The World Series concluded just over a week ago and the Los Angeles Dodgers brought their 32-year championship drought to an end with their Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Now comes a major reshuffling of the deck.
Major League Baseball heads into the offseason with many players becoming free agents and others will be traded as everyone prepares for the 2021 season. Having been eliminated in the Wild Card Round, the Cincinnati Reds will go back to the drawing board to follow up their first playoff appearance in eight years.
Here are several Reds updates since the end of the World Series.
Tucker Barnhart wins second-career Gold Glove award
X2 BABY!!! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
— Tucker Barnhart (@Tucker_Barnhart) November 4, 2020
On Nov. 3, MLB announced the season’s Gold Glove award winners. The Reds had two finalists, including Barnhart at catcher and Shogo Akiyama in the outfield. The former earned the second Gold Glove award of his career, joining Johnny Bench and Johnny Edwards as the only Cincinnati catchers to win the award twice. Barnhart finished with a pristine fielding percentage of 1.000% and second in the NL with eight runners caught stealing while allowing just two passed balls in 272.1 innings behind the plate.
Free agency begins
MLB’s free agency began earlier this week, kicking off the offseason.
Starting pitchers Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani, relief pitchers Nate Jones and Tyler Thornburg, and infielder Freddy Galvis were all declared free agents. Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos didn’t inform the Reds he would utilize his opt-out clause, meaning he will return to Cincinnati as he enters the second year of his four-year, $64 million contract signed last winter. There is another opt-out player option following the 2021 season.
In addition to pending major league free agents, the Reds also lost some from within their farm system. Doug Gray of Reds Minor Leagues recaps the full 19-player list, and among the most notable names are Narciso Crook and Ibandel Isabel. Crook was included in the Reds Caravan in January, and management has included minor leaguers it trusts in recent years. Among those included are Stuart Fairchild, Tyler Stephenson, Blake Trahan and Taylor Trammell. Unfortunately, Crook didn’t make it to Cincinnati but could be an intriguing option for a team in need of outfield depth.
Isabel impressed in 2018 with High-A Dayton. He broke the Florida State League home run record that had stood for 68 years after hitting 36 home runs. The slugger reached Double-A Chattanooga in 2019 and mashed 26 homers, but his strikeout numbers were still high, with 153 in 334 at-bats.
Trevor Bauer’s active offseason
Cincinnati’s most brilliant starting pitcher in 2020 became a free agent, and it would be quite a task for the Reds to bring him back.
Why wait for the QO to expire to state the obvious (plus @BauerOutage believes the QO is a ridiculous process so let’s just put it to bed)—
— Rachel Luba (@AgentRachelLuba) November 4, 2020
Trevor Bauer has rejected the QO but not the Reds, & he looks forward to speaking w/ them & all other interested teams thru Free Agency.
The club made a qualifying offer to Bauer, who wound up making 21 starts in a Reds uniform following his arrival at the end of July in 2019. Bauer turned down the one-year, $18.9 million contract on Tuesday, meaning if he is signed away from Cincinnati then his former team will receive draft-pick compensation next June.
The 29-year-old Bauer was recognized as the National League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher in the Players Choice Awards. Bauer was also named one of three finalists for the NL Cy Young Award, alongside Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs and Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.
The Reds have never had a Cy Young Award winner. Trevor Bauer can change that next Wednesday. ➡️ https://t.co/wk0dvANkYp#BauerForCy2020 pic.twitter.com/g0J4lWANIv
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) November 3, 2020
The Cy Young Award winners will be announced Nov. 11.
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