The Reds' moves (or lack thereof) could make a huge impact for the remainder of 2023
Sam Moll represented the lone acquisition by Cincinnati ahead of the August 1st deadline.
The Trade
On July 31, The Cincinnati Reds acquired LHP Sam Moll and international cap space from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for their #20 prospect, RHP Joe Boyle. Moll immediately figures to be a prominent piece of the Reds bullpen moving forward as the second left-hander behind Alex Young.
Reiver Sanmartin started the year as a second southpaw option for David Bell, but had season-ending elbow surgery on July 7 and has been out since early May. With Young among the league leaders in appearances so far this year, bullpen help, specifically left-handed relief, was a glaringly obvious hole to fill at the deadline.
Moll has a 3.80 ERA since mid May, boasting a 31% strikeout rate. He is under team control through the 2027 season, making the 31-year old a longer term option for the Reds.
The Grade
C-
This feels like a generous grade considering all of the holes that the Reds needed to address, especially with the current landscape of the NL Central/Wild Card.
I like Moll and actually had him on my radar as a potential target for the Reds. I was watching him in a random Yankees v. Athletics game back in early May, long before the trade deadline and shortly after Sanmartin went down. He appears on the mound as an aggressive strike thrower, the kind of hard-nosed, crafty lefty who would fit in well with the team.
The trade itself gets an A from me: the Reds filled a crucial need with a controllable player and also got some international signing money while only giving up a shaky-at-best, low level prospect who did not profile to crack the big league team for years.
However, if we are grading the entire collection of the Reds' activity surrounding the deadline, that grade would be a C- at the very highest.
The Explanation
Cincinnati had numerous needs to address and came away unable to pull the trigger on any significant deals. While they at least did something by acquiring Moll, the team was largely stagnant in addressing the clear needs for inning eating starting pitching, relief pitching, and a right-handed outfield bat in the middle of a division title run.
No, instead, as has often been the case in the recent past, the team will rely on injured players to return and provide the results they need. Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo should be back relatively soon, with Tejay Antone and Vladimir Gutierrez also on the horizon.
While it is not wrong to fold injury returns into roster plans, there are lots of important games until those guys come back - and that is assuming that they are productive when they see the field again!
If only for once the team was 100% healthy at the deadline so that the primary acquisition would not be able to be "health" ...
There have already been 13 games since the deadline, 6 of them against divisional opponents, and no one has returned from injury yet. In fact, the Reds have lost Jake Fraley to the IL in that span. They have also lost 10 of those 13 games.
Speaking of those important games, in somewhat symbolic fashion, the night of the trade deadline on Aug 1, the Reds were demolished by the then 3rd place division rival Cubs, losing 9-20 and then 6-16 the next day. So much for needing any pitching, right?
As mentioned, the Reds have 4 relievers among the leaders in all of MLB in terms of appearances (Gibaut, Diaz, Farmer, Young). Short outings from starting pitchers lead to more innings for the 'pen, and that is about as sustainable as a house of cards when you get into the dog days of summer.
There is much debate about whether the Reds should have added more to the big league roster or not. The Reds do have a ton of prospect capital, even after many promotions during the course of 2023.
Hopefully the front office has plans to make some free agent signings this offseason with most of the current large contracts coming off the books.
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