The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve signed corner infielder Jason Vosler to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. He’s a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management. The deal with Vosler comes not long after the infielder looked to have signed a similar pact with the Mariners, only to be released a few days later. Cincinnati also confirmed its previously reported minor league deal with utilityman Chad Pinder.
The 29-year-old Vosler has spent parts of the past two seasons in the big leagues with the Giants, batting a combined .228/.306/.421 with seven homers in 193 trips to the plate. That includes a robust .265/.342/.469 showing in 111 plate appearances in 2022. Vosler, however, posted inferior numbers down in Triple-A, with a .242/.311/.433 output in a much larger sample of 398 plate appearances.
Solid showing in the big leagues notwithstanding, San Francisco designated Vosler for assignment when setting their roster in advance of this year’s Rule 5 Draft and non-tendered him shortly thereafter. He became an immediate free agent and will now hope to work his way into a generally unsettled infield mix in Cincinnati. Vosler has played all four infield positions and both outfield corners in his career, although the four innings the Giants gave him at shortstop marked his first appearance there since 2015. He’s been predominantly a corner infielder dating back to 2019.
Cincinnati is a hitter-friendly spot for Vosler to land, and one with a fair bit of opportunity. The Reds have 2021 Rookie of the Year Jonathan India locked in at second base, but first baseman Joey Votto’s return date from last summer’s season-ending shoulder surgery isn’t yet clear. It’s possible he’ll be behind schedule in camp, as Votto himself said early last month that he wasn’t sure whether he’d be ready for Opening Day.
Third base, meanwhile, will likely be up for grabs, with prospect Spencer Steer the current front-runner. The Reds picked up Steer from the Twins in the trade that sent Tyler Mahle to Minnesota, and while he hit just .211/.306/.326 in 108 plate appearances down the stretch in ’22, he also turned in a stout .274/.364/.515 showing between Double-A and Triple-A. Looking elsewhere on the 40-man roster, both Alejo Lopez and Nick Solak have experience at third base, though it hasn’t been either’s primary position. Lopez and Solak both have more experience at second base, and Solak has played more outfield than infield in recent years.
Both Vosler and Pinder stand as potential non-roster competition for that group at the hot corner, and the added versatility each brings to the table could further their cause when it comes to securing a spot on the roster. Vosler, in particular, could hold some appeal as a left-handed bat on an otherwise largely right-handed-hitting roster.
???
I’m from the future, “Reds Release Jason Vosler” will be a real headline on 2/4/2023
Yeah, that was the offensive upgrade in the outfield they needed!
I seriously think the kid GM has his kid doing these signings sometimes.
Can’t sign an OF upgrade when there are budget constraints.
They need to play the 3 F’s to see what they have there. When Votto returns Wil Myers will man RF.
I wonder if a deal fell through with a NBP/KBO team that he signed another minor league deal with a different team. Path to the majors is probably better in Cincinnati though
I doubt he makes the team.
Vosler showed some upside in SF. He won’t embarrass at third and he’s got pop. Good pick up for the Reds.
They call it Cin City
sweet swing from the left side. Look out!
how can the Reds sign someone to a minor league deal when they themselves are a minor league team.
Says the large market apologist that doesn’t understand how small markets have to operate.
yeah, those small-market billionaires have it tough.
The Bengals don’t seem to have any trouble finding success in a small market.
The NFL also has a salary cap, TOTAL TV revenue sharing and a level playing field, UNLIKE MLB who has large revenue disparities between the large markets and the small markets because all TV local revenues are NOT shared.
Try again.
Castellini is that you?
So the NFL doesn’t have poorly run teams or bad owners….ok maybe you should try again. A committed owner is all that is required.
When Shotts owned the team, the Reds were spending over 50% of what the big market teams were spending and competing. Now it 25% so, please.
Castellini is a miserable owner who treats his fanbase like crap case closed!
I agree on a couple of points here.
Castellini is a crap owner and despite her other faults, Marge Schott was a great owner because she actually paid for players. They actually were top 5–10 most times in payroll.
However, that was when the playing field between teams were a lot more equal. Your Yankees can play for their huge salaries what they get from local TV revenue alone.
The problem of small markets are a separate issue from how a team is run despite the large market fans trying to combine the two. Even the better run ones like the Twins, Rays and Guardians have to navigate through it.
but why would the media invest in a team that doesn’t invest in itself?
If the Reds were committed to being competitive they would draw a larger audience which would draw greater ad revenues and make it a worthy investment for the local TV market.
Look I am not going to deny there isn’t a large disparity between the large market and smaller market teams in TV revenues and spending demographics, but these aren’t owners who are putting food on the table from what they make with the team. It wouldn’t break Castellini to spend another 30 million and give the fans some players they can identify with instead of guessing which team their next star will be traded to.
There are two kinds of owners, those that see the cost of running a team as an investment that pays off down the road and those that see everything as an expense that needs to be parred down to the bare minimum and pocket as much as they can now. Castellini is obviously the latter.
Well, if they are a minor league team wouldn’t they be signing players to minor league deals? This would make more sense in the context of the Reds signing players to major league deals.
I have more respect for the Reds and their fans than for some ‘other’ teams that I won’t mention.
please mention them it would raise the interest in your post by a thousandfold.
Making steer earn his spot. I like it
So far there’re only three IF fixtures for OD roster (India, Newman and Steer), with Votto more likely in the IL and Barrero yet to show if can hit anything, so plenty of competition for the other three spots.
I don’t call a .220 hitter competition, so you?
Tbf, he did quite well last year, albiet in a very small sample size of 111 plate appearances. .812 OPS/127 OPS+, and he still has a career .727 OPS. Maybe the Reds catch lightning in a bottle, which is perfectly fine for a guy who can essentially play wherever asked.
I hope they do. In that ballpark, it is possible.
I would rather play in Tacoma as opposed to Louisville but he will be more likely to see time in the big leagues with the reds as opposed to the m’s but it is still weird they announced his signing and then cancelled it.
Vosler had the 2nd best OPS (.811) on the 2022 Giants, trailing only Joc Pederson.
I think Pjnder and Vosler are breakout candidates in the Reds homer friendly park if they make enough contact!
Bookmark it!
This team may break the record for most losses of all time. I think Krall just salavates at the idea of picking up complete trash with zero future upside.
They won’t even lose 100 much less break a record for the most losses of all time. That said, it won’t be the prettiest of years, but it should be wisely used as a sorting year, and a year where prospects are called up.
They lost 100 with more talent last year. Don’t flatter yourself into thinking scrubs like this are any good.
Reds position players – bad and boring….
Get the radio fixed, Vosler! I could’ve built one by now!
Give me warp speed on that radio Vosler.
You can start a sentence with meanwhile. I promise you it’s ok.