1:45pm: The Reds and D-backs have officially announced the move.
12:44pm: The Reds have claimed veteran infielder Asdrubal Cabrera off waivers from the Diamondbacks, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The teams have yet to announce the move. Cincinnati already has multiple vacancies on its 40-man roster, so the Reds will only need to open a spot on the active 26-man roster.
Cabrera, 35, will give the Reds a switch-hitting infield option off the bench for the final month-plus of the regular season — and for the postseason, should they qualify. Because Cabrera is being claimed prior to Sept. 1, he’ll be eligible for postseason play with his new club.
It hasn’t been a great year at the plate for Cabrera, but he’s posted a respectable .244/.324/.392 batting line in 321 plate appearances while splitting his time between the infield corners (in addition to one lone inning at shortstop). He’s playing out the season on a one-year, $1.75MM contract and is owed about $358K of that sum through season’s end. The Reds will be on the hook for the remainder of that salary.
The veteran Cabrera looked like an obvious trade candidate prior to the deadline, but the D-backs apparently didn’t find much interest. They’ll clear a bit of cash now that he’s been claimed, although the primary motivation here could simply have been to give a veteran player a chance to join a playoff contender.
Cincinnati doesn’t have everyday at-bats available for Cabrera — not with Joey Votto at first base, Jonathan India at second base and Mike Moustakas over at third base. However, Cabrera has been quite productive against left-handed pitching over the past two seasons and has slightly better numbers against lefties than against righties over the course of his lengthy career. And as potent as the Reds’ lineup can be, Cincinnati has quietly been one of the game’s least-productive groups against southpaws, hitting just .231/.313/.380 as a team. Their collective 86 wRC+ against lefties ranks 28th in the Majors. Cabrera gives them a slight upgrade in that regard and also gives manager David Bell some versatility for late-game maneuvering.
… so, the Red farm system is on vacation
What does this have to do with their farm system? It’s a big league depth move for a playoff contending team. Playoff contenders, especially those who haven’t secured a playoff spot, have always been the ones that wouldn’t typically test the farm in September. The ones who test the farm in September are normally the way out of it teams, and the ones who know they’ve likely got a spot and are just looking to rest their regulars that they’ll be relying on in the playoffs. They also don’t give up anything from their farm for this.
Easy …. How many good players you have at 3A better than this old guy?? This guy is done !!
Back in Ohio
Good late August pick up for the stretch run.
Absolutely what I was thinking, great move by the Reds here
When was he DFAd
I was gonna say. Didn’t he just play last night?
A player doesn’t have to be formally DFA’d to be placed on waivers. Much like Polanco in Pittsburgh they put him out there to see if there was any interest and unlike Polanco Cabrera got claimed
Well I didn’t even see where he was placed on waivers.
In the past teams would usually put just about the entire roster on waivers just to see if anyone would bite and the team would either rescind the claim (Bryce Harper was claimed by the Dodgers in 2018 but the Nationals pulled him back), work out a trade (which you can’t do anymore), or let the player go to the claiming team. It has nothing to do with necessarily releasing the player after the waiver period
The team doesn’t have to announce it. It’s not uncommon for a club to just announce someone has been outrighted to Triple-A, which can only happen after they clear waivers.
The Royals didn’t announce Jarrod Dyson was placed on waivers, nor did the Pirates announce earlier in the week that Gregory Polanco had been placed on waivers.
Wait wait wait wait Bryce got waivered??
Reds are probably hoping for a repeat of his rebound in 2019.
Apparently a team can never have enough aging third basemen.
Is Cabrera close to playing with the most teams ever? I feel like he changes teams more than people change socks.
Edwin Jackson played for like 14 teams
Jackson just won a silver medal in Tokyo too
15
He can play multiple infield positions giving the Reds flexibility and depth for injuries or days off. His bat isn’t anything to celebrate and isn’t as good as it used to be but as players off the bench go he’s pretty good. There’s really nothing to criticize here.
Not intended at all as a criticism of Cabrera. It’s just using another roster spot for where the Reds already have the most depth, with Moustakas and Suarez already sharing time at third.
Schrock back to aaa maybe Barrero
Can’t hurt. This guy has always produced at above replacement level production (2+ WAR in a full time play). That isn’t great if you need him to play regularly but can really help the bench
Upgrade over Eugenia Suarez. Even with his power Suarez is in negative war. Cabrera is slightly positive
Castellini, the Reds owner deals in fruit. He should know that when fruit is well past the ripened stage you discard it. It is no longer any good.
He plays multiple infield positions allowing him to give Votto, India or Moose a day off and hits lefties decently, as noted in the articles. It’s not meant to be a “This guys going to fix everything!” Move. Just a depth move that helps the bench. I don’t see why anyone would be so against this.
Alan, on the other hand, old brown apples make the best cider ( hard or otherwise) and grapes fermented can turn into the best wine. You just need to know how to use then. This does give the Reds manager David Bell a lot more late inning replacement major league tested flexibility. I am sure he will know how to use Asdrubal.
A sense of humor. Stop it, there is no humor in wannabe baseball fans commenting online.
great claim, i was hoping they would get him at the deadline. professional hitter from both sides and can play multiple positions
I love how a lot of Reds fans think Castellini is the one calling the shots on which players the Reds pick up. I assume the GM etc do have salary/budget constraints they work within, but acting like Castellini is saying “we should go after Asdrubal Cabrera” is just ridiculous. BTW this is a solid late season addition for a team in playoff contention.
There are owners who do that. I doubt though carbrera would be on even the most handsy of owners mind like you said.
Reds might have claimed him to block the Brewers from getting him. Brewers have a need with Escobar out.
And I’d rather have Cabrera than Mikael Franco .
Good insight. Although the only team the reds need to concern themselves with is the Padres.
2 game edge going into today’s play. And the Padres look stunned right now
Not just Escobar, Adames is battling a quad I think now. If it was just Escobar I think they could have tried to go with what they had (plus Pablo the Magnificent ..). If Willy is going to miss extended time, then it makes more sense (to me anyway).
Nice player getting a chance to be in the wildcard series!
Reminiscent of Felipe Lopez
Gotta say I was hoping the Angels would of signed him as a cheap option for 3rd in 2019. Ended up hitting .260/.346 obs and 91 RBIS. They ended up cutting ties on all their free agent signings that year.. Bxour/LuCroy/Harvey
Is John Mozeliak working for the Reds now?
This is in preparation for the 1 game wild card with the dodgers/urias. The reds can’t win that game. Let’s hope the giants turn out to be the wild card opponent. Their lefties aren’t nearly as good.
He might play for all 30 MLB teams. Go Asdrubel!