June 25: Wynns cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment back to Louisville, tweets Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
June 23: The Reds announced this morning that they’ve designated catcher Austin Wynns for assignment. The move opens up a spot on the active roster for infielder Livan Soto, who has been recalled to the majors from Triple-A.
Wynns, 33, was brought up to the majors by the Reds on Friday to act as a third catcher behind Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile while Stephenson has been day-to-day with an unknown issue. Evidently, whatever concern the club had regarding Stephenson has passed as the 27-year-old returned to the starting lineup behind the plate today after pinch hitting in yesterday’s game. The catcher is now set to depart the Reds without having made an appearance at the big league level for the club.
The 33-year-old got his start in pro ball as a tenth-round pick by the Orioles back in 2013. He made his big league debut with Baltimore in 2018 and served as a backup for the club behind the plate in parts of the 2018, ’19, and ’21 seasons. He hit just .216/.255/.326 during that time but was generally regarded as a solid defender behind the plate. The Orioles outrighted Wynns off their 40-man roster shortly after the 2021 season concluded, allowing him to test free agency. He found a minor league deal with the Phillies in relatively short order but was swapped to the Giants in June of 2022 and was selected to the club’s 40-man roster when the Giants demoted former top prospect Joey Bart to Triple-A.
Wynns found some success with the Giants in 2022 as he broke out with the bat, slashing a decent .241/.315/.356 (93 wRC+) across 177 plate appearances in that time. Despite that solid success, Wynns nonetheless found himself outrighted off the roster in San Francisco last January. He accepted that outright assignment with the club and found himself added back to the 40-man roster in early April of last year when Roberto Perez was sidelined by a rotator cuff strain, but made it into just one game before being designated for assignment. Wynns briefly caught on with the Dodgers later that month but was designated for assignment once again in early May. His tour of the NL West continued when he was claimed off waivers by the Rockies, and that turned out to be a more permanent home for the veteran as he remained with Colorado through the end of the season, appearing in 45 games but hitting just .214/.273/.282 in that time.
Once again on the open market after being outrighted off the Rockies’ 40-man last October, Wynns found a split big league deal with the Reds back in December and remained with the club even after being outrighted to the minors in January. Looking ahead, Cincinnati will have one week to either trade the journeyman or attempt to pass him through waivers and outright him back to the minor leagues. Although Wynns would have the ability to reject that outright assignment, it seems as though he would be unlikely to do so given the nature of his split contract with the club, which offers him a $300K salary in the minor leagues.
As for Soto, the infielder appeared in 22 games with the Angels between 2022 and 2023 and made the most of that playing time, slashing .375/.414/.531 over the course of his 71 big league trips to the plate. Soto nonetheless found himself designated for assignment by the Angels this past offseason, and he was claimed multiple times by both the Orioles and Angels throughout the early stages of the season before he was finally claimed by the Reds in early April after what proved to be an eventful winter for the 24-year-old. The youngster’s unsustainable .469 BABIP at the big league level suggests that he won’t be able to keep that fantastic slash line up in his third stint in the big leagues, but even Soto’s .292/.384/.385 slash line at the Triple-A level this year would make him a useful bench piece for the Reds infield mix.
Dangerous move! Catchers of all kinds are a hot commodity. This could be strategy for a trade though? Blue Jays this year started that gimmick when they dangled Biggio.
They just called the dude up a couple of days ago. He’s 33 or 34. There is no danger
Jeb Hoyer on line 1.
Wtf is happening
The Reds have truly mastered the art of useless shuffling of AAAA players that make no difference.
Austin’s dad and uncle are on my softball team… maybe Austin can join us soon? We kinda need a new catcher lol
Austin Loses
Cruel but clever…
“The Orioles are stacking Wynns”
The Reds need another infielder like a hole in the head. The same could be said for a third catcher.
I think the front office kid finally lost his mind. Even after all this time, he can’t get anything right. It is obvious to any educated person watching this team where the defiencies are.
You say that “the Reds need another infielder like a hole in the head.” Yeah, they do, specifically a shortstop. EDLC has played EVERY GAME this year, all 76 to date. He could use some rest, as evidenced by his production trailing off in June.
The only guy on the roster that has played any SS in the bigs is Espinal, who is batting .202 with a .258 OBP. Espinal only has 310 innings at SS in MLB, with another 2,400 at 2B and 3B.
Soto has the potential for a higher BA and is a better glove at SS. Elly needs some time off, if only a game here or there. Marte is really struggling at AAA, so he’s not the short term answer as a reserve SS.
And here’s earmbrister defending Nick Krall for the most insignificant of moves. If Espinal can’t hit why did your boy acquire him? You seem to have an unusual affection and attraction for Bull Krall. The Reds are a mess and your boy, who you are always defending on these boards, is in charge.
LOLOLOLOL. And now it’s painfully obvious you and little cockroach are the exact same person.
If you “two” know so much, why aren’t you getting interviews with pro organizations?
Ah that’s right, bc you’re “both”morons who don’t actually understand the nuances of the sport. It’s also funny how “tobttr” changed his nickname from “po boy” to “kid” is that bc you finally realized that anyone who interacts with your ignorant ah doesn’t give a single fk what your lonely ah has to say and just make fun of you? Go play in traffic already you dumb fkn bych.
Remember seeing em warm-up Ps in the Frederick Keys bullpen during game. Was like organizational depth piece then. For being glove 1st C he’s carved out nice lil mlb career. Always had strong arm. Suks not getting into any recent gm action but I’m sure the pro-rated mlb checks more than make-up for it.
Don’t blame him taking the triple A gig. He’s an injury away, though I hope that never happens for the team’s sake.
The Wynns of 0.3 WAR.
Former Oriole backstop is well traveled. I always liked him, seems his success at the plate in the minors really ever translated long term to consistent success in the Bigs. I wish him all the best. What’s Caleb Joseph doing these days?