Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Reds Rumors

Reds Outright Matt Davidson

By | at

The Reds have outrighted infielder Matt Davidson, the team announced. Davidson accepted the assignment and will remain part of the organization. Meanwhile, the club placed right-hander Tyler Thornburg on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow sprain and recalled righty Jose De Leon.

The Reds designated Davidson for assignment on Sept. 8, which came after the two-time 20-home run hitter batted .163/.234/.295 with three homers in 47 plate appearances. He also saw a bit of time on the mound, throwing 3 1/3 innings of two-earned run ball.

The elbow problem represents yet another troubling injury for Thornburg, who was a premier reliever with the Brewers in 2016 but has fallen off since the Red Sox acquired him entering 2017. Thornburg missed all of that season, during which he underwent thoracic outlet surgery, and has only totaled 49 2/3 innings in the majors since. The 31-year-old has performed decently in his first season with the Reds, though, having struck out 10 and yielded three earned runs on six hits and five walks.

Reds Add Three To 60-Man Player Pool

By | at

  • The Reds have added outfielder Michael Siani, infielder Tyler Callihan and right-hander Lyon Richardson to their player pool, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. All three players – Siani (No. 7), Callihan (No. 8) and Richardson (No. 11) – rank among the Reds’ best prospects at MLB.com. The 21-year-old Siani was a fourth-round pick of the Reds in 2018 who batted .253/.333/.339 with six home runs and a whopping 45 stolen bases across 531 plate appearances in Single-A ball last season. Callihan, 20, joined the Reds as a third-rounder last year and hit .263/.298/.442 with six homers and 11 steals in 238 rookie ball plate appearances. Richardson, a 2018 fourth-rounder, logged a 4.15 ERA/3.76 FIP in 112 2/3 innings at the Single-A level last season. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote in May that the hard-throwing Richardson, 20, has the potential to become a top 100 prospect by 2021.

Latest On Wade Miley, Nick Senzel

By | at

  • Reds left-hander Wade Miley “took a step back today” in his recovery from shoulder troubles, manager David Bell announced (Twitter links via C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic). Consequently, the Reds don’t expect Miley back this weekend. He last took the mound Aug. 27. The news is better for outfielder Nick Senzel, who Bell said is “pretty close” to coming back. Senzel hasn’t played since Aug. 14, but the Reds haven’t disclosed a reason for his absence.

Reds Designate Matt Davidson For Assignment

By | at

The Reds announced that they’ve designated infielder Matt Davidson for assignment.

Davidson, an offseason minor league signing for Cincinnati who previously appeared in the majors as a member of the Diamondbacks and White Sox, totaled 47 plate appearances for the Reds before they designated him. The 29-year-old homered three times during that short span, but he could still only put together a .163/.234/.395 line in 22 games.

Of course, Davidson is one of the rare major leaguers capable of playing a two-way game. He made his debut on the mound as a right-hander with the White Sox in 2018 and has added another 3 1/3 frames as a Red this season. Davidson gave up two earned runs on two walks (one strikeout) and four hits in 2020 prior to his designation.

Reds Release Boog Powell, Alex Powers

By | at

The Reds have released outfielder Boog Powell and right-hander Alex Powers, per a team announcement. Their 60-man pool now includes 57 players.

Powell, previously with the Athletics, Rays, Mariners and Padres organizations, joined the Reds on a minor league contract last January. The 27-year-old Powell accumulated 160 plate appearances in the majors between the A’s and Mariners from 2017-18, hitting .262/.333/.383 with three home runs, but has otherwise played in the minors. As a member of the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate last season, the left-handed Powell batted .288/.391/.438 with eight homers and 14 steals over 403 PA.

Powers, 28, became a pro when the White Sox selected him in the 25th round of the 2013 draft. He had been with the Reds since 2016 and will now look for the third organization in his career, in which he has produced quality results in the minors. Powers topped out at Triple-A last season and logged a 1.98 ERA/3.22 FIP with 10.87 K/9 and 3.95 BB/9 in 27 1/3 innings.

Mariners Claim Phil Ervin

By | at

The Mariners announced Thursday that they’ve claimed outfielder Phil Ervin off waivers from the Reds, who’d designated him for assignment earlier in the week. Seattle also added right-hander Walker Lockett, another recent waiver claim, to the active roster.

Now 28 years old, Ervin was the 27th overall selection in the draft by the Reds back in 2013. He’s struggled immensely at the plate in 2020, going 3-for-35 with eight strikeouts and six walks. There’s some poor luck at play, evidenced by a ghastly .111 average on balls in play, but Ervin’s hard-hit rate has plummeted from 34.6 percent in 2018 to just 18.5 percent in 2020, per Statcast. He’s always been prone to weak contact when he doesn’t barrel the ball (career 85.4 mph exit velocity), but Ervin’s contact has been weak across the board in 2020.

That said, the 2020 season is a sample of just 42 plate appearances, and Ervin was a roughly league-average bat in parts of three prior seasons. From 2017-19, the former Samford University star hit .262/.326/.438 (98 wRC+ and OPS+) with 17 home runs, 23 doubles, eight triples and 14 stolen bases in 571 trips to the plate. He has experience at all three outfield positions but grades out much better in a corner than he has in his more limited sample of 283 center field innings (-1 DRS, -3.7 UZR).

Ervin doesn’t have minor league options remaining, so he’ll need to stick on the big league club or else be designated for assignment a second time. For now, he’ll give the Mariners a right-handed-hitting backup option in the outfield — one who could potentially fill that role again in future seasons if he shows well in his forthcoming audition.

Angels Acquire Jose Salvador From Reds To Complete Goodwin Trade

By | at

The Angels have acquired lefty Jose Salvador from the Reds, per club announcements. That completes the recent swap in which the Halos sent outfielder Brian Goodwin to Cincinnati.

With the news, the Los Angeles organization has now added two southpaw pitching prospects in exchange for Goodwin. The other player headed west is Packy Naughton.

Salvador had not been a member of the Reds’ 60-man player pool. He was added in advance of this announcement and will now take a slot in the L.A. pool.

Soon to turn 21, Salvador has yet to move past the rookie ball level as a professional. Through two campaigns, he carries a cumulative 3.07 ERA with a healthy combination of 11.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

NL Central Trade Deadline Recap

By | at

With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each NL Central team’s trade activity over the past month.

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Milwaukee Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

  • None

Reds Acquire Archie Bradley

By | at

The Reds have acquired closer Archie Bradley in a last-second deadline deal with the Diamondbacks, per announcements from both clubs. Utility man Josh VanMeter and outfield prospect Stuart Fairchild are headed to the D-backs in return for Bradley, and Arizona will also reportedly kick in $100K to help cover Bradley’s remaining salary.

Archie Bradley |Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley, 28, is in his second season as Arizona’s primary closing option and has been a quality member of the ’pen for the past four years now. The former No. 7 overall pick was long one of the game’s most highly regarded pitching prospects, but he struggled in 34 big league starts before finding a home in the D-backs’ relief corp. Dating back to 2017, Bradley has pitched to a strong 2.98 ERA and 3.17 FIP with averages of 10.1 strikeouts, 3.2 walks and 0.7 homers per nine innings (despite pitching in a hitter-friendly home park).

Controlled through the 2021 season, Bradley agreed to a $4.1MM salary in arbitration this past winter. That’s been prorated to about $1.48MM in this year’s shortened schedule, and roughly $617K of that sum remains to be paid out. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more this winter.

Bullpen help has been a major area of need for the Reds throughout the 2020 season, as their relievers have combined to post a grisly 5.48 ERA and 5.20 FIP. Closer Raisel Iglesias has struggled to an ERA north of 5.00, while some of his top projected setup men, Michael Lorenzen (6.75 ERA) and Pedro Strop (designated for assignment) have not risen to the occasion. Cincinnati has received strong showings from Amir Garrett, Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone, but an established arm has long looked a sensible addition as they look to tread water in a disappointing NL Central that has seen the Cubs pull away from the pack for the division lead. The Reds, Cardinals and Brewers are all sub-.500 clubs vying for a second-place seed and perhaps a Wild Card spot.

As with most of the Diamondbacks’ trades today — Arizona also sent Starling Marte to the Marlins, Robbie Ray to the Blue Jays and Andrew Chafin to the Cubs — they’ll pick up an MLB-ready asset who can jump right onto the roster in VanMeter. The D-backs also added lefty Caleb Smith in the Marte swap and lefty Travis Bergen in the Ray deal. Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen and his staff have regularly chosen to prioritize controllable MLB pieces as the returns in their trades rather than pure prospects, and that trend carries over to the Bradley swap as well.

VanMeter, 25, is out to a 2-for-34 start in 2020 but posted a .237/.327/.408 slash in 260 plate appearances last year. He’s also a career .287/.353/.536 hitter in 573 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, pointing to potential for growth at the plate. Beyond his minor league track record, VanMeter possesses plenty of positional versatility, which is another hallmark of D-backs players under Hazen’s watch. He’s primarily been a second baseman in the big leagues but also carries experience at all four corner positions (plus 810 minor league innings at shortstop).

That said, Fairchild is very arguably the bigger get for the D-backs in this deal. A second-round pick in 2017, he’s regarded as an above-average runner with an above-average arm and the ability to play all three outfield slots. Fairchild posted big numbers in two very pitcher-friendly leagues last year, slashing .258/.335/.440 (130 wRC+) in Class-A Advanced and .275/.380/.444 (142 wRC+) with just a 12.8 percent strikeout rate in Double-A.

Fairchild was generally ranked in the Reds’ top 15 prospects, landing 10th at Baseball America, 11th at MLB.com, 13th at FanGraphs. That there’s not a more highly regarded prospect within the deal likely speaks to several factors: the team’s opinion of VanMeter and Fairchild as well as some possible pressure from ownership to reduce payroll.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the deal (via Twitter). John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports reported the return (Twitter link). The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan added that the D-backs were sending $100K to Cincinnati as well.

Reds Acquire Brian Goodwin

By | at

In a trade snuck in just under the deadline wire, the Reds have picked up outfielder Brian Goodwin from the Angels, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter).  The Angels officially announced the deal, revealing that the return is left-hander Packy Naughton, as well as either cash or a player to be named later.

Goodwin can play all three outfield positions, though his likeliest deployment in Cincinnati is left field or center field, giving the Reds an upgrade over Shogo Akiyama and rookie Mark Payton.  Once Nick Senzel returns from the injured list, the Reds will be able to juggle some combination of Senzel, Goodwin, Jesse Winker, and Nick Castellanos between the three outfield spots and the DH position.

Over 109 PA with the Angels this season, Goodwin has hit .242/.330/.463 (113 wRC+, 114 OPS+) with four home runs.  It marks Goodwin’s second straight year of good production in Anaheim, after being claimed off waivers from the Royals in March 2019 and originally slated as a fill-in for an injured Justin Upton.  The 34th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Goodwin was a well-regarded prospect coming up in the Nationals’ farm system but became expendable since Washington had several other outfielders in the pipeline.  He is already 29, so is perhaps something of a post-hype breakout player, but Goodwin has shown that he can contribute as an everyday player.

This gives the Reds extra outfield depth going forward, as Goodwin is controlled via arbitration through the 2022 season.  Senzel and Winker don’t appear to be going anywhere and Akiyama is signed through 2022, plus Castellanos’ $64MM contract runs through the 2023 season.  Goodwin’s presence could give the Reds a plan B if Castellanos exercises either of the opt-out clauses in his contract (after this season or after the 2021 season).

Naughton was a last-second addition to the Reds’ 60-man player pool, which allowed him to be dealt to L.A. now rather than officially traded in a few months time as a player to be named later.  A ninth-round pick out of Virginia Tech in the 2017 draft, Naughton has a 3.59 ERA, 3.72 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 371 career minor league innings, starting 68 of his 70 games.  MLB Pipeline ranked Naughton 14th in their list of the top 30 Cincinnati prospects, describing him as a “cerebral pitcher” whose “stuff doesn’t wow people, but it’s still considered a good enough three-pitch mix where he has the feel for his fastball (87-94 mph), slider and changeup.”

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top