Wednesday links!
In precisely three weeks, the Cincinnati Reds are supposed to report to Goodyear, Arizona for spring training. Folks, we have just 21 days left until we have to wait a couple more weeks for real practice baseball! The complete dates for the Cactus League and Grapefruit League squads’ expected reports were made public last week. The Reds’ first full-squad practice is scheduled for Monday, February 19.
All great and good, but that is primarily administrative in nature. Everyone is aware that those who aren’t first in line on Day One still have a good chance of breaking camp with a major league team. This is especially true for rookie Noelvi Marte, who sustained a hamstring injury during winter ball that prevented him from playing for the entirety of the offseason. Marte looks to be ready and available come spring training, according to Nick Krall (via MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon), which will only heighten the excitement of the infield mix in camp.
Being the last call-up among the large group of prospects from the previous season, Marte is the apparent candidate to “need some more seasoning” and be sent back to AAA to start the season in order to keep the most dynamic depth on the 40-man roster. Nevertheless, it’s simple to overlook the fact that he is, in fact, three months older than Elly De La Cruz. Hopefully, the Reds’ intentions for Opening Day are unrelated to his health or how “careful” they are in bringing him along.
Even though they went on to discuss every other 3B prospect on the list but him, Marte also ranked #2 on MLB Pipeline’s list of the best 3B prospects in the game this week.
Regarding a player who isn’t on the roster and isn’t anticipated to be, Krall informed Sheldon that Joey Votto won’t be playing for the Reds in 2024.Nick Quintana, a minor league player, looks to have retired, according to recent Reds news. He may be familiar to you from the trade that sent Tucker Barnhart to Detroit as soon as possible to guarantee the Reds would be responsible for paying the lowest salary physically feasible for the 2022 campaign.
In other news, 1B/DH Rhys Hoskins of the Milwaukee Brewers has agreed to a two-year, $34 million contract (which includes an opt-out after this season). As usual, Jeff Passan of ESPN broke the story. Hoskins wanted to prove his worth in 2024 after missing his whole 2023 season due to a knee injury, and Milwaukee had an obvious need for a first baseman. This looks like the perfect fit for him on a short-term “show-me” contract for a contending team. Although Hoskins’ bat appears to be greater, Jeimer Candelario gives the Reds more defensive versatility than Hoskins would have provided—if he stays healthy. While the two teams battle it out in the NL Central in 2024, it will be intriguing to watch this parallel.
This is a preliminary roster projection for the Reds that, if I were to make one, is very drastically different from the one I would make right now.
Lastly, congratulations to former Reds great Brandon Phillips, who received more votes for the Hall of Fame than James Shields and Jose Reyes. Todd Helton, Joe Mauer, and Adrian Beltre were all chosen to the Hall of Fame at last night’s election reveal. This is a distinction that each of them deserved, even though the previous generation’s overall award was marred by the voters’ conceit and the idiocy of the voting method.