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Reds, JT Riddle Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with infielder JT Riddle, per Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle. The Meister Sports client will give Cincinnati some additional infield depth.

Riddle, 30, spent the 2021 season in the Twins organization and briefly appeared in four games as a replacement player while the Twins were set back by a Covid-19 positives early in the season. He went 2-for-6 in that tiny sample but spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A St. Paul, where he struggled to a .202/.269/.322 batting line in 350 trips to the plate.

That rough showing severely dragged down Riddle’s career marks in Triple-A, but he’s generally been a serviceable bat in the upper minors — one who can bring a good bit of versatility to the table. Although he’s spent the bulk of his professional career at shortstop (4504 innings), Riddle also has 898 innings at third base, 414 at second base and 306 in center field (420 in the outfield overall).

Even after managing to unload the remainder of Eugenio Suarez’s contract in a trade that also sent Jesse Winker to the Mariners, the Reds have a pretty full slate in terms of starting infielders at the MLB level. Reigning Rookie of the Year Jonathan India is back at second base, while catcher-turned-utilityman-turned-shortstop Kyle Farmer has emerged as a starter at short in Cincinnati. Mike Moustakas will man the hot corner. Former No. 2 pick Nick Senzel, meanwhile, can play both the outfield and various infield spots, and the Reds also signed veteran Donovan Solano to a big league deal earlier this month.

Riddle brings some depth to the roster and could give them an option at shortstop in Triple-A while top prospect Jose Barrero mends from a broken hamate bone that required surgery which is expected to sideline him up to six weeks. Cincinnati also has infielders Max Schrock and Alejo Lopez on the 40-man roster, while veteran Brandon Drury was invited to big league camp just this week.

Reds Sign Hunter Strickland

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March 23: The Reds have announced the signing, which fills their 40-man roster. Strickland will earn $1.825MM in 2022, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. He can also earn another $750K via performance incentives and would receive a $250K assignment bonus if traded.

March 22, 12:50pm: It’s a big league deal for Strickland, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

8:16am: The two sides have agreed to a deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

8:00am: The Reds are closing in on a deal with free-agent righty Hunter Strickland, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. Strickland, a client of All Bases Covered, would give Cincinnati a veteran option to consider for what’s otherwise a largely inexperienced relief corps.

Strickland, 33, split the 2021 season between three clubs, beginning the year with the Rays after signing a minor league deal and pitching well through 16 innings. Tampa Bay still felt comfortable trading him to the Angels for cash, and things quickly went south for Strickland in Anaheim, where he yielded nine runs (seven earned) in just 6 1/3 innings of work. The Halos designated him for assignment and traded him to the Brewers (again for cash).

Strickland quickly righted the ship in Milwaukee and remained in the Brewers’ bullpen for the duration of the season. He notched a tidy 1.73 ERA in 36 1/3 frames with the Brew Crew and added another 2 1/3 shutout frames in the NLDS. Overall, his regular season concluded with 58 2/3 innings of 2.61 ERA ball (4.19 FIP, 4.06 SIERA). Along the way, Strickland whiffed 24% of his opponents against a 9.1% walk rate and a 34.8% grounder rate. He was particularly deft when it came to suppressing hard contact, as Statcast ranked his 29.4% hard-hit rate in the 97th percentile of MLB pitchers and his 86.9 mph average exit velocity in the 84th percentile.

The Reds will be without top reliever Tejay Antone for most, if not all of the 2022 season after he underwent Tommy John surgery in late August last season. Meanwhile, projected closer Lucas Sims won’t be ready for Opening Day, as he’s currently healthy but behind schedule in camp after rehabbing some offseason back troubles. Lefty Amir Garrett was traded to the Royals in this month’s Mike Minor swap, and the Reds have seen both Michael Lorenzen (Angels) and Mychal Givens (Cubs) depart via free agency.

Cincinnati does still have at least a pair of veteran arms at the back of the ’pen, as former Yankees Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson, both acquired from New York last summer, are still with the club. Righty Jeff Hoffman, though, is the only other projected member of the bullpen with even a year of big league service time. (Hoffman has three-plus years but has still yet to truly solidify himself as a steady option.) Cincinnati does have a handful of more seasoned options in camp as non-roster players, including Buck Farmer, Kyle Zimmer and Trey Wingenter.

Luis Castillo Behind Schedule, Justin Dunn Out “Months” With Shoulder Injury

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The Reds could be without top starter Luis Castillo when Opening Day rolls around, as manager David Bell told reporters Tuesday that Castillo was briefly shut down due to some shoulder soreness (Twitter link via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Castillo is healthy now and has resumed throwing, per Bell, but he’s behind schedule in his buildup for the season. There was more concerning news on righty Justin Dunn, acquired in last week’s Jesse Winker trade, as Bell revealed that he’ll miss at least a couple of months due to ongoing shoulder troubles. Nightengale further notes that the Reds were aware of Dunn’s injury status when acquiring him.

The good news for Reds fans is that there’s no indication Castillo is being plagued by a serious injury. It’s possible he’d only miss the first turn or two through the rotation, so long as there are no further setbacks as he builds back up.

For much of the offseason, Castillo stood out as one of the more logical trade candidates on the market. General manager Nick Krall began the offseason speaking of a need to align the Reds’ payroll to its resources, and the first few moves continued a cost-cutting sequence that dated back to last offseason. The Reds placed Wade Miley and his eminently reasonable $10MM salary on waivers and traded catcher Tucker Barnhart to the Tigers. In the days coming out of the lockout, Cincinnati dealt Sonny Gray to the Reds and traded both Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners.

Since shedding the remainder of the Suarez deal, however, the Reds have begun to make some more modest additions to the payroll. They picked up about $7MM of salary obligations in the trade that sent Amir Garrett to Kansas City in exchange for Mike Minor, and the Reds have also given out small big league deals to infielder Donovan Solano and reliever Hunter Strickland. Krall has since publicly stated that he does not expect to trade either Castillo or right-hander Tyler Mahle, who was a popular trade target of pitching-needy teams himself.

Castillo, 29, got out to a rocky start in 2021 when he posted an ugly 7.22 ERA through his first 11 appearances. His return to form was swift and emphatic, however, as Castillo closed out the year with a brilliant stretch of 22 starts that saw him work to a 2.73 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Over the past three seasons, he’s given the Reds 448 1/3 innings of 3.61 ERA ball with a 27% strikeout rate, a 9.3% walk rate and an outstanding 56.8% grounder rates. He’s controllable through the 2023 campaign, and it stands to reason that if the Reds don’t contend this year, Castillo’s name will again surface on the summer trade market. It’s a similar story with Mahle, who’s also controlled through 2023.

As for Dunn, the news of a months-long absence due to a shoulder problem that dates back to June 2021, when the right-hander last pitched, is surely a source of frustration. The 26-year-old Dunn pitched 50 1/3 innings of 3.75 ERA ball with Seattle last year but did so with a below-average 22.8% strikeout rate, a bloated 11.3% walk rate and a low 33.8% grounder rate. He last took the ball on June 17.

Dunn is a former first-round pick and well-regarded prospect, having been drafted 19th overall by the Mets in 2016 and traded to the Mariners alongside Jarred Kelenic in the deal that sent Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York. He can still be controlled all the way through the 2025 season, but it now seems that by the time he’s ready to go for the Reds, he’ll have missed upwards of a year due to shoulder troubles.

The injury news on Dunn squarely takes him out of the running for the fifth spot in the rotation, and with Castillo ailing to a much lesser degree, there’s some uncertainty regarding who’ll round out the starting staff. If Castillo isn’t ready to go, Opening Day would likely fall to Mahle. He’d be followed by Minor and Vladimir Gutierrez, with right-hander Tony Santillan and perhaps lefty Reiver Sanmartin serving as early options as well. The Reds figure to get a look at several top pitching prospects in 2022 — Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Brandon Williamson among them — but it’s unclear whether they’d consider dipping into their farm for an early-season stopgap.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 3/21/22

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Tomorrow afternoon is the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange filing figures. Some players will go to hearings that will linger into the regular season, but many others will be motivated to settle on a contract before that point. A few early agreements have trickled in throughout the day. All projected salaries are from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

  • The Royals announced this evening they’ve agreed to terms with infielder Adalberto Mondesi. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter) he’ll make $3MM, a hair under his $3.2MM projection. Mondesi was limited to 35 games and 136 plate appearances by various injuries this past season. He posted a .230/.271/.452 line with six homers and 15 stolen bases — an encapsulation of both Mondesi’s enviable combination of power and speed, as well as his concerning plate discipline. Kansas City can control him through 2023.
  • The Guardians and shortstop/outfielder Amed Rosario are settling at $4.95MM, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (via Twitter). That’s right in line with his $5MM projection. Acquired from the Mets last offseason, the former top prospect hit .282/.321/.409 with 11 homers and 13 steals over 588 plate appearances. Rosario comes with one additional season of club control, as Cleveland can keep him around through 2023.
  • The Reds and utilityman Nick Senzel have settled at $1.25MM, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (on Twitter). That’s narrowly above his $1.1MM projection. Senzel, a former #2 overall pick and top prospect, has had trouble staying healthy in recent years. He’s taken 616 cumulative plate appearances in his first three big league seasons, including just 124 trips to the plate last year. The 26-year-old is a career .246/.308/.396 hitter and remains controllable through 2025 after qualifying for early arbitration as a Super Two player this year.
  • The Reds also agreed to terms with outfielder Tyler Naquin, Murray reports (Twitter link). It’s a $4.025MM deal, a bit north of his $3.6MM projection. The lefty-hitting Naquin picked up a career-high 454 plate appearances last season, hitting a solid .270/.333/.477 with 19 home runs. Defensive metrics weren’t fond of his work, but Naquin still looks likely to see plenty of action at all three outfield spots this season. He’ll reach free agency at the end of the year.
  • Murray reports the Blue Jays and right-hander Ross Stripling have settled at $3.79MM, a few hundred thousand dollars under his $4.4MM projection. A successful starter early in his career with the Dodgers, Stripling has stumbled over the past couple seasons. He posted a 4.80 ERA in 101 1/3 innings this past season and looks as if he’ll begin this year in a swing role after Toronto’s offseason efforts to bolster the rotation. Stripling will hit the open market after the season.

Reds, Brandon Drury Agree To Deal

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Another day, another new sighting in the Reds’ clubhouse. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that veteran infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury has a locker with the Reds, signaling that the two parties have agreed to terms. Presumably, a deal with the Wasserman client will formally be announced once he passes a physical.

Drury, 29, spent the 2021 season with the Mets organization, appearing in 51 games at the big league level but primarily serving as a bench player. He logged just 88 plate appearances across those 51 contests and posted a strong .274/.307/.476 batting line with four homers and five doubles.

That was far and away Drury’s most productive showing in the past several seasons. The former 13th-round pick looked on his way to solidifying himself as a solid big league hitter with some defensive versatility back in 2016, when he hit .282/.329/.458 with 16 homers and 31 doubles in 499 plate appearances with the D-backs. He followed that with a solid enough .267/.317/.447 output in 2017, but Drury’s bat went dormant from 2018-20, when he mustered only a .205/.254/.346 triple slash through a combined 582 plate appearances.

Drury has played all over the diamond in the big leagues, although his most frequent positions have been second base (1264 innings) and third base (1082 innings). He’s also logged more than 400 innings in both outfield corners in addition to 139 innings at first base and 57 frames at shortstop.

The Reds are largely set at second base and third base, with reigning NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India and veteran Mike Moustakas, respectively. Cincinnati also inked Donovan Solano to a one-year deal last week, and he can fill in at second, third and shortstop as needed. The outfield is a bit less certain following the trade of Jesse Winker, but the Reds still have Jake Fraley, Nick Senzel, Tyler Naquin, Shogo Akiyama and Aristides Aquino on the big league roster. That doesn’t leave a ton of room for Drury to win a roster spot — assuming this is a minor league deal, which seems likely — but injuries or further transactions could always open up playing time.

Injury Notes: Urias, Sims, Glasnow, Dobnak

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After suffering a left quad strain in yesterday’s Spring Training game, Luis Urias is facing at least a two-week layoff and is “questionable” for Opening Day, Brewers manager Craig Counsell told The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters.  Even if Urias does miss only 14 days, that won’t leave much time for Urias to ramp up to play in the Brew Crew’s first game on April 7, and even the two-week timeline is just a projection since Counsell noted that Urias will still get more tests.

While it doesn’t seem like Urias is facing too long a layoff, the Brewers will probably have to turn to their bench depth early to fill in for their starting third baseman.  Milwaukee has multiple third base options but not really a true backup shortstop, as Urias was also seen as the top candidate to play short if Willy Adames needed a breather.  If not Pablo Reyes (who only has a few career games as a shortstop), top prospect Brice Turang hasn’t yet made his MLB debut, and the Brewers probably don’t want to start his service clock until such limited circumstances.

More on other injury situations from around the Show…

  • Reds righty Lucas Sims won’t be on the team’s Opening Day roster since he more time to build up his arm, Sims and manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon).  Sims is healthy now, but is behind schedule since illness and back spasms interrupted his usual offseason work.  “We can re-assess later but [first] make sure the build-up is done right and then we don’t rush into something and have a big deal,” Sims said.  The absence could allow for other pitchers to step up into the closer void, as Sims has been favored as Cincinnati’s top choice for the ninth inning this season, assuming the Reds indeed have a set closer.  The 27-year-old Sims moved to full-time relief work in 2019, and he has a 4.05 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate in 115 2/3 innings over the last three seasons, though control and home runs have been issues.
  • Tyler Glasnow won’t throw for 2-3 weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic ankle surgery on Friday, according to Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz (Twitter link).  The procedure removed some loose bodies from Glasnow’s right ankle.  While the procedure seems minor, the delay to Glasnow’s rehab from Tommy John surgery could end whatever hope the righty had of pitching in the 2022 season.  Glasnow underwent his Tommy John surgery last August, thus giving him a narrow window to return this season if he hit the low end of the usual 12-15 month TJ recovery timeline.
  • The Twins have shut down Randy Dobnak due to continued soreness in the right-hander’s middle finger on his throwing hand, MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park writes.  It isn’t known how long Dobnak will be sidelined, though it appears as though he won’t be on the Opening Day roster.  Dobnak initially sprained his finger back in late June, and then pitched in only one game the rest of the season due to a pair of 60-day IL placements.  Even prior to the finger problems, Dobnak was already struggling through a rough year, and finished with a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings.

Reds’ Jose Barrero Expected To Miss Six Weeks With Hamate Injury

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Reds infielder Jose Barrero has been sidelined with a sore left wrist, and that injury has now been revealed as issue with his hamate bone, The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans reports (via Twitter).  Barrero is going to visit a hand specialist for a second opinion, but the expectation is that he’ll miss six weeks of action.

The injury appears to have originally occurred earlier in the offseason, as Reds manager David Bell told The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters that Barrero “said he felt something this winter and took a little bit of time off, then it was fine.  He did something on the field a couple of days ago that re-aggravated it.  It’s one of those things without having the ability to talk to him [during the lockout], we had no idea that it was going on.”

The result is that Barrero looks set to begin the season on the injured list, which is an unfortunate setback for one of the Reds’ most promising youngsters.  Barrero has seen a bit of action in each of the last two MLB seasons, hitting only .197/.242/.248 over 124 total plate appearances.  Much more production came at the minor league level in 2021, as Barrero hit a combined .303/.380/.539 with 19 home runs over 380 plate appearances with Double-A Chattanooga (180 PA) and Triple-A Louisville (200 PA).

It was a nice showing for the player Baseball America ranks as the top prospect in Cincinnati’s farm system, and the 33rd-best prospect overall in the sport.  According to BA’s scouting report, Barrero projects as “an above-average defender at shortstop,” and Reds GM Nick Krall said earlier this week that Barrero’s spring work would focus on the shortstop position rather than in center field.  Barrero made seven appearances as a center fielder last year as Cincinnati looked for way to get him into the lineup, as Kyle Farmer emerged as the Reds’ regular shortstop.

Since Farmer can play multiple positions, Barrero isn’t exactly blocked as the potential shortstop of the future, though his development will be put on hold as he recovers from his hamate injury.  With the Reds’ recent selloff of higher-priced veteran players, contending doesn’t seem to be the team’s top priority for 2022, so Barrero may likely get a longer stretch of playing time later in the season when he’s healthy and if the Reds have fallen out of the pennant race.

Reds To Sign Albert Almora

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There’s a locker for outfielder Albert Almora in the Reds’ clubhouse, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Presumably, he and the club have agreed to a minor league deal.

Almora, turning 28 next month, showed a lot of promise in his first few years with the Cubs. From 2016 to 2018, he hit .289/.326/.413, wRC+ of 96. Combining that average-ish offensive production with his excellent outfield defense, he was worth 2.9 fWAR in 331 games. Unfortunately, his bat has continued to decline, with a wRC+ of 62 in 2019 and 34 in 2020.

The Mets took a $1.25MM flier on Almora last year, but his bat slid even further, as he hit just .115/.148/.173 in the big leagues. However, he showed much more promise in Triple-A last year, hitting .270/.331/.428.

Due to his defense, Almora doesn’t need to hit much to be a useful bench piece for the Reds, though he’ll have to earn his way into a somewhat-crowded mix that includes Tyler Naquin, Nick Senzel, Jake Fraley, Aristides Aquino, Shogo Akiyama and TJ Friedl. Almora has over four years of MLB service time, meaning he can be retained for another season via arbitration if he should earn his way back onto a 40-man roster.

Guardians Had Interest In Jesse Winker Before Mariners Trade

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  • The Guardians “were in on” trying to acquire Jesse Winker from the Reds before Cincinnati dealt the outfielder to the Mariners earlier this week, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.  Seattle’s ability to absorb Eugenio Suarez’s contract gave the M’s the edge, as the Guards’ payroll limitations simply wouldn’t make it feasible for them to eat a big contract (plus, Cleveland already has Jose Ramirez at third base).  Winker, however, would’ve been a big help for the Guardians’ needs in the outfield, and Cleveland has been rather quiet overall since the end of the lockout, whereas their AL Central rivals have all made significant moves.

Reds To Sign Kyle Zimmer

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Right-hander Kyle Zimmer is in the Reds’ locker room, according to Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer. Presumably, he and the team have a minor league pact, based on the fact that Zimmer cleared waivers just before the lockout.

The righty was taken by the Royals with the fifth overall selection in the 2012 draft and was considered one of the better prospects in baseball in the years after that. Baseball America placed Zimmer on their Top 100 list four consecutive years from 2013 to 2016. Unfortunately, arm injuries have prevented Zimmer from reaching those lofty expectations thus far in his career.

In the shortened 2020 season, it seemed like maybe he was getting things back on track, throwing 23 innings with a 1.57 ERA. His 11% walk rate was high, but he did rack up strikeouts at an excellent 28.6% rate. He also seemed to be carrying that forward into 2021, with his ERA sitting under 3.00 into July. Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish strong and ended the year with a 4.83 ERA over 54 innings, with a meager 20.6% strikeout rate and 13.5% walk rate. He was released by the Royals in November.

For the Reds, they’ve been mostly focused on cost-cutting measures this offseason, with Wade Miley, Sonny Gray and Amir Garrett being notable subtractions from the pitching staff in the past few months. The 30-year-old Zimmer is a low-cost way of getting a former top prospect into the system. He has over two years of MLB service time and an option year remaining. If he’s able to show any of the previous form that made him successful in 2020, he could give Cincy a depth arm that could be shuffled between Triple-A and the majors, as well as being kept around via arbitration beyond this year.

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