The winter conferences start subsequent week and that’s normally after we begin to see extra free agent signings happen. It’s additionally the place we start to listen to about a complete heck of a number of rumors. That’s naturally going to be the case given that each one 30 entrance places of work are in a single spot and whereas expertise in the present day makes it far simpler to have steady conversations, being in the identical place appears to get the ball rolling a bit faster.
Cincinnati hasn’t been shy this offseason. They’re bringing again Nick Martinez after they made the qualifying supply and he accepted. They usually additionally traded Jonathan India to Kansas Metropolis for beginning pitcher Brady Singer.
Nonetheless, there are two rumors that will not fairly be rumors however might also have some legs to them. The primary one entails former Reds outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker. Cincinnati traded Winker in the midst of spring coaching in 2022 to Seattle and he’s not fairly been the identical hitter ever since as he’s battled some accidents that will have modified a bit of little bit of the hitter that he was.
Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball (and former of The Related Press) reported that he’s heard that Winker and the Reds could also be near a deal. Cincinnati is trying so as to add an outfielder and Winker is type of an outfielder. However what he’s extra identified for is his bat.
In 2024 he performed with each the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets. Between the 2 stops within the Nationwide League he hit .253/.360/.405 with 14 dwelling runs in 145 video games. Extremely he additionally stole 14 bases after getting into the season with three of them in his profession.
Since leaving Cincinnati, Winker’s energy has taken a step or two again, as has his common. He nonetheless will get on base usually, although, because of stroll fee. That will surely assist a Reds lineup that had a .305 on-base proportion in 2024 (Arizona led the league at .337, whereas solely the White Sox had been under the .300 mark – they usually had been at .278!!!).
Thus far, although, it appears that evidently Healey is the one particular person reporting this. That doesn’t essentially make it unfaithful, and provided that he covers the Mets and that’s the place Winker completed up his 2024 marketing campaign he could have some extra perception into it than outsiders would, however the truth that nobody else appears to be listening to it or reporting it provides one a little bit of hesitation about if the report has precise legs to it.
Equally, Jon Morosi of MLB Community tweeted “The Cubs and Reds are among the many viable candidates to amass White Sox ace Garrett Crochet.”
The White Sox are in “promote mode”, so making an attempt to maneuver Crochet would make sense in case your boss is telling you to maneuver guys. However Morosi’s tweet feels extra to me like he’s suggesting the Reds and Cubs have the sorts of gamers the White Sox can be searching for extra so than the Cubs and Reds have had good talks with Chicago about Crochet. Maybe I’m studying that incorrect, however the working of his tweet looks like it will be totally different than “they’re viable candidates” if there have been some actual commerce talks occurring there.
With that stated, Crochet can be an fascinating acquisition. Whereas Morosi stated he was the White Sox ace, he’s not an ace by any conventional normal. However he is an effective pitcher. In his first yr as a beginning pitcher he made 32 begins, made the All-Star workforce, and posted a 3.58 ERA in 146.0 innings whereas strolling simply 33 batters and placing out 209. He would bolster nearly any rotation that he can be part of.
The lefty wouldn’t possible come cheaply, although. He’s not a free agent till after the 2026 season and he’s arbitration eligible for the second time this offseason. MLB Commerce Rumors tasks him to make $2,900,000 this season. Even Cincinnati’s entrance workplace would have a tricky time saying that they couldn’t come up with the money for that deal.
The larger questions can be about what it will take to amass him, and would that improve be value it when you have already got a rotation of Hunter Greene, Nick Martinez, Brady Singer, and a pick-two of Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Rhett Lowder, and Graham Ashcraft, with prospects like Chase Petty and Chase Burns presumably prepared to assist sooner or later later in 2025 as properly?
