As Nick Castellanos prepares to finalize his decision whether to opt-out of his contract and re-enter free agency over the upcoming week, there’s an alternate universe where the Cincinnati Reds could’ve had his spot filled by one of the outfielders in the World Series.
The Reds traded Adam Duvall to Atlanta before the 2018 trade deadline, receiving pitcher Lucas Sims in return. Houston Astros sparkplug José Sirí was a highly-regarded prospect in the Reds’ farm system before he was designated for assignment when the Reds signed Castellanos prior to the 2020 season.
It wasn’t much of a surprise that the Reds moved on from either of the two players. Duvall, an All-Star in 2016, was set to enter his more expensive arbitration-eligible seasons when the Reds were still working their way out of a rebuild. The Reds’ outfield situation at the time included Jesse Winker, Billy Hamilton, Scott Schebler and Phillip Ervin. Nick Senzel was converted to center field in the following offseason.
Duvall was a 30-homer hitter in 2016 and ’17, but he saw his power numbers plummet throughout the 2018 season (slugging percentage dipped from .498 in 2016 to .480 in 2017 to .365 in 2018). Duvall had a $2.875 million salary for the 2019 season, but he spent most of the year at Triple-A.
He had a regular role for Atlanta in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but he was limited in the postseason because of an oblique injury. Atlanta didn’t tender him a contract in the offseason when he was scheduled to make around $4 million through arbitration.
Duvall signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Miami Marlins last winter with a $7 million mutual option for 2022. The Marlins traded him to Atlanta at the trade deadline when they sunk out of the playoff race.
The Reds viewed Sims as the centerpiece of their Duvall trade, a high-spin rate pitcher who struggled to find consistency with his hometown Atlanta team. Sims found his footing as a reliever and has pitched in the back end of the Reds’ bullpen for the last two years. The Reds acquired righty Matt Wisler and outfielder Preston Tucker in addition to Sims, but neither was in the organization by the start of the 2019 season.
Sirí, a toolsy prospect, had just one minor-league option year remaining when he was designated for assignment. The Reds signed Castellanos and Akiyama in the offseason, and they already had Winker, Senzel, Ervin and Aristides Aquino on the big-league roster.
At the time, Sirí was coming off an average season at Double-A, hitting .251 with a 31% strikeout rate. He notably had a Midwest League-record 39-game hitting streak when he played for the Low-A Dayton Dragons in 2017.
“It was tough for us to take him off (the roster),” Reds general manager Nick Krall said in 2020 after the Reds signed Castellanos. “At the end of the day, he’ll be out of options next year. We felt this is probably the opportunity to give him a fresh start and go from there. I’d love to be able to keep him. He’s a great kid. He’s got some tools.”
Sirí didn’t stick with the Seattle Mariners or the San Francisco Giants after he was claimed on waivers, either. The 26-year-old Sirí signed a minor-league contract with the Astros last winter and had a stellar Triple-A season this summer before he made his big-league debut in September.
If the Reds had kept Sirí after signing Castellanos, they would’ve been forced to keep him on their 26-man Major League roster this year or risk losing him on waivers anyway.
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SCOUTING DIRECTOR: The Reds promoted Assistant Scouting Director/National Crosschecker Joe Katuska to amateur scouting director, the club announced Monday.
Katuska, who has been working in the organization for 17 years, replaces Brad Meador as the club’s scouting director. The Enquirer reported in September Meador was promoted to assistant general manager where he will oversee amateur scouting, international scouting and player development departments.
Katuska joined the organization as a baseball operations intern in 2004 and moved into a full-time role in Nov. 2006. He joined the amateur scouting staff in Sept. 2007 as a scouting supervisor, spent three drafts as a Midwest crosschecker beginning in Oct. 2015, and was the assistant scouting director for three years.
In addition, the Reds announced pro scouting director Rob Coughlin and international scouting director Trey Hendricks now have senior director titles. Coughlin, who joined the Reds in 2008, has been the organization’s pro scouting director for the past three seasons. Hendricks was hired on Nov. 1, 2018.
“Our focus in baseball operations continues to be finding and developing our own talent,” Krall said. “We need to continue to build from within, from the ground up. That's the best way we're going to be successful. We're very excited with the direction our farm system is headed.”
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