Reds outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. has refused an outright assignment and become a free agent, reports MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (via tweet).
The speedy outfielder bounced around a few organizations this year after signing with the Rangers on a minor league deal. Owing to a robust walk rate and strong base stealing numbers in their Triple-A affiliate, Texas found a trade partner in Boston to take in DeShields as outfield depth and a potential playoff weapon. Cincinnati found similar appeal in DeShields and plucked him from the Red Sox in an early August deal for cash.
DeShields’ minors production included solid numbers, including 21 stolen bases (in 24 tries) and a .750 OPS. With the Reds, however, he saw big league action for the first time in 2021 and had a nice showing in sample size of 25 games, producing a .255/.375/.426 slash (105 OPS+) with almost as many walks as strikeouts.
Despite solid production down the stretch, the Reds likely didn’t view DeShields as an indispensable part of their future. The 29-year-old could have been retained via arbitration but will instead head to the open market in search of more steady Major League work. With plenty to like about DeShields’ profile, there are plenty of teams, including the Reds themselves, who may come knocking in the offseason to fortify their outfield ranks.
Good luck
Reds fans literally a year ago: “You guys are gonna be regretting bashing our team once you find out how good Double-D is gonna be.”
Hey. What can I say? They were right. I regret it. “Double-D” sucks and now I just feel like I was picking an easy target. Why Reds fans thought this guy was going to be the 2nd coming of Joey Gallo in his prime will always be a mystery to me.
Reds fan said this? He wasn’t a Red until this year though.
Reds fans literally in August: “Why are we picking him up? And why would some little turd in October think he was with the Reds literally a year ago?”
You were literally saying Inciarte is going to win MVP votes and now you are creating hypothetical Reds fans who are hyping players who weren’t even on their team yet just so you can dunk on them?
Please get off the computer, put the phone down, and go outside. Enjoy this early Autumn air.
You’re not funny even when you admit it
Dude the cities are 250 minutes away and in completely different leagues. And in Cincinnati we smell like chili, craft beer, and fatalistic depression.
Do you also do meth as you are typing and looking up stats? Your long written comments say.. maybe, or you are way to young to be leaving comments
@joeshmoe11: LOL. You are so right. Unfortunately the chili is skyline chili. That’s not even normal Chili. It smells like cumin and cinnamon or something. I swear to God I watched a Braves game where Francoeur was announcing in Cincy. He was so hyped up about eating his Skyline Chili from the Reds stadium. He was supposed to announce the 2nd game too but never showed up. He came back for the 3rd game and told all the Braves fans to never eat Skyline Chili because it gave him such explosive diarrhea he couldn’t even show up to work. That’s not a lie or a joke. All of that literally happened. No wonder people from Cincy smell like that. Maybe don’t take so much pride in a product that simultaneously looks and causes explosive diarrhea at the same time. Pretty lame contribution to the human race. What a wonderful city. Plummers and air freshener companies are so glad you exist. They would be broke without you.
And btw….NO ONE ever thought that. You’re being ridiculous
I can already see the next failed brewers CF project…..
Where’s the “Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery”?!
Oh no, here’s Cashman’s solution to the Hicks problem…….
Anyone find it odd that the RSox seemed to know exactly what pitch was coming…… like, on every one? That Cora’s just so good! Picked up right where he left off, even.
Oh well, look forward to Sox / Astros cheat fest’21.
Would Yankee fans rather have Jackie Bradley or Hicks? They absolutely scored on Hicks with their trade for a backup catcher not in the mlb anymore.. but when they signed him to the extension I laughed. I knew the Brewers outbid themselves on JBJ. I will just throw in Bellinger for fun with his terrible season.
Everyone is a cheater when Yankees can’t win? Since Yankees aren’t buying the World Series, everyone is a cheat now lol
This guy would be a Pittsburgh Pirates type move. Outfield is a mess and it’s anyone’s job to take (outside of Reynolds). DeShields can play RF in Pittsburgh full time or even a spot start. He still has speed but can’t hit. He’s similar to Billy Hamilton in a sense. DeShields may hit slight higher average (maybe 100 points higher) than Hamilton. But both are similar with speed and at times, defensive liability in one way or another. I seen Hamilton misplace himself a few times on a easy fly. He could run down a ball, but the routine plays, it was known to botch.