Where can the Reds find a bat at the trade deadline? Their roster flexibility could help

New York Times

30-07-2025

CINCINNATI — Just as the Cincinnati Reds' front office is trying to get creative by searching for starting pitching to help its bullpen, the search for a right-handed bat isn't limited to the outfield.
The Reds could take a look at just about any position to add some offense and then use their positional flexibility to fit a bat into the lineup, partly in a response to the way the roster was constructed and also because there aren't too many natural fits on the trade market.
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Though some deals have been finished around Major League Baseball, the trade market has yet to heat up leading into Thursday's 6 p.m. ET deadline.
The Reds' needs are obvious: a boost to the offense, especially against left-handed pitching, and bullpen help.
The scarcity of goods to fill demand could drag the real movement until the final hours.
Players will be moved, but the difference-makers seem to be few and far between, driving up demand.
Here's a look at some of the players the Reds could look to add to their lineup with their ranking on the latest version of The Athletic's MLB trade deadline Big Board.
The Reds have used 10 players in the designated hitter spot through 107 games. Ozuna, 34, has played just two games in the field over the last three seasons. He finished fourth in National League MVP voting last season, hitting 39 home runs with 104 RBIs. A free agent after the season, Ozuna was hitting just .233/.361/.393 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs in 96 games entering Tuesday.
Ozuna has 289 home runs in his 13 seasons in the big leagues and was a player the Reds had interest in before he signed with the Atlanta Braves ahead of the 2020 season. The Reds signed Nick Castellanos instead.
Ozuna has full no-trade rights as a veteran with at least 10 years of service time and at least the last five with the same team. Great American Ball Park would be a nice place for him to build his value heading into free agency, but any trade would still have to get his OK. Ozuna also served a 20-game suspension in 2021 after his arrest on domestic violence charges, which were later dropped after he entered a diversion program.
The 31-year-old has another year of team control. Ward is on a one-year deal worth $7.83 million and is arbitration-eligible for the final time this offseason. Entering Tuesday's game, he's hitting .232/.308/.491 with 25 home runs. He has a career .284/.353/.467 slash line against left-handers, and he is hitting .267/.337/.587 against lefties this season.
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The 31-year-old is on a one-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles with a $6.5 million club option for 2026. Laureano was hitting .279/.341/.526 with 15 home runs before Tuesday's games. Laureano has a .918 OPS against right-handers this season and a .771 OPS against lefties.
A two-time All-Star, García went from one of the most feared hitters in the game to just a guy over the last two seasons. He hit 39 home runs in 2023 and has 39 home runs going into Tuesday's game in 2024 and 2025 combined. García is in the second year of a two-year, $14 million deal and is arbitration-eligible for the final time next year. García also has reverse splits this season, with a .517 OPS against lefties and .716 against right-handers.
He's a free agent after the season, and the White Sox might actually trade him before the deadline after holding on to the 2023 All-Star. This offseason, the White Sox asked for a return that would indicate he was the 2023 version of Robert, who hit 38 home runs, instead of the 14-homer outfielder he was last season. This year, the story has been similar for Robert, who is hitting just .205/.292/.348 with 11 home runs entering Tuesday. He does have a career-high 26 stolen bases and is still a good defender in center field. The White Sox have a $20 million option on Robert for 2026, and according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the White Sox will exercise that option if they don't trade him and gamble that sum that he will do what he hasn't the last two years — hit.
Kwan doesn't exactly fit what the Reds are looking for, but he can hit. Kwan, 27, is an excellent defender in left field and is hitting .287/.351/.411 with nine home runs this season, and he has two years of arbitration remaining. Because of all those factors, he would command a higher price tag, and the Cleveland Guardians' biggest incentive to move him is whether there's a deal too good to pass by.
A free agent after the season, the 30-year-old Mullins was signed to a one-year deal worth $8.73 million this season. His numbers have dipped this year, and he put up just a .221/.301/.420 line heading into Tuesday's game. But he does have 15 home runs — more than any Reds player, save Elly De La Cruz. Mullins, though, has hit lefties this season (.289/.392/.458).
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The most telling thing about the pursuit of Suárez is that all three teams he's played with before he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks — the Detroit Tigers, Reds and Seattle Mariners — have been connected with him. The Reds could have him play third base every day and move Noelvi Marte to the outfield. That said, he's the most popular girl at the dance, and though Suárez would likely welcome a return to Cincinnati, he's not in control of where he goes. The Reds could certainly be outbid for Suárez, who is in the final year of the contract he signed with the Reds before the 2018 season.
O'Hearn is a left-handed-hitting first baseman, two things the Reds aren't exactly looking for. But he is an upgrade to the offense, entering Tuesday with a .284/.375/.452 slash line and 12 home runs. O'Hearn, 32, has been much better against right-handed pitchers, with a .869 OPS against right-handers and a .630 OPS against lefties before Tuesday's game. In his 10 games between his All-Star appearance, he's hit just .267/.303/.400.
(Top photo of Terry Francona: Jeff Dean / Getty Images)