MESA, Ariz. – Preparing to return to Great American Ball Park for the first time as a visitor, Tucker Barnhart had Monday circled in his mind for months.
Barnhart, the second-longest tenured Cincinnati Reds player when he was traded in Nov. 2021, will make his return when the Chicago Cubs arrive for a three-game series. The Reds plan to honor Barnhart in a pregame ceremony.
“I spent eight seasons over there that I'll never forget,” Barnhart said during spring training. “My kids, especially (5-year-old) Tatum, he remembers Cincinnati. He asks all the time when we're going back there.”
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Barnhart, 32, signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract with the Chicago Cubs in December, which could rise to $9.5 million through incentives and includes an opt-out clause after the 2023 season.
The Reds expressed interest in Barnhart at the beginning of the offseason but talks never progressed and no offer was tendered. The team ended up signing Curt Casali and Luke Maile for a combined $4.425 million to backup Tyler Stephenson.
“To be honest with you, it never got anywhere more than just they were interested,” Barnhart said. “It was nothing deep.”
Barnhart was the first casualty of the Reds’ cost-cutting measures last year. The Reds held a $7.5 million club option, but they traded him to the Detroit Tigers on the first day of the offseason.
There is no ill will from Barnhart over the trade. He had dinner with Reds catching coach J.R. House and former bullpen catcher Nate Irving in Arizona at the beginning of spring training, and he saw Hunter Greene and Justin Dunn at the restaurant.
Barnhart braced himself for the possibility at the end of the 2021 season too, knowing the Reds were ready to make Stephenson their top catcher. After the season ended, he had chats with Reds General Manager Nick Krall about the direction of the organization.
The 2022 season wasn’t the year Barnhart or the Tigers anticipated. Barnhart had the worst offensive season of his career, batting .221 with one homer and 16 RBI in 94 games. The Tigers lost 96 games and fired longtime general manager Al Avila.
“(The Reds) tried to put me in a situation where they thought it was good for me, which it was,” Barnhart said. “It just didn't go like I wanted personally or as a team. But there is absolutely no bad feelings of any kind toward the Reds or anyone in the organization. I'm really looking forward to going back there and seeing a bunch of familiar faces.”
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From afar, Barnhart watched the Reds dismantle a team that made the postseason in 2020 and won 83 games in 2021. Wade Miley was traded shortly after Barnhart. Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, Sonny Gray and Amir Garrett were dealt during spring training.
“It stinks that we didn't get to kind of see that through in a way,” Barnhart said. “I don't mean that as a slight to anyone whatsoever. We got to the playoffs in '20. We should have made the playoffs in '21. I played against Sonny a bunch last year and caught up with him a ton, Wink and Curt, a bunch of guys. We always talk about '20 and '21 and how much fun we had, and how we all wish could've seen it through a little bit more. But it is what it is. Those things happen obviously. You move on. You're in positions like this, like I am in Chicago."
When former Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer was traded over the winter, he said “it’s not like people who leave are happy to leave. It’s that they just can’t keep them around.”
It was the only organization for Barnhart from the time he was drafted in 2009 to 2021. He noted former Reds first-base coach Delino DeShields, who managed him at three different levels in the minor leagues, had seen him play as much as his parents.
“It's a city that cares so deeply about baseball,” Barnhart said. “They treat the players and they treat the organization so well. I can speak from my own personal experiences, but it seems (the same) for everybody you talk to. Nick Castellanos was very vocal about how much he loved Cincinnati. Sonny loves Cincinnati and the people there. It's hard to leave.
“I hope so badly for the city and the organization that they progress to a point where they are competing for divisions and competing in the playoffs and winning games because that fan base is so passionate. I hope it gets back to where they can be proud of what's on the field – not they aren’t – but watching a team make a playoff run.”
When Barnhart returns to Cincinnati on Monday, the memories will likely flood back to him. He won two Gold Glove awards. He helped the team end a seven-year playoff drought. He had a part in helping players like Stephenson and Hunter Greene at the beginning of their careers.
“Cincinnati holds such a special place in my heart that it'll never change,” Barnhart said. “(Wife) Sierra and I once an offseason usually go down to Cincinnati and have dinner at Boca, which is our favorite spot in Cincinnati. We'll never stay away from Cincinnati, that's for sure.”
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