Saturday was a busy day for Nick Krall and the Cincinnati Reds. In the morning they signed outfielder JJ Bleday to a 1-year deal for $1,400,000. A handful of hours later it was announced that they had traded an outfield prospect for big league outfielder Dane Myers, designating reliever Lyon Richardson for assignment in the process to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
In the evening Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall spoke with the Cincinnati media about the two moves, what they mean, and some of what the team is still looking to do this offseason. You can listen to the entire interaction in the video below, but it’s all written out below, too.
What do the two outfielders bring to the roster?
We signed Bleday what would have been yesterday. We agreed, did the physical and then the Dane Myers thing came up last night and we just felt that it was something we just wanted to jump on.
Bleday is a guy, obviously the defensive stuff – he’s struggled in center field but he’s been a solid corner, provided some power. A left-handed hitter that could compete for an every day spot and we’ll see what happens.
Dane Myers is a guy that we think can come in, play center field. He’s average to above in center field. Over the last three years he’s hit .297 against left-handed pitching, .360 on-base. We really think he can help that group, whether it’s Bleday, Benson, Friedl – giving guys a day off and improving the defense as well.
Is this the biggest part that you’ve added or is there another opportunity to add a bat or two?
Dane Myers is a 0-3 guy (MLB experience), JJ Bleday we got on a deal that was close to where his arbitration salary was going to be. We’ve got some more money to be able to use. We looked at these deals with potential upside but it also allows us to try and make the team better.
Myers had a knee laceration in September. Is he ok?
Yeah, everything checked out from the doctor.
You had to DFA Lyon Richardson. He showed some nice things out of the bullpen, that seems like a tough decision.
Yeah, when you’re at 40 you’re going to have a tough decision. We like the guys on the roster. Keegan Thompson we just added, also a tough decision to take those guys off. They were going to compete for spots in our bullpen and now we’ve got to continue to back fill that group as well.
You said you had more money to use, what would you be looking to add this offseason?
You’re still looking for bullpen depth. We’re still looking to add some offense. I think both of them are places that you’d love to get better.
To add more people would you have to do that through a trade or do you have enough to work with in free agency?
One trade and one in free agency today. I think it just depends on who’s out there, what it is, and what the cost is.
Understanding that there’s still work to do, with Pagan and Ferguson – a big focus on the bullpen so far financially. Why make that the priority at least to this point of the offseason with the resources available to you?
I think when you look at it – we had four guys we lost in the bullpen with Pagan, Nick Martinez, Brent Suter, and Scott Barlow. So when you look at the guys we lost that is something that we had to continue to solidify.
If you open camp with this group of outfielders how would you feel about that?
We’re going to try and improve the rest of the offseason. I think we want to figure out if there’s a way to get better and I think we’ve got a good group to go in and compete but you’re always looking to get better.
Is TJ Friedl still the guy in center?
Yeah. We don’t really see Bleday as a center fielder going in, we see him more as a corner bat that has some pop in that bat. We’re looking at him there.
Dane Myers is a guy that is a good center fielder who can give Friedl some days off, and he can play left and right as well.
Do you see Gavin Lux moving around like he did last season?
Yeah. Being able to make moves like this allows Lux to be more of a utility infielder versus a utility outfielder.
Does the same hold true for Spencer Steer?
He’s a guy who finished as a Gold Glove finalist at first base, so ideally you’d love to keep him there and keep your defense good. But I think he’s going to be open to playing some left field and moving around as well.
How can Bleday get back to where he was in 2024?
Look, he had a 120 wRC+ in 2024. If he can get back to that, we can get him back to that – I think he was a 3-win player two years ago. That’s an every day player that’s got some legitimate add to your offense.
