The Cincinnati Reds have traded outfielder Nick Solak to the Seattle Mariners. Trade isn’t exactly the right word, because the Reds are getting back “cash considerations” in the deal – but for some reason “selling a players contract to another team” isn’t the verbiage used in those kinds of scenarios.
Of course the Cincinnati Reds acquired Nick Solak in November from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations, so I guess all that’s old is new again, or something like that. The 28-year-old had a tough spring, going 2-20 with four walks and a home run in his 10 games played.
His track record in the big leagues was so-so. Solak had spent parts of the last four seasons with the Rangers at the MLB level. He had played in 253 games between 2019-2022, including almost every game in 2020 and 127 games in 2021. Over his 4-year career he had hit .252/.327/.372, but in 2022 he barely played in the Major Leagues – hitting just .207/.309/.329 in 35 games where he picked up just 95 plate appearances.
With his so-so track record, recent struggles, and his poor spring training the Reds saw him as the guy that they would designate for assignment earlier in the week when they needed a roster spot on the 40-man in order to complete their moves to fill out the 26-man roster coming out of spring training.
The move completed what feels like the eleventieth trade with the Seattle Mariners in the last year. It’s actually only the 5th trade between the two organizations in the last 12-and-a-half months. On March 14th of 2022 was the deal that saw the Reds sent Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners. A month after that the team picked up prospect Luis Chevalier in a deal that sent Riley O’Brien to Seattle. In late June the Reds traded Trey Amburgey to Seattle. At the trade dealine it was Luis Castillo that was moved in a deal between the two organizations. And now it’s the Mariners acquisition of Nick Solak. Sometimes you have to wonder if the two teams know there are 28 other teams out there.
Must be a direct hotline to Seattle. 🙂
I’m imagining the worlds longest soup-can-on-a-string set up and really enjoying the visual as drawn in a Looney Toons kind of manner.
Haha Yeah. 🙂
NOO! That’s it! SELL THE TEAM!!!!!
To who?
You want them to move to Vegas?
With Bally going BK, who is going to buy the team, and keep them here?
We will never know because the ownership group will never sell to an outside group. They prefer to keep this whole incest thing going. It’s been going on now for decades.
The Reds owners love to plead poverty, but what businessmen would keep a business that is constantly losing money?
The Reds refusal to sell means one of two things:
(1) Either they are losing money, as they claim, and they are morons
OR
(2) they are lying and are making money.
I know which option I believe.
V4L, the Reds are not consistently losing money. Losses have been limited to the last three seasons and started with COVID. I have read no assertions that the Red’s business model is not profitable on an ongoing basis. Rather, ownership, albeit in a very ham-fisted manner, has asserted that they are at a competitive disadvantage to many other MLB teams–a fact that is extremely well documented. Being uncompetitive due to resources is NOT the same as “pleading poverty.”
The Oakland A’s will soon be in Vegas. The Reds are going nowhere. If and when ownership change happens, it will be from the large local ownership group, probably the Williams Family headed by Dick Williams.
BK, nice try. Two months ago the Reds CFO went before the Rosie Reds and told them the Reds have no chance of competing because of the current economics of baseball. If that isn’t pleading poverty I don’t know what is.
Bob loves his cash considerations.
For cash?? Figures…stupid Reds. He has options, the season is long and ppl get injured. Just send him to AAA.
If the Mariners wanted to trade for him then they would have just as easily claimed him if Cincinnati tried to push Solak through waivers.
Traded cash for him and took cash back in return. It’s like it never happened. He was probably behind Vosler, Senzel, Reynolds, and Lopez for the role he would likely play anyway.
I think anytime the Reds can get cash they are willing to consider it. Krall has a tight budget he has to get money from somewhere to make transactions.
Are you complaining that Solak was the player the Reds dropped from their 40-man roster? Would you have preferred someone else?
Solak was already on option to AAA. The Reds needed to open a 40 man roster spot on opening day and designated Solak for assignment to create that spot. He would have needed to clear waivers for the Reds to retain him as a nonroster player on assignment to the minors.
Apparently, the Mariners wanted Solak enough to offer the Reds cash for him before the Reds officially posted him on waivers. Why would the Mariners do this instead of waiting out the waiver process? Probably because they felt a team ahead of in the waiver claim order would claim Solak on waivers.
The AAA Louisville Bats have tweeted their official season opening roster
https://twitter.com/LouisvilleBats/status/1642169592758804486
There is an interesting twist that probably means nothing in the overall scheme of things but bears noting. Joey Votto (rehab) is listed on the roster. Nick Senzel isn’t. Does this mean Senzel is not ready to begin his official rehab?
I think I read in Nightengale article he was starting his rehab assignment April 5.
FWIW-windiest day I can recall in a while. Coming from the West mostly. Rich Hill and Lodolo are FB pitchers and the wind should be blowing out to left. This could be a 13-9 slugfest.
Second the comment about Nightengale’s article. I hang around Atlanta now but did notice a predicted wind chill around 37 at game time. Should affect management strategy, Reds listed as the 65% pick, almost 2 -1 odds. Lineup already released on ESPN.
Just came out of the gym at 3:30 pm Cincy time Saturday from a 90 minute or so workout. When we went in it was windy but springlike outside. When we came out it was like we had been transported back in time a couple of months. Gray and blustery with a biting chill to the wind. This was 10-12 NNE of downtown Dayton (OH)
Back in the 50’s and early 60’s there was a similar connection of acquisition partners the KC As and the Yankees. The A’s were pretty much considered a Yankees Farm Team. Are the Reds the Mariners Farm team?
It must be the reverse.