MLB Trade Rumors
The Reds announced Thursday that they’ve signed outfielder
Tyler Naquin to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The Excel Sports client and former first-round pick his spent his entire career to date with the Indians.
Naquin, 29, hit the IL early in the 2020 season due to a broken big toe in his right foot. He returned in mid-August and scuffled through one of the worst stretches of his career at the plate, batting just .218/.248/.383 with four homers and a bloated 28.4 percent strikeout rate in 141 trips to the dish. Whether Naquin simply never found his timing at the plate, had difficulty maximizing the use of his lower half due to the injury or both, the struggles resulted in him being non-tendered after the season.
Want storylines? Look no further than the corner-infield spots in the National League Central.
The Brewers are moving a former top prospect to first. The Cardinals added Nolan Arenado to an already top-tier pairing with Paul Goldschmidt. There may not be a more entertaining on/off-field duo than the Cubs’ “Bryzzo.”
1) My kingdom for a shortstop?
Reds general manager Nick Krall is in an unenviable situation. Cincinnati was unable to land any of the three remaining starting free-agent shortstops last week Didi Gregorius, Andrelton Simmons and Marcus Semien. And now, every GM in the Majors with a shortstop to spare can drive up the price for a trade because they know Cincinnati really needs one.
It appears some of the more tradeable shortstops are Tampa Bay’s Willy Adames, Cleveland’s Amed Rosario, Arizona’s Nick Ahmed and Colorado’s Trevor Story. Adames and Story would likely come with a heavy return regardless of the timing. Krall should probably hesitate to give up too much for someone who seemingly would keep the spot warm until Jose Garcia is ready to be a regular. Ahmed likely wouldn’t require a lot to deal, but he has two years and $17.5 million left on his contract.
MLB Trade Rumors
The Reds announced this morning that they’ve signed outfielder/first baseman
Nicky Delmonico to a minor league contract. The CAA client will be in Major League camp for Spring Training.
Delmonico, 28. has appeared in the big leagues with the White Sox in each of the past four seasons but has not recaptured the form he showed in a promising rookie campaign back in 2017. The former Orioles and Brewers prospect batted .262/.373/482 in 166 plate appearances during that excellent showing, but he’s managed just a .210/.287/.346 output in 408 trips to the plate over the three subsequent seasons.
Cincinnati already has a relatively crowded outfield mix, with