- The Reds have released right-hander Nick Travieso, per Doug Gray of RedsMinorLeagues.com. This ends a long Reds tenure for Travieso, who had been a member of the organization since it selected him 14th overall in the 2012 draft. As Gray explains, though, the 25-year-old Travieso’s velocity hasn’t returned to previous levels since shoulder issues kept him out of action from the end of the 2016 campaign until earlier this season. Travieso threw just three innings in rookie ball this year before the Reds said goodbye to him.
Reds Rumors
Reds Activate Scooter Gennett
The Reds are welcoming one of their best hitters back to the lineup, as they announced Friday that second baseman Scooter Gennett has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Cincinnati already had an open spot on its 40-man roster, so the only corresponding roster move came in the form of placing catcher Tucker Barnhart on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right oblique muscle.
Gennett, 29, has proven to be one of the best waiver claims in recent history. Designated for assignment by the division-rival Brewers in Spring Training 2017, Gennett has broken out as an everyday player and an All-Star since being claimed by his hometown team.
In 295 games and 1135 plate appearances with the Reds, he’s mashed at a .303/.351/.508 clip while teeing off on 50 homers, 52 doubles and six triples. One of the main knocks on Gennett in Milwaukee was a perceived inability to hit left-handed pitching, but he’s earned more at-bats against southpaws as his tenure with the Reds has progressed. In 202 plate appearances against lefties in 2018, Gennett batted .294/.335/.439. That breakout led to a $9.75MM salary for Gennett in his final trip through arbitration this past offseason.
A severe groin strain incurred toward the tail end of Spring Training ultimately cost Gennett half of the 2019 season — a crushing loss both for the Reds and for Gennett himself, who is slated to become a free agent at season’s end. His absence has undeniably been felt by a Reds lineup that somewhat surprisingly is tied for the fifth-fewest runs scored in all of Major League Baseball. Cincinnati hitters rank as a bottom-six team in terms of batting average and on-base percentage as well.
Gennett’s return could push another surprise slugger, Derek Dietrich, the outfield with more regularity. He’s batted .222/.350/.567 with a career-best 18 home runs and seen regular work at second base thanks to his power surge. But Dietrich has experience in the outfield corners, at first base and at third base, so he could bounce around the diamond a bit more now that Gennett is back in the fold.
As for Barnhart, he’ll hit the injured list with an oblique issue, leaving Curt Casali as the primary backstop and Kyle Farmer as the reserve. The 28-year-old Barnhart is in the midst of his worst season at the plate, having batted just .191/.290/.315 in 187 plate appearances. That downturn in production comes on the heels of a combined .257/.331/.374 batting line over his previous four seasons.
Alex Wood Suffers Setback
Reds left-hander Alex Wood had finally been moving toward his 2019 debut, but that’s now on hold. Wood “felt some soreness” while stretching and will see a doctor for a follow-up appointment, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
Wood, out all season because of back issues, had been scheduled for his first rehab start this Thursday. He was supposed to throw a bullpen session Tuesday in preparation for that outing, but it didn’t occur because of his soreness.
This is hardly the first setback of 2019 for Wood, who has been battling back troubles since late February. Those problems have stopped the 28-year-old from helping the Reds, who landed Wood as one of their key offseason acquisitions, and from making a case for a payday in free agency during the upcoming winter. Plus, while the 36-40 Reds are potentially lining up as sellers entering the July 31 trade deadline, it appears they can forget about flipping Wood for anything remotely valuable.
Wood came to Cincinnati last winter as one of the hurlers who was supposed to fix what had been a terrible rotation. Hoping Wood would help rescue their starting staff, the Reds acquired him in a late-December blockbuster with the Dodgers. Six months later, Cincy’s rotation has taken sizable steps forward, but Wood hasn’t been able to contribute at all.
Wood, to his credit, still owns an impressive 3.29 ERA/3.36 FIP in 803 1/3 career innings divided between Atlanta and LA. However, it continues to look as if Wood will have a hard time building on his 2019 salary of $9.65MM if he reaches free agency in the coming months.
Latest On Scooter Gennett, Alex Wood
- Scooter Gennett’s rehab assignment shifts from high-A ball to Triple-A this week, and Reds manager David Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that “there’s a chance” Gennett could be activated off the injured list on Friday, when the Reds begin a series against the Cubs. The club will be as careful as possible with Gennett’s recovery process, of course, as the second baseman has yet to play this season due to a severe groin strain. Gennett’s minor league rehab stint can last up to 20 days in length, and he only just got back on the field earlier this week.
- Alex Wood, another Reds player who has yet to see action this season, is scheduled for his first rehab start on Thursday, Bell said. Back problems have kept Wood out of action since late February, and he isn’t expected to be a candidate to join Cincinnati’s roster until after the All-Star break. “We can’t rush it and he hasn’t had a Spring Training. We have to build him up,” Bell said.
Wandy Peralta Switches Agencies
Reds left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta has hired The MAS+ Agency to represent him, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.
The 27-year-old Peralta debuted in 2016 with the Reds, who signed him as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. The hard-throwing Peralta showed promise in 2017, his first extensive look in the majors, but he has fallen off since then. Peralta now owns a 4.89 ERA/4.64 FIP with 7.26 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent groundball rate in 140 innings. He hasn’t been able to completely stifle same-handed batters, who have hit .254/.349/.386 against him since he debuted in the bigs.
While Peralta’s numbers aren’t anything to write home about, his agency switch is relevant because he’s on track to reach arbitration for the first time during the upcoming offseason. Peralta’s also on schedule to hit free agency after the 2022 campaign.
MLBTR will note Peralta’s agency change in our Agency Database. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Reds To Maintain 2019 Spending Levels Into 2020
The Cincinnati Reds grabbed headlines this winter by announcing an increase in payroll and subsequently trading for an LA starter kit that included Alex Wood, Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp and Kyle Farmer. In terms of on-field contributions, the move hasn’t exactly been a rousing success for the Redlegs. Wood has yet to pitch for the Reds because of a back injury. Puig’s .235/.280/.446 line has been accompanied by strikeout and walk rates moving in the wrong direction. Kemp chipped in -0.9 rWAR in 60 at-bats before his unceremonious release. In fact, whether by rWAR (0.6) or fWAR (0.3), Farmer has been the strongest contributor of the bunch.
And yet, while this buy-three-get-one-free deal brought Wood (~$9.65MM), Puig (~$9.6MM), and Kemp ($21.75MM) on relatively hefty deals, importantly, none carry financial obligations following the 2019 season. The players themselves may move on, but the payroll increase is likely to stay, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Reds see a window of contention now, and they want to capitalize. With only a little more than $57MM currently on the payroll for 2020 (per Roster Resource), count the Reds as buyers in free agency. They entered 2019 with a record-high $133MM payroll.
Of course, the Reds top two offensive contributors in rWAR this season are two players brought in on minor league deals: Derek Dietrich and Jose Iglesias. They may be ready to spend, but as they found out last offseason, that’s not always as easy as it sounds. Still, along with this week’s earlier report that said the Reds were in the market for a controllable hitter, it seems the Reds are itching to make an impact move.
Reds Reportedly “Open To Adding A Controllable Hitter”
The Reds are “open to adding a controllable hitter” this summer, according to a recent report from MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link).
This bit of scuttlebutt seems mostly to reflect a few self-evident realities about the Cincinnati org’s situation. The Reds have steadily moved back into plausible contention in the National League Central and the NL Wild Card race. The club’s pitching staff has generally performed admirably while its bats have been surprisingly silent. Looking up and down the 2019 stat sheet, you’ll find a whole lot of average or worse hitters on this Cincinnati club.
Doing the math … Quite a few obstacles still separate the team from the postseason, so a present-and-future move would arguably be most sensible. Outwardly, at least, the lineup is an area for improvement. x+y = “controllable hitter.”
But does that really tell us anything about how the Reds will actually approach the deadline? For one thing, there’s still ample uncertainty in the team’s actual competitive position. It’s not hard at all to imagine the club slipping into the status of a rental seller, or stepping up to be a clear rental buyer. The Reds already invested in a series of one-year assets over the winter, so why wouldn’t they consider more if they are in relatively strong position come late July? Even if the club won’t go wild for the best rental pieces, it could certainly see value in some added relief depth and bench bats that make for nice platoon fits.
Neither is the area of need fixed in stone. Entering the year, the questions were in the pitching staff; some may yet arise. While Alex Wood has been sidelined (he’s now on the road back), the team has been quite fortunate to sport a five-man rotation unit that has taken all but one of the team’s starts and performed beyond expectations. The bullpen has been excellent but isn’t without potential questions of its own. Meanwhile, the talented slate of hitters may — some might argue, probably will — get things going in earnest. Rental bat Yasiel Puig is doing just that. Ditto Joey Votto, Jesse Winker, and Nick Senzel, each of whom joined Derek Dietrich in posting a strong past thirty days at the plate. (That includes Dietrich’s late-May burst; he has slumped of late.) Let’s not forget that Scooter Gennett is now on a rehab assignment, too.
It isn’t entirely obvious what position would best be targeted, either. You could say catcher, but good luck finding a quality, controllable bat in that spot. The outfield is far from perfect, but it looks increasingly accounted for with Puig and Winker hitting alongside Senzel. With Gennett’s return, Dietrich may need to find more of his opportunities on the grass. The left side of the infield isn’t exactly mashing, but Eugenio Suarez is a fixture at third and Jose Iglesias has provided excellent value at shortstop.
It’s always worth paying attention to indications of a team’s own assessment of its needs. But this particular early signal seems a bit too vague to have all that much informational value in divining the shape of the summer trade market. The Reds are certainly an interesting team to watch. They may well end up in a sort of opportunistic hold position, standing pat with most current MLB assets while exploring the addition of a controllable hitter at some position or another. But it seems just as likely that the club will end up simply selling a few of its pending free agents or buying a couple of veteran bench pieces.
Reds Were Runners-Up For Albert Pujols In 2011-12 Offseason
The Angels are making a rare interleague visit to St. Louis this weekend, marking Albert Pujols’ first on-field visit back to his former city since he left the Cardinals following the 2011 season. He could have been a much more frequent visitor to Busch Stadium, however, if he had remained within the NL Central, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the Reds were the proverbial mystery team that came closest to keeping Pujols away from the Angels in free agency.
Cincinnati offered Pujols a ten-year, $225MM offer, which fell just short of the ten-year, $240MM contract Pujols ultimately accepted from the Angels. The Marlins actually offered more money than either the Angels or Reds, though Pujols turned down Miami’s ten-year, $275MM offer out of concerns that the contract didn’t contain a no-trade clause, and as Nightengale puts it, “Pujols [was] fearful of the Marlins being the Marlins.”
Walt Jocketty was the Reds’ general manager at the time, and had a long relationship with Pujols due to Jocketty’s time as the Cardinals’ GM from 1994 to 2007. “We thought we were going to get him,” Jockey told Nightengale. “We thought he would certainly give our organization a lift with his presence, on and off the field.”
After suffering through nine consecutive losing seasons from 2001-2009, the Reds won the NL Central in 2010 but were then unceremoniously swept out of the NLDS by the Phillies (a series that saw the Reds become just the second team to be no-hit in a postseason game, after Roy Halladay shut them down in Game One). That taste of the postseason gave way to a disappointing 79-83 record in 2011, which led to an aggressive offseason for Jocketty’s front office. Cincinnati added Mat Latos and Sean Marshall that winter, and indeed went on to regain the NL Central crown in 2012 and then reached the playoffs again as a wild card team in 2013.
Needless to say, adding Pujols would have been by far the biggest possible transaction for the Reds, and the signing would’ve had an incredible ripple effect on recent baseball history. The player who would’ve been most notably impacted, of course, is Joey Votto. Aside from six games as a left fielder in his rookie year, Votto has never played anywhere besides first base and (in interleague games) DH in the majors, and a position change would’ve seemingly been unlikely. While Pujols had played a handful of games at third base for St. Louis in 2011, that marked his first action at the hot corner since 2002, so he wasn’t going to be moved away from first base.
The most plausible scenario of a Pujols signing is simply that Votto would have become an enormous trade chip for the Reds. Votto had already established himself as a star, and since he wouldn’t have become a free agent until after the 2013 season, the Reds could have netted a hefty return for his services.
As things turned out, the Reds ended up spending their exact planned investment on Pujols into a new extension for Votto, inking him to a ten-year, $225MM deal covering the 2014-2023 seasons (after Votto’s original three-year deal with Cincinnati was up). This wasn’t the only money the Reds splashed around that spring, as they also extended Brandon Phillips on a six-year, $72.5MM contract.
It’s hard to argue that keeping Votto over Pujols was a bad move for Cincinnati, as Votto has decidedly outhit Pujols over the last nine seasons. There’s even some question as to whether Pujols could have even remained on the field if he had stayed in the National League, as the slugger said his decision to join the Angels “worked out perfect for me….With all of the injuries and everything that happened to me, it was the best-case scenario for me playing in the American League with a DH. It hasn’t been the best years of my career, but I’m still producing.”
Still, it’s worth at least guessing at how a Pujols-in-Cincinnati scenario could have developed. For one, the Reds would’ve had Pujols off their books following the 2021 season, whereas they’re still committed to Votto through 2023 (and Votto’s power numbers have dropped precipitously over the last two seasons). In terms of shorter-term results, who knows if the combination of Pujols and whatever pieces the Reds could have obtained in a hypothetical Votto trade could have put the Reds over the top in 2012 or 2013, though Pujols missed a big chunk of the 2013 season once his foot problems began to worsen.
Of course, who knows — maybe the Pujols-led Reds would’ve lost the 2012 or 2013 World Series to whichever team Votto ended up joining. His availability that winter creates a whole new set of alternate realities, as one can not only look back at the 2011-12 free agent market for teams in need of first basemen, but it’s quite possible that teams without a defined need at first might have changed their plans if Votto was on the table (in the same way that the Reds weren’t seen a suitor at all for Pujols).
Pujols signed with the Angels in early December, so if he signs with the Reds in this fantasy scenario, that gives Cincinnati much of the offseason to market their younger first baseman. Maybe it’s Votto who ends up in an Angels uniform after the Halos missed out on their top free agent choice. The 2011-12 offseason saw the Marlins splurge on Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell in free agency, so maybe they could’ve decided to augment those free agents with a first baseman in a Votto trade? If Votto is still a Red in late January 2012 when Victor Martinez tears his ACL, would the Tigers have spoken to the Reds about Votto rather than sign Prince Fielder? The possibilities are endless.
Health Notes: Zimmermann, Nimmo, Marlins, Smith, Wood, Dozier
Tigers right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, currently on the mend after suffering a UCL sprain, looks to be nearing his return, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. On Thursday, Zimmermann threw 4 2/3 innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Toledo, coming away pleased with the 69 pitches he threw and declaring his readiness to rejoin the Major League rotation for his next start. Whether that will actually come to fruition is up to the Tigers’ brass, though manager Ron Gardenhire seemed hesitant to welcome back a pitcher whose limited workload could lead to more bullpen days, which the team is trying to avoid. Regardless, the 33-year-old’s return looks to be just around the corner, certainly a promising development for a team that has had to patch together a starting staff after withstanding injuries to four-fifths of its Opening Day rotation.
Here are the latest updates on other injuries from around baseball…
- Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo is going to consult more specialists about the bulging disc in his neck, tweets Tim Healey of Newsday. Nimmo has been sidelined with that same injury since May 20, and the latest is a troubling development for an organization that has been maligned for its handling of players’ injuries. At this time, there is still no timeline for when Nimmo might be cleared to return.
- Marlins left-hander Caleb Smith has been cleared to begin a throwing program, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Smith landed on the 10-day IL on June 7 thanks to inflammation in his left hip, but it doesn’t appear that the injury will keep him out much longer, as Smith is on track to return in late June. The 27-year-old southpaw has quietly emerged as a promising starter for the Marlins, having struck out 82 batters in 62 innings of work. Over the last two seasons in Miami, Smith has posted an impressive 3.83 ERA in 143 1/3 innings.
- Hunter Dozier will spend the next three days rehabbing with the Royals’ Double-A affiliate, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com, who adds that Dozier will later join Triple-A Omaha after the birth of his child. The next step following that is to work his way back to the MLB club, which is good news for the Royals, who originally tabbed Dozier to return in late June. It looks like that timeline is still a realistic target for the third baseman, who has emerged as one of Kansas City’s few untouchable pieces and an All-Star candidate in the American League.
- Another promising update for the Reds, with left-hander Alex Wood nearing a rehab assignment, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, who tweets that the southpaw has a live BP session on Tuesday, which could lead to a minor-league rehab stint if all goes well. Wood, 28, has been dealing with lower back soreness that has put his Reds debut on hold. However, it looks as if that time could come around the All-Star break for the former Dodger.
Scooter Gennett To Begin Rehab Assignment Monday
Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett will begin a rehab assignment at the High-A level Monday, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Barring setbacks, Gennett will have as many as 20 days to rehab.
This has been a long-awaited development for Gennett, who hasn’t played this season as a result of a right groin strain he suffered March 22. The injury has deprived the Reds of one of the game’s most valuable second basemen in recent years. Across 1,135 plate appearances from 2017-18, Gennett hit .303/.351/.508 with 50 home runs. He ranked third at his position in wRC+ (124) and sixth in fWAR (6.7) during that period.
Even with Gennett on the shelf for two-plus months, the Reds have gotten impressive production at the keystone. Offseason minor league signing Derek Dietrich has given the team a .236/.339/.559 line (136 wRC+) with 17 homers and 1.7 fWAR through 183 PA. The lefty-swinging Dietrich has been mired in a slump over the past couple weeks, however, and is only an option against right-handed pitchers even when he’s producing.
Although Gennett’s a fellow lefty hitter, the Reds should be able to deploy him and Dietrich in the same lineup fairly often. After all, one of Dietrich’s selling points is his defensive versatility. Aside from manning second, Dierich has totaled nine appearances each at first base and in left field this year.
