Can Cincinnati Reds make Alexis Díaz trade windfall pay off at trade deadline?
CHICAGO – The trade of former All-Star closer Alexis Díaz to the Los Angeles Dodgers might be the fresh start the right-hander needs to regain his competitive feel.
How's the trade feel for the Cincinnati Reds, who shipped out the long-struggling reliever a month after demoting him to the minors?
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For now, it feels like three million bucks.
The Los Angeles Dodgers assumed about $3 million of Alexis Diaz's salary for this season when they traded for he struggling reliever.
That's the approximate amount left on Díaz's $4.5 million salary, with the Dodgers assuming the balance and sending the Reds their 13th-round draft pick from last year for the chance at an upside roll of the Díaz dice.
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'Hopefully, we can reallocate those resources to something else,' Reds president Nick Krall said.
Maybe even another reliever at some point? Or a bat at the trade deadline?
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The Reds have some business on the field to take care of in the coming weeks to make Thursday's windfall relevant toward any pursuit of second-half help in a playoff chase.
For now, Díaz represents a project for the Dodgers, who are desperately seeking right-handed bullpen help for their juggernaut contender and reportedly will have the younger brother of Mets closer Edwin Díaz work at their training facility in Arizona with pitch-lab types before putting him back in games.
'I think it's probably really good for him,' Reds manager Terry Francona said. 'We've seen guys come here, and they do well with a change of scenery. It goes the other way also. Because we weren't able to maybe tap into what's there, it doesn't mean it won't happen.
'When guys move from one team to another one, sometimes they're more open, too.'
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Díaz gave up eight runs in six innings during a brief stay in the big leagues this season (five walks, eight hits, four home runs) after struggling with command much of last season and through the spring. He didn't perform well at Triple-A this season either, as others in the system moved past him for opportunities.
The Reds shopped Díaz in low-level trade conversations during the offseason without much interest.
'He's a great kid,' Krall said. 'I hope a change of scenery benefits him. Obviously, it wasn't clicking here for some reason. We felt it was just best to move on.'
The Reds bullpen remains a work in progress under the new manager after the club added veterans Scott Barlow and Taylor Rogers over the winter, and shifted starter Graham Ashcraft to a relief role.
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'We've had some guys come in and deliver really good performances,' Krall said, rattling off most of the names of the relief corps, including veteran Emilio Pagán, who is 13-for-15 in save chances this season (entering Friday) since replacing Díaz as closer.
Emilio Pagan is among the Reds relievers who have stepped up in Alexis Diaz's absence. Pagan entered the weekend Cubs series 13-for-15 in save opportunities.
A bullpen that got overexposed over the past two weeks in large part because of Hunter Greene's 15-day groin injury took a collective 4.05 ERA (19th in MLB) in 202 innings into the weekend series in Chicago.
'We've had some really good things happen and obviously are still working through it,' Krall said. 'With bullpens you're working through things all the time.'
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The Reds got Class A reliever Mike Villani in Thursday's trade. The 22-year-old right-hander out of Long Beach State just made his professional debut this week, in rookie ball at the Arizona Complex League.
Diaz earned a 2023 All-Star selection after a dominant first half. He ended the year with a 3.07 ERA in 71 appearances (86 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings).
His ERA climbed to 3.99 last season, when he gave up more home runs and saw his strikeout numbers and velocity tail off into this season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Can Cincinnati Reds make Alexis Díaz windfall pay off at deadline?
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