The Reds have claimed righty Nefi Ogando off waivers from the Pirates, according to Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). He follows Lisalverto Bonilla in moving from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati via the waiver wire.
Ogando, 27, already swapped jerseys earlier this winter (on paper, at least)Â when the Pirates grabbed him from the Marlins in another waiver move. Now, he’s on the move to the Bucs’ NL Central rivals, who are obviously still looking to bolster their relief ranks after the unit turned in an unsightly overall effort in 2017.
The righty brings a big fastball and has shown strong groundball results in his limited time in the majors, though he has recorded just ten strikeouts against ten walks over his 19 2/3 MLB frames. Over his 52 2/3 innings at the highest level of the minors, Ogando owns a 3.08 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
mvottop
Another one huh
jimmyz
I was hoping for both Ogando and Lisalverto Bonilla to clear waivers and stay in the Pirates organization or at least one of them. The Reds’ bullpen just got a couple more big arms with potential, if unproven.
ronnsnow
The Reds need to get their hands on Brady Dragmire
mvottop
You mean they turned in an unsightly effort in 2016 right? Hopefully you aren’t foreshadowing the future lol.
SamFuldsFive
Well, the writing is on the wall.
mvottop
It is going to be a long year.
stratcrowder
I hate to say this, but we’re in for a half decade. Hate to be negative, but it will take lightning in a bottle to overcome the hole we’re in. The disparity between small market and big market teams is still very real.
mvottop
I’m not sure if it will be that long. I must admit I am glad Walt is not calling the shots anymore. I just hope we don’t get another stretch like the one we just ended in 2010.
redsfanman
With Homer Bailey going on the 60 day DL they claimed the best available player on the waiver wire, hopefully Oganda and Bonilla can clear waivers in the near future and be outrighted to the minors for the Reds…
one team claiming two pitchers from the same team in two days, has that happened before?
Nick Hogan
They might have an option or two left, which means if they stay on the 40 man, they won’t have to clear waivers again. They were on waivers because the Pirates took them off the 40 man.
Update: A quick google search tells me that Bonilla has options remaining and Ogando does not.
angelsinthetroutfield
What ever happened to Alexi Ogando?
SamFuldsFive
He went to Korea.
Connorsoxfan
The Rangers’ evil plan to combine Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando into one pitcher??
66TheNumberOfTheBest
I like that the Pirates just incrementally improved these bottom rosters spots.
Got Bonilla. Found better and dumped him. Got Ogando. Found better and dumped him.
Would have been nice to stash them, sure.
But even better to improve the roster spots. I particularly like Pat Light’s upside.
pjmcnu
I hope the poor guy didn’t have to travel from Bradenton to Goodyear after like 1 day in FL. These DFA carousel moves are going to start meaning guys are physically bouncing around, not just on paper.