It has been a heck of a day for roster moves and signings down at Great American Ballpark. It started with the team announcing they had signed outfielder Travis Jankowski to a 1-year deal. And it seems like it’s ended with the team announcing that they have non-tendered Kevin Gausman. Between all of that they also non-tendered Jose Peraza and signed Mike Moustakas to a 4-year and $64M contract.
The non-tender of Kevin Gausman isn’t surprising. MLB Trade Rumors projected his salary to come in at $10.6M in arbitration for 2020. That’s top end reliever money – and that’s the role that the Reds were planning to use him in. There was not much of a chance that he was going to be tendered.
What there was a chance of, however, was that the team would be able to work out a new contract with him. They would have likely had to made the deal worth his time, though, in order to keep him from simply choosing to become a free agent. That likely would have meant a 2-year offer rather than simply asking him to accept a 1-year deal that was going to be a decline in pay from the $9.35M he made in 2019.
The right-hander is now a free agent. Cincinnati is likely still interested in bringing him back, and nothing is preventing them from doing so. But they are also going to have to compete with other teams for his services. With the Reds he posted a 4.03 ERA in 22.1 innings out of the bullpen to go along with 29 strikeouts. His time with Atlanta as a starter earlier in the year was a different story. With the Braves he posted an ERA of 6.19 in 80.0 innings. Prior to that, though, he had been a slightly better than league average starter. From 2014-2018 he posted a 105 ERA+, throwing 775.2 innings with a 4.03 ERA, 235 walks, and 692 strikeouts for Baltimore and Atlanta. Some teams may still view him as an option as a starter, which could bring him more money on a contract.
Go get Taijuan Walker. You could have a high upside, injury risk starter, or a lock down reliever. He was released with an expected contract of $5.05M. If we could get him for $4M, I would love it. Also would love to take a chance on Treinan, and see if we could fix him up.
Villar traded to Marlins.
UGGGHHHH
There are a lot of interesting guys being non tendered like Kevin pillar Cesar Hernandez Blake treinen and some of these relievers from brewers and T walker
Please god no on pillar. His obp is atrocious
What happened with Scott Schebler? Spotrac is saying that he is arb eligible? Is that true?
No, it’s not true.
Travis shaw was non tendered by the crew. Good bench piece to give votto some time off.
Doug any thoughts on junior Guerra as a possible 5th starter or bullpen arm? Also any thoughts on adding Cesar Hernandez? Can he play just infield or outfield as well as he would be an upgrade over jankowski?
Questions:
Was a draft pick tied to the Moose signing?
What is the 40 man roster sitting at now with the signing of Moustakas and the two non-tenders?
No it was not.
This was expected.