Reds takeaways at the MLB trade deadline: The window is open

New York Times

a day ago

CINCINNATI — After making trades before and after Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds made one more deal in the final hour ahead of the trade deadline, adding right-handed hitting Miguel Andújar from the Athletics.
The addition of Andújar aligns with the team's approach at the deadline, where they search for small improvements at the margins.
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The 30-year-old Andújar has played both corner outfield spots and corner infield spots for the Athletics this season. More importantly, he's put up a .422/.458/.578 in 48 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season, including a pair of home runs. Overall, he's hit .329/.436/.765 with six home runs over 231 plate appearances.
While it wasn't the sexiest of trade deadlines for the Reds, the team did make three moves without moving any of their top prospects.
So, what did the trade deadline tell us about the Reds?
In a deal with the Pirates, the Reds took on the rest of Ke'Bryan Hayes' contract through 2029, which also happens to be the last season before Elly De La Cruz (and Matt McLain and Andrew Abbott) becomes a free agent. That is a sign that the team is looking toward not just the rest of this season, but also the four after it.
The two prospects the Reds lost in those deals were both years away from impacting the big-league club, with lefty Adam Serwinowski in High A this season and shortstop Sammy Stafura in Class A. Either one could become a star, or at least a useful player, but neither was going to have a huge impact at the big-league level between now and 2029.
On the flip side, the Reds didn't mortgage those years by trading away prospects like Sal Stewart or Hectór Rodríguez to go all-out for this season.
The Reds also held on to their impending free agents, right-hander Nick Martinez and closer Emilio Pagán, both of whom would have brought back prospects in return.
While Martinez will be a free agent after the season, Brady Singer is under team control through next year, Hunter Greene is under contract through 2028 with an option for 2029 and Nick Lodolo is under team control through 2028. With Greene, Abbott, Lodolo under team control for the next three seasons after 2025, not to mention Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder, the Reds have the pitching to be in contention through the end of the decade.
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Scott Barlow couldn't believe what he heard after Wednesday's win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barlow earned the win when he came into a tie game in the eighth inning with two runners on and one out. Barlow gave up a single to the first batter he faced, loading the bases. Barlow then got Andy Pages to pop out in foul territory for the second out and then the Dodgers' Michael Conforto popped up the second pitch he saw into right field, where Noelvi Marte called off second baseman Matt McLain and center fielder Will Benson before camping out under the ball and making the catch, ending the inning. Barlow walked off the field not knowing that it was the first fly ball hit to Marte in the outfield in his professional career.
'Really?' Barlow said when informed of that fact. 'What? That's crazy.'
Francona knew it was, but that didn't faze him as he watched the ball go toward Marte, he said.
'I thought he was fine,' Francona said after the game. 'If I didn't, I wouldn't have left him out there.'
Marte made his first start in the outfield since he was a kid just 10 days prior. He made two other appearances there in the days in between, but hadn't had a chance to catch a fly until the game was on the line.
Afterward, Marte said it was no big deal. He felt fine in the outfield and is excited to move there. With Hayes under contract through 2029, the Reds have the game's best defensive third baseman for the near future. Marte was a shortstop when the Reds acquired him from the Mariners three years ago at the trade deadline. He moved to third base last season when it became clear that De La Cruz was the team's shortstop of the present and future. Marte has struggled at the big-league level at third base, committing 22 errors in 276 chances (a .920 fielding percentage), including five this season.
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He first started working in the outfield before games earlier this season. After the All-Star break, he told outfield coach Collin Cowgill that he was ready to play in a game. Marte's bat plays in the corner outfield, and he has the speed, athleticism and arm to play there. Some in the organization think he could be an option in center field, as well. Francona threw out a chance of him working out at first base in the future, as well, but not anytime soon.
Rookie Chase Burns is in the rotation for now, but if Hunter Greene returns, he could be headed to the bullpen.
Burns hasn't pitched out of the bullpen as a pro, but that's a small sample. Burns mostly started in college, but did move to the bullpen in his sophomore year at Tennessee.
In four starts since a disastrous outing in Boston, during which the team thinks Burns was tipping his pitches, he's struck out 37 batters over 22 innings and has had 10 strikeouts in each of his last three starts. The 22-year-old is still working on his changeup as a third pitch at the big-league level. In the bullpen, the Reds can tell him to forget the changeup and just focus on his fastball (with a 98.6 mph average as a starter) and slider (with a 44 percent whiff rate.)
Burns enters his start Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway with 93 1/3 innings under his belt between the minors and majors this season. He threw 100 innings last year for Wake Forest before the Reds took him with the No. 2 pick in the draft.
On the other end of the spectrum is Nick Martinez, who is heading to the bullpen after the acquisition of Littell Wednesday night. The Reds broached the subject of moving to the bullpen with Martinez before he started Wednesday's game against the Dodgers. He then allowed just two runs on four hits over six innings with seven strikeouts and finished with a no-decision in a Reds victory. Martinez told the Reds brass that he would make whatever move they thought was best, even after he had such a good start against the defending World Series champions.
While some teams sent top prospects for rental relievers, the Reds sent an A-ball pitcher and a Triple-A starter and may have fortified its bullpen.