Reds acquire new pitcher, make several roster moves

by — August 5, 2019 in Transactions

Busy afternoon for Reds transactions. The biggest one is the Reds acquired a new pitcher:

As I suspected, David Bell confirmed that Gausman is headed to the bullpen. He’s 28 and just pitched against the Reds in last weekend’s series. He’s been a starter, but really only throws two pitches. So it makes sense to try him in the bullpen. His ERA (6.10) is unsightly, but you aren’t still evaluating pitchers by ERA are you? Gausman’s FIP (4.20), xFIP (4.47) and SIERA (4.40) show strikeouts, walks and ground balls in line with league average.

This isn’t a high upside pickup by the Reds, but I like it. Kevin Gausman might benefit from a new role and be a solid bullpen arm. He makes $9.3 million (which the Reds don’t have to pay) in arbitration, with one year of that to go before he becomes a free agent. [Correction: The Reds claimed Gausman off waivers so they do take on the remainder of his 2019 salary, which will be about $3 million.] He won’t make that much as a reliever. But he’d have to pitch well for the Reds to bring him back for his ARB3 year given what he’d make.

In other roster news:

First things first. Derek Dietrich is on the 10-day IL for a left shoulder issue.

Brian O’Grady, not Alex Blandino, has been called up to take Dietrich’s place. O’Grady (27) is hitting .277/.351/.562 at Louisville. He’s hit 27 homers this year. He’s played 1B, 3B, CF and LF this year and RF last year. He’s a left-handed bat, which explains why he got the promotion to replace Dietrich, not Blandino.

Finally, Blake Trahan has been DFA’d to make room for Kevin Gausman or O’Grady, depending on how you want to look at it, on the 40-man roster. If Trahan isn’t claimed by another team, he’ll be assigned back to Louisville.

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Steve Mancuso

Steve Mancuso is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up during the Big Red Machine era. He’s been writing about the Reds for more than ten years. Steve’s fondest memories about the Reds include attending a couple 1975 World Series games, being at Homer Bailey’s second no-hitter and going nuts for Jay Bruce at Clinchmas. Steve was also at all three games of the 2012 NLDS, but it’s too soon to talk about that.

7 Responses

  1. Brian Dunn (@surrfinTexas) says:
    August 5, 2019 at 5:36 PM

    Wonder what mgmt is thinking on Blandino? Interesting.

    • Steve Mancuso says:
      August 5, 2019 at 6:05 PM

      Good question. In this case, they wanted a LH bat to replace Dietrich. Plus, O’Grady has hit it well.

  2. Jefferson Green says:
    August 5, 2019 at 5:42 PM

    Steve, how does the salary work? I thought a pickup meant the Reds pay the remaining salary (like Scooter a couple years ago).

    • Steve Mancuso says:
      August 5, 2019 at 6:13 PM

      You’re right. I didn’t realize the Reds claimed Gausman off waivers. They do have to pick up his salary then. If the player makes it all the way through waivers, then the team that DFAs him takes on his entire salary. That’s roughly a $3 million add-on.

      • Jefferson Green says:
        August 6, 2019 at 1:32 PM

        Thanks, Steve. Another question or two, if I may…if the Reds had passed on him hoping to pick him up cheaply, the other teams in the league with better records than the Reds would also have to pass on him. Then, if he had cleared all the way through waivers, the Reds could have picked him up for league minimum, but Gausman would have been essentially a free agent deciding among interested teams at that point, right? The Reds spent almost $3 million because they either wanted him arm right now for their immediate competitiveness or in hopes to turn him around by next year and have him for 2020, and they didn’t want to gamble that another team could grab him. I am liking their willingness to spend a little dough to get better, with the only risk being a DFA of (and potentially losing) Trahan (or similar) today.

      • Steve Mancuso says:
        August 6, 2019 at 2:39 PM

        Yes. That’s all consistent with my understanding. When the dust settles and the details of the trades become known, it will be interesting to see whether the Reds increased or decreased payroll at the deadline, counting Gausman. Puig and Bauer a wash. Reds paid most of Roark’s contract to improve the quality of the prospect return. I bet Reds are paying all or nearly all of Gennett’s contract. Hard to see any savings. The Gausman move probably made it a net increase, but I could be missing something.

  3. Jefferson Green says:
    August 6, 2019 at 5:56 PM

    Thanks, Steve. Loving this site, format.

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