Photo: Doug Gray
The Rule 5 draft took place on Wednesday afternoon. The Cincinnati Reds passed on selecting a player. But they didn’t go unscathed as they did have a player taken from their organization. The Houston Astros used their pick in the 1st round to take right-handed reliever Roddery Munoz.
The time with the Reds for Munoz has certainly been interesting. Cincinnati claimed him on waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals on November 6th. Two weeks later they non-tendered him and he became a free agent. 12 days later he re-signed with the Reds on a minor league contract. Now he’s gone once again, though this time there’s a chance to see him return if he doesn’t make the Astros roster out of spring training as players selected in the MLB version of the Rule 5 have to remain in the big leagues for the entire season or be offered back to the team they were selected from.
Munoz never pitched for the Reds. In 2024 he pitched in 18 games with the Miami Marlins where he made 17 starts and had a 6.53 ERA in his 82.2 innings. This past season he pitched in nine games out of the bullpen for the Cardinals. In his 11 innings with St. Louis he posted an ERA of 8.18. The biggest issue he’s run into has been how frequently he’s given up home runs. In 93.2 innings in MLB during the last two years he’s given up 30 home runs. You can see the career stats for Roddery Munoz here.
Cincinnati will be getting $100,000 from Houston for the selection. If he fails to make the Astros roster and is offered back to the Reds they can send $50,000 back to Houston and get Munoz back. But they could also decline “buy” his contract back and he could remain with the Astros. Another option that sometimes happens is the selecting team wants to keep a player but not on the big league roster and the two sides make a trade for that to happen.
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