Last Tuesday’s 40-man roster deadline led to the usual squall of transaction activity, with teams turning over portions of their rosters in an effort to make room for the incoming crop of young rookies. Often, teams with an overflow of viable big leaguers will try to get back what they can for some of those players via trade, but because we’re talking about guys straddling the line between major league viability and Triple-A, those trades tend not to be big enough to warrant an entire post.

Over the next few days, we’ll endeavor to cover and analyze the moves made by each team, division by division. Readers can view this as the start of list season, as the players covered in this miniseries tend to be prospects who will get big league time in the next year. We’ll spend more time discussing players who we think need scouting updates or who we haven’t written about in the past. If you want additional detail on some of the more famous names you find below, pop over to The Board for a more thorough report.

The Future Value grades littered throughout these posts may be different than those on the 2022 in-season prospect lists on The Board to reflect our updated opinions and may be subject to change during the offseason. New to our thinking on this subject and wondering what the FVs mean? Here’s a quick rundown. Note that because we’re talking about close-to-the-majors prospects across this entire exercise, the time and risk component is less present here and these FVs are what we think the players are right now. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. Originally written for the 2018 election at SI.com, it has been updated to reflect recent voting results as well as additional research. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

“A hard-charging third baseman” who “could have played shortstop with more range than Cal Ripken.” “A no-nonsense star.” “The perfect baseball player.” Scott Rolen did not lack for praise, particularly in the pages of Sports Illustrated at the height of his career. A masterful, athletic defender with the physical dimensions of a tight end (listed at 6-foot-4, 245 pounds), Rolen played with an all-out intensity, sacrificing his body in the name of stopping balls from getting through the left side of the infield. Many viewed him as the position’s best for his time, and he more than held his own with the bat as well, routinely accompanying his 25–30 homers a year with strong on-base percentages.

There was much to love about Rolen’s game, but particularly in Philadelphia, the city where he began his major league career and the one with a reputation for fraternal fondness, he found no shortage of critics — even in the Phillies organization. Despite winning 1997 NL Rookie of the Year honors and emerging as a foundation-type player, Rolen was blasted publicly by manager Larry Bowa and special assistant to the general manager Dallas Green. While ownership pinched pennies and waited for a new ballpark, fans booed and vilified him. Eventually, Rolen couldn’t wait to skip town, even when offered a deal that could have been worth as much as $140 million. Traded in mid-2002 to the Cardinals, he referred to St. Louis as “baseball heaven,” which only further enraged the Philly faithful.

In St. Louis, Rolen provided the missing piece of the puzzle, helping a team that hadn’t been to the World Series since 1987 make two trips in three years (2004 and ’06), with a championship in the latter. A private, introverted person who shunned endorsement deals, he didn’t have to shoulder the burden of being a franchise savior, but as the toll of his max-effort play caught up to him in the form of chronic shoulder and back woes, he clashed with manager Tony La Russa and again found himself looking for the exit. After a brief detour to Toronto, he landed in Cincinnati, where again he provided the missing piece, helping the Reds return to the postseason for the first time in 15 years. Read the rest of this entry »

While the top of the celebrated free agent shortstop market has yet to roll into motion, the end of last week saw a flurry of action a little lower on the positional power rankings. The Yankees agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, locking up his final season of team control. And as Friday afternoon progressed, four other teams linked up for an exchange of shortstops. A shortswap, if you will.

Gio Urshela went from the Twins to the Angels for 19-year-old pitching prospect Alejandro Hidalgo, Kyle Farmer went from the Reds to the Twins for minor league pitcher Casey Legumina, and Kevin Newman went from the Pirates to the Reds for reliever Dauri Moreta.
Read the rest of this entry »

International Scouting Analyst

Job Title: International Scouting Analyst
Department: Baseball Operations – International Scouting
Reports To: Assistant Director, Player Development & International Scouting
FLSA: Salary, Exempt

Job Purpose:
To support the International Scouting Department through statistical research and analysis,
video and data capture, scouting coverage, statistical research and analysis, and administrative duties.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and integrate new tools and technology to improve decision-making processes.
• Advanced statistical analysis of players.
• Coordinate data intake from multiple countries.
• Operate various tracking technologies to evaluate players.
• Introductory-level player evaluation, including scouting and writing reports on assignment.
• Assist with video and high-frame rate video capture of pitchers and hitters.
• Edit, trim, and combine video clips.
• General administrative, logistical, and organizational support for International Scouting processes.
• Complete necessary documents and administrative duties in a professional and thorough manner.
• Coordinate efficient travel arrangements.
• Complete expense reports in a timely and professional manner.
• Full and complete knowledge of Major League Baseball rules and regulations.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong work ethic and willingness to work long, flexible hours including weekends and holidays.
• Advanced baseball knowledge from both a scouting and statistical perspective.
• Ability to understand and interpret TrackMan and Rapsodo data.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Knowledge of statistical analysis and/or predictive modeling.
• Demonstrated experience with database querying (SQL) and statistical software (e.g. R, Python).
• Understanding of typical baseball data structures and knowledge of current baseball research, statistics and strategy.
• Ability to communicate effectively with all aspects of Baseball Operations, Scouting, and Player Development.
• Independent judgment and ability to multitask is required to plan, prioritize, and organize diversified workload.
• Ability to work as part of a team.

Experience, Education and Licensure

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Experience playing and/or working in college and/or professional baseball/softball preferred.
• Basic understanding of video management, storage and backup preferred.

Requirements:

• Spoken and written fluency in English. 
• Spanish fluency preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel within and out of the United States for extended periods of time and occasionally on short notice.
• Willing to relocate within the United States if necessary to meet the needs of the organization.

Expectations:

• Adhere to Cincinnati Reds Organization Policies and Procedures.
• Act as a role model within and outside the Cincinnati Reds Organization.
• Perform duties as workload necessitates.
• Demonstrate flexible and efficient time management and ability to prioritize workload.
• Meet department productivity standards.
• Willingness to learn. Open to new methodologies. 

Equal Opportunity Statement:
The Cincinnati Reds are an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of the Cincinnati Reds to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or creed, sex, age, military or veteran status, disability, citizenship status, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law.

Disclaimer:
The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. The above description is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Additional duties, as assigned, may become part of the job function. The duties listed above is, therefore, a partial representation not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cincinnati Reds.

Baseball Operations Trainee

Location: Cincinnati, OH
Department: Baseball Operations
Reports To: Manager of Baseball Operations
FLSA: Hourly, Non-Exempt

Job Purpose:
Provide daily support to all members of the Baseball Operations Department in a wide range of both administrative and baseball-related tasks and projects.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assist in preparation of advance scouting documents and video for players and coaches during season.
• Perform qualitative and quantitative research and analysis in support of salary arbitration, roster management, player evaluation, amateur draft, and trade deadline efforts.
• Introductory level player evaluation, including scouting and writing reports on assignment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Independent judgment and ability to multitask is required to plan, prioritize, and organize diversified workload.
• Strong work ethic and willingness to work long, flexible hours including weekends and holidays.
• High level of attention to detail.
• Must be trustworthy and comfortable with managing sensitive information.
• High level of interpersonal skills and be able to effectively communicate with wide range of departments, seniority levels and personalities.
• Understanding of typical baseball data structures, plus knowledge of current baseball research and traditional baseball statistics and strategy.

Experience, Education and Licensure:

• Bachelor’s degree or pursuit of degree or equivalent experience in a quantitative field, such as statistics, mathematics, engineering, and/or economics preferred.
• Experience playing/working in college and/or professional baseball/softball preferred.
• Demonstrated experience and proficiency with:
  • Database querying (e.g., SQL) and statistical software (e.g., R, Python) preferred.
  • BATS video system preferred.
  • Microsoft Office Suite (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) required.

Requirements:

• Spoken and written fluency in English.
• Ability to travel within the United States and internationally.
• Willing to relocate.

Expectations:

• Adhere to Cincinnati Reds Organization Policies and Procedures.
• Act as a role model within and outside the Cincinnati Reds Organization.
• Perform duties as workload necessitates.
• Demonstrate flexible and efficient time management and ability to prioritize workload.
• Meet department productivity standards.
• Willingness to learn. Open to new methodologies.

Equal Opportunity Statement:
The Cincinnati Reds are an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of the Cincinnati Reds to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or creed, sex, age, military or veteran status, disability, citizenship status, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law.

Disclaimer:
The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. The above description is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Additional duties, as assigned, may become part of the job function. The duties listed above is, therefore, a partial representation not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.

Job Questions:

1. Briefly describe (100 words or less) why you feel you are a strong fit for this role.
2. How did you hear about this position?
3. When are you available to start?
4. Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
5. Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for employment visa status?

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Baseball Analytics Trainee

Location: Cincinnati, OH
Department: Baseball Analytics
Reports To: Baseball Analytics Leadership
FLSA: Hourly, Non-Exempt

Job Purpose:
Assist Baseball Operations decision-making through the analysis of various sources of baseball information. The specific day-to-day responsibilities of this position will vary depending on current needs from our stakeholders along with the baseball calendar but will revolve around analyzing various sources of baseball data.

Technical Questionnaire:
The Baseball Analytics Department of the Cincinnati Reds is requiring all applicants to complete a technical questionnaire hosted on Coderbyte to be considered for this role. The technical assessment has a time limit of 2 hours. Many complete the assessment in 1 hour. The URL to complete the technical assessment is the following: https://coderbyte.com/sl-candidate?promo=cincinnatireds-sqyjd:sql-assessment–xx9c805lh5

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Learn and communicate analytical products across departments.
• Build upon analytic initiatives by creating new statistical models, applications, and reports.
• Introductory level player evaluation, including scouting and writing reports on assignment.
• Iterate on existing products and processes already established by the Baseball Analytics Department.
• Present analysis and research results to stakeholders with various levels of analytic knowledge.
• Conduct ad-hoc research projects when requested.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Independent judgment and ability to multitask.
• Strong work ethic and willingness to work long, flexible hours including weekends and holidays.
• High level of attention to detail.
• Creative approach to problem solving
• High level of interpersonal skills to effectively communicate baseball analytic concepts with a wide range of departments, seniority levels, and personalities.
• Knowledge of current baseball research, data, and technology.
• Strong technical and statistical acumen.
• Passion for the game of baseball.

Experience, Education and Licensure:

• Bachelor’s degree or pursuit of degree or equivalent experience in a quantitative field that emphasizes technical and analytical problem-solving skills such as statistics, mathematics, engineering, and/or economics preferred.
• Understanding of advanced statistical techniques is strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience and proficiency with Database querying (e.g., SQL) and statistical software (e.g., R, Python) is strongly preferred.
• Ability to learn other programming languages as needed.

Requirements:

• Spoken and written fluency in English.
• Willing to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio

Expectations:

• Adhere to Cincinnati Reds Organization Policies and Procedures. 
• Act as a role model within and outside the Cincinnati Reds Organization.
• Perform duties as workload necessitates.
• Demonstrate flexible and efficient time management and ability to prioritize workload.
• Meet department productivity standards.
• Willingness to learn. Open to new methodologies. 

Equal Opportunity Statement:
The Cincinnati Reds are an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of the Cincinnati Reds to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or creed, sex, age, military or veteran status, disability, citizenship status, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law.

Disclaimer:
The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. The above description is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Additional duties, as assigned, may become part of the job function. The duties listed above is, therefore, a partial representation not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.

Job Questions:

1. Briefly describe (100 words or less) why you feel you are a strong fit for this role.
2. How did you hear about this position?
3. When are you available to start?
4. Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
5. Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for employment visa status?
6. As part of the application process, all applicants are required to complete the technical questionnaire. The information regarding the technical questionnaire is provided in the job description of this posting. If you acknowledge the requirement of this step in the application process, please provide a “YES” response to this question.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cincinnati Reds.

Who was the Nationals’ best player in 2022? Before you try to answer, I should acknowledge that this is not a fair question to ask. For starters, it’s a trick question. More importantly, you haven’t been watching the Nationals. You’ve been doing the best you can to avoid even thinking about the Nationals. That’s called self-care, and I commend you for it. Even the Nationals’ general manager called it “a daily grind to come here and lose baseball games.” He also called trading Juan Soto a “courageous move by ownership,” so maybe don’t listen to him.

Regardless, go ahead and give it a shot! Keibert Ruiz would be a reasonable guess. The promising young catcher posted 1.7 WAR this season. You could also be forgiven for going with Joey Meneses, who put up 1.5 WAR in just 228 plate appearances since his promotion in August. Read the rest of this entry »

A trade deadline that Padres fans won’t soon forget came to a close with a smaller yet still impactful move, with Brandon Drury heading to San Diego from Cincinnati in return for prospect Victor Acosta. Drury, a free agent after the season, may not be Juan Soto, who was acquired mere hours earlier, but his 132 wRC+ this season turned him into one of the more sought-after bats available at the deadline.

It’s been a long road for the 29-year-old Drury up to this point in his career, with the Padres representing his sixth franchise in eight seasons. After years of below-average hitting, he surprisingly put up a 114 wRC+ mostly off the bench for the Mets in 2021. That came in only 88 plate appearances, but it was enough to earn him a deal with the Reds in late March after the team’s post-lockout fire sale. He settled in as the team’s regular two-hole hitter and third baseman after injuries put Mike Moustakas on the shelf and stayed in the lineup thanks to a power surge that’s seen him cross the 20-homer threshold for the first time in his career. Playing in Cincinnati, the best home run park in baseball for righties, certainly played a factor in that development; his new home in San Diego, the more spacious Petco Park, is middle of the road in terms of righty power, so it remains to be seen how many of those homers will travel with him to California.
Read the rest of this entry »

Even in an era when starting workloads are shrinking, it’s tough to win a division title without a decent rotation. The Twins have been trying their level best to do so nonetheless, entering Tuesday with 54-48 record and a one-game division lead over the Guardians (53-49) and a three-game lead over the White Sox (51-51) despite a rotation that’s been the weakest of the three. In advance of the trade deadline, they moved to fix that, acquiring righty Tyler Mahle from the Reds in exchange for a trio of prospects.

Mahle was considered one of the top starters available at the deadline, arguably the top one after the trades of Luis Castillo and Frankie Montas in what was admittedly a thin class. There was no pending free agent anywhere close to the caliber of last year’s Max Scherzer or 2017’s Yu Darvish, while the Giants opted not to trade Carlos Rodón and the Marlins decided to hold on to Pablo López. What made Mahle enticing wasn’t just his performance but his cost, as he’s making just $5.2 million this year, and has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining.

Hence the three-prospect package, though none of the players acquired currently rank among our Top 100 on The Board, unlike shortstop Noelvi Marte, whom the Reds acquired from the Mariners in the Castillo trade, or Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina, whom the A’s acquired from the Yankees in the Montas deal. The full trade sends the 27-year-old Mahle to the Twins for 21-year-old lefty Steve Hajjar, 22-year-old infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and 24-year-old infielder Spencer Steer. Read the rest of this entry »

When Tommy Pham signed with the Reds during the offseason on a one-year, $7.5 million contact, the writing was already on the wall. By the deadline, he’d be sent to a contending team, presumably one that had an outfield weakness. And so here we are, with Pham departing Cincinnati for Boston in exchange for either a player to be named later or cash considerations. But it’s a deal that leaves me furrowing my brow, mainly because it’s made unclear what the broader plan is for the Red Sox.

Before that, though, let’s talk about the player himself. We’ve been so swept away by the unbelievable saga of slap-tastic fantasy football, I think, that we haven’t really paid attention to how Pham has fared in real-life games. He’s been… fine. In a year that’s lighter on offense, his .238/.320/.374 triple slash equates to a 92 wRC+. That’s serviceable, though certainly not up to his usual standards; even in 2021, which many considered a “down” year, Pham still mustered a 102 wRC+.

Back when he signed, I wrote about how Pham had been one of the unluckiest hitters around for the past two seasons, and that a one-year deal guaranteeing him playing time and a hitter-friendly home park could reverse his fortunes. But his underperformance is no longer the product of rotten luck. His .312 xwOBA this season is only a smidge higher than his .308 wOBA, and in case you missed it, Baseball Savant re-centered its expected metrics to the current offensive environment. There’s reason to believe he isn’t the same player he once was, in other words. Read the rest of this entry »

Late Friday night, the Mariners and the Reds consummated the first blockbuster trade of the deadline period, with changeup artist Luis Castillo on his way to the Pacific Northwest for a considerable haul of young players headlined by No. 11 overall prospect Noelvi Marte. In exchange for about a year and a half of Castillo, the Reds netted a combination of upside (Marte, 18-year-old Low-A shortstop Edwin Arroyo, and burgeoning reliever Andrew Moore) and stability (likely 2023 rotation contributor Levi Stoudt).

The 20-year-old Marte, a potential All-Star shortstop and a 60 FV prospect, is hitting .275/.363/.462 at High-A Everett and has actually performed better than that more recently, slashing .301/.379/.549 since the beginning of June; he hit 15 homers and 19 doubles in 85 games prior to the trade. Marte has his doubters, or at least people in the industry who would take the under on my personal evaluation of him. There are scouts and clubs who were discouraged by his early-season conditioning; others are skeptical of his hit tool. Most commonly, though, there are scouts who think he won’t stay at shortstop. This is in part due to the way his physique looked early this season (it wasn’t bad, but was close to maxed-out), and also because Marte has had issues with errors, mostly of the throwing variety; he has accumulated 24 total errors already in 2022. Read the rest of this entry »