218/.227/.266 line in 129 plate appearances between the Angels, Twins and Reds. He’s also spent parts of six seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a career .277/.313/.340 hitter.

While he’s not much of a threat at the plate, Graterol has been a plus framer, pitch blocker and thrower both in the upper minors and in the Majors. He boasts a 32 percent caught-stealing rate in the big leagues and a hefty 38 percent mark in parts of 14 minor league seasons. He’ll presumably draw interest among teams eyeing catching depth in the upper minors this winter, likely landing a minor league deal and an invite to big league Spring Training somewhere.

Reds Claim Josh Smith, Designate Juan Graterol For Assignment

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4:45 pm: The Marlins have announced Smith’s claim, with an addendum indicating that Miami has also outrighted catcher Tyler Heineman and righty Hector Noesi to the Triple-A New Orleans roster. This puts Miami’s 40-man roster count at 37.

2:47 pm: The Reds have claimed pitcher Josh Smith off of waivers from the Marlins, according to a tweet from C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (link). In a corresponding move, Cincinnati has designated catcher Juan Graterol for assignment.

The Marlins had claimed the left-handed Smith off of waivers from the Indians on Sept 14, making his time in the Miami organization exceedingly brief. Occasionally referred to as “Josh D. Smith” in order to avoid confusion, the lefty is a soft-tossing reliever with a largely fastball/slider dependent repertoire.  The 30-year-old played in both the Pirates and Red Sox organizations before making his big league debut with Cleveland in 2019; he ultimately made 14 appearances between the Indian and Marlin pens, logging a 6.39 ERA (4.32 FIP) in a small sample of 12.2 innings. Amir Garrett is the only lefty on-hand in the Cincinnati bullpen, so Smith could be a relatively no-cost flier for a club looking to broaden its mix-and-match capabilities.

The 30-year-old Graterol first came up to the bigs with the Angels in 2016, but he’s never really been given an extended look in the majors. Across parts of three seasons, he’s received just 129 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, logging a meek .218/.227/.266 line with zero home runs. He spent most of 2019 at Triple-A in the Reds organization, logging a .249/.301/.325 slash through 226 plate appearances.

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