The Reds had yet to place any of their starting pitchers on waivers as of Saturday morning, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports in his weekly “Full Count” video. As Rosenthal notes, their waiver status may be a moot point, as each would likely be claimed and subsequently pulled back. More highlights regarding the Reds and the rest of the league below…
- The real drama surrounding the Reds’ rotation could come this offseason, as Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Mike Leake and Alfredo Simon will all be entering their final year of team control. The Reds will have to decide which, if any, they want to sign to a long-term deal, and Rosenthal notes that they will likely trade “at least” one. Latos is perhaps the likeliest candidate to be dealt, according to Rosenthal, who notes that both Latos and Cueto would command more than Homer Bailey’s six-year, $105MM contract.
- Rusney Castillo’s six-year, $72.5MM contract with the Red Sox might not stand as the largest deal for a Cuban free agent very long. Yasmani Tomas is expected to be cleared as a free agent this offseason, and his huge raw power will be highly appealing, even if he is limited to left field, defensively speaking. As Rosenthal points out, Tomas is four years younger than Castillo and is against a crop of weak free agent bats. One executive that spoke with Rosenthal said the only flaw he sees in Castillo is his propensity to swing and miss.
- Rosenthal points back to a report of his prior to the trade deadline in which he had learned that the Nationals were looking for a young shortstop on the trade market. He’s now learned that Didi Gregorius of the Diamondbacks was one of their targets. Washington had planned on playing Gregorius at second base in the near-term and moving him back over to shortstop if Ian Desmond could not be retained. Of course, the club still wants to extend Desmond, who is a free agent following the 2015 season.
I’m wondering why, out of all their soon-to-be-free-agent pitchers, they decided to lock up Homer Bailey. Did they try to lock up Cueto, their true ace, who is the same age as (and much better than) Bailey? Or Latos, who is two years younger and has put up better numbers than Bailey as well? Why, out of these three, was Bailey the only extension?
Bailey would’ve hit the open market this offseason, whereas the others were controlled through 2015. His year-to-year improvements over the previous three seasons were impressive as well, and my assumption was always that the Reds expected further progression. He gets knocked because of his poor start, but Bailey has been pretty excellent from May forward, albeit with somewhat weaker peripherals than I’d have expected.
I feel like they paid Bailey about what he would have received on the open market, don’t you think? I don’t know if it was an overpay, but it was hardly a discount for the Reds. So why not wait? I don’t get that.
Bailey had been the most healthy of those guys coming into this yr and reds can’t miss on a big contract because of injury (see Joey Votto), Cueto is the best of the 3 but they were nervous after his history of oblique injuries
The puzzling thing about the Reds’ rotation is that they basically paid slightly less than market value for Bailey, when they probably could’ve locked up two of the other pitchers for around the same price. The Reds are not great at spending their money.
Perhaps someone can help me with this question – why do teams routinely place their players on waivers this time of year? I’m not talking about potential trade candidates or salary dumps – I’m talking about players like Yu Darvish, for ex.? What’s the purpose?
Head start on offseason preparations. Helps gauge the market.
Because it doesn’t hurt to listen and see what other teams offer. There are so many discussions, you aren’t doing your job if your looking around, seeing how other teams value your players, and how they value their own players.
This is going to be a huge offseason for the Reds and what direction they take. With the current payroll and injury history this team has had, it is looking more and more like the door is closing on their ability to be contenders for a title. They are either going to be all-in for 2015 or they are going to be in a two year reloading phase.