The Cincinnati Reds have officially released outfielder Wil Myers. The club designated him for assignment earlier this week and after clearing waivers the Reds gave him his outright release. Cincinnati will still owe him the remainder of his contract. The Reds owe Myers $6,000,000 for the 2023 season and a $1,500,000 buy out on a 2024 option. He is now free to pursue a deal with any of the other 29 Major League Baseball teams.
As Joel Luckhaupt stated on twitter just now, it is almost unimaginable that you could have envisioned the Reds biggest free agent signing of the offseason being released in June and the club would be in first place. But that’s exactly where we are sitting at right now.
It was a struggle for Wil Myers with his new club. He never really got going and dealt with some injury issues along the way. He was hitting .189/.257/.283 through May 24th when he was placed on the injured list with kidney stones. After that he remained on the injured list an additional few weeks while dealing with a shoulder issue. Cincinnati sent him on a rehab assignment to Triple-A on June 9th and he spent eight days with Louisville and hit just .185/.241/.296. The team would then activate him and designate him for assignment, ending his time with the Reds.
Now on to the task at hand. I think the Braves are the best team in the NL, possibly all of baseball and are on a hot streak of their own. This weekend will be a true test for the Reds, who are having issues given that their top 3 starters (aside from Abbott) are ailing. We will see if they can step up.
Go Reds!
Not only that… but of their six current starters not counting Lodolo the Braves are facing the worst three. Abbott and Greene are clearly numbers one & two and Williamson pitched his best game last time out
Meanwhile Weaver and Ashcraft have been getting lit up like Christmas trees their last 5 or 6 starts each ( not counting the 3 innings vs LA) and Lively seems to be declining his last few starts also. Like someone else said earlier just go three and three versus the Braves and Orioles would be awesome and then they have a good chance of having a winning record in their final 10 before the break.
Very slightly surprising that nobody offered anything in trade, however nominal. Q – are medical reports shared or pooled in advance, or does each team have to conduct their own exam? IOW, does all of MLB know is current health status, and knowingly passing on this, or has he (and Hosmer for that matter) fallen off so far that it will be a non-roster MiLB invite only?
The Braves are having their own issues with starting pitching. Not nearly as severe as what the Reds are dealing with. But the Braves are also hitting a ton right now. I am a lot of trepidation about sending Luke Weaver out to the mound today against their lineup. Hopefully he will buckle down and provide a credible start for the good guys. I am expecting something like a 9-6 game today. Funny whenever I think that it ends up 1-0. Baseball is a funny game. Free CES!
Maybe now he’ll try taking a step closer to the plate and see how that goes.
He is 32 years old and has made just north of $90m in MLB contract salaries, aside from any MLBPA NIL or equipment manufacturer endorsement distributions. MLB players are entitled to paid health coverage for life via the CBA; and, as I understand it, also have a 401k type plan in addition to the official players’ pension plan.
Maybe he will just kick back and enjoy life. 😉
If it were me, and I’d made no apparent attempt to change my approach, I would be too ashamed to take the money and just “kick back.”
Players want to play. He will do all he can to play somewhere.
Tonight’s game is sold out. I don’t know if I’m glad or sad about that. I am happy for the players, and the city, but I still have an axe to grind with the Bob and Phil show.
I am a forgiving guy by nature, so Bob let Krall raise the payroll to $200M over the next few seasons, and we’ll be square. OK I’ll really settle for $150M – $180M, but you get the idea Bob.
You can be both MBS.
+1000 And also every time I read kudos for Krall, it pops into my mind that he was tasked to build a cheapo special tanker in 2023 that wasn’t supposed to contend for 2-3 years out. So, hold the applause until we can get a handle on whether Krall pulled one on his bosses or was as ineptly clueless as them 😉
@Jim. I don’t think any of us can honestly say that Krall is clueless at this point. The guy knows how to make a good trade. Free Agent signings have been pretty mixed thus far. When it comes to trade I trust in Krall.
Bob has spent $$ in the past when teams have turned the corner with a chance to contend. No reason he won’t this time. He gets a bad rap here, but the reality (and history) is for a small market owner, he will spend when it is appropriate.
As much as I hate to say it, typically he does open his wallet when the team in contending some.
He has, but he snapped shut his wallet these last 2 years. I am curious to see how he operates with out Dicky W there. I fell like he had pulled out more $$$ than Bob wanted to part with.
@MBS – it’s generally not good business for a small market club to hand out FA $$ in a rebuild.
Lot’s of folks here on this board wanted Benentendi for $75M. In year one, he’s produced below league average so far and his contract runs til age 34. Good thing we don’t have him as the everyday LFer. We’ll have better options in 24, 25, 26, and 27 than him and his $15M per year.
THAT is why is it not good business to spend money in the rebuild BEFORE you even know how the prospects turn out and where your holes are.
Hopefully there isn’t 10k + Braves fans
Do you really want the Reds to add that much payroll all at once? I will evaluate ownership on wins, losses, and championships. The Padres fan can celebrate their owners for going all-in while they sit at home and watch the playoffs.
Reds not hesitating to make the tough decisions this year. Eat money on a has-been, no problem. Call a top prospect guy up regardless of service time, no problem.
Maybe now Myers will go to Colorado and improve his numbers at Coors Field…who knows…
Free agency deals is not their thing: Myers, Moustakas, Akiyama, Strop, all have been DFA.
Any free agents out there that we feel were good pickups. Please list below.
Aroldis Chapman, six years, $30 million, 2010
Castellanos and Miley were FA wins. But generally, they have lost more than won with FA recently.
I would be really surprised if the Reds go out and sign any more free agent signings other than reasonably priced pitchers in the next few years. They’ve got a ton coming up through the pipeline and they’ve been burned too many times. I think Krall should be up for GM of the year… he and his staff have drafted incredibly well and have gotten max value from their trades over the last couple years
The pitching prospects we have are not real close. Maybe Phillips isn’t far off, but this year has reminded us how fragile starting pitchers are. All of our Big 3 are on the IL. A team needs 6 quality SPs to get thru a season and at least 2 more ready to fill in.
I’d be surprised if they are not shopping for trades right now, and free agency this fall.
He’s in contention for sure, but there are several underlying issues here. How much is it for excellent management, and how much for excellent executive action. Here’s a question to see if they’re distinct. When make a trade or signing a FA how much of the rest of the staff is involved – scouts, medical, MiLB coaches – or is it more one GM calls another, sees what’s cooking, and hashes out a deal.
OTOH, how much credit should a GM get for drafting, developing, moving and promoting from within? Seems like that’s much more of a group effort, which requires the management skills rather than the decision skills.
Sure, the rebuild trades have set the stage for the team right now, but it seems their internal work with recent drafts and MiLB acquisitions has been excellent, while the MLB dealings, FAs, etc. have just been pretty good (some FA misses, but some good to great trades.)
If they get the upcoming draft right, along with the latest international signings, the farm system will really be top tier.
Good guy that just didn’t make it on this team. Like someone said he’s got plenty of money and no need to feel sorry for him. lol
I have to wonder if Myers came into the season unmotivated, as a 32-year old whose best offer was from a team coming off a 100 loss season.
And probably saw himself as nothing more than the next random mediocre guy (a la Pham, Drury, Solano, Reynolds) signed with the purpose of being traded away.
If that was the case, I wonder if he was kicking himself while he was on the IL, seeing the team was actually good and fun, and he had played himself off of that team.