Who will be the 13th position player?
Despite his torrid Cactus League play, I’d never gotten around to using a picture of Mike Ford in a Cincinnati Reds uniform this spring. It seems only right that he get that honor once, though given that the above is the lone image of him in the Getty files it figures to be the last.
Ford was granted his release from the Reds on Friday after being informed he would not make the club’s Opening Day roster, part of a series of moves that saw Tony Santillan reassigned to minor league camp. It was also determined that lefty Sam Moll would predictably begin the season on the 15-day IL, meaning all that remained Goodyear was the group that would form the team’s Opening Day roster on Thursday.
The Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith had the news, noting that 1B/LF Nick Martini had made the cut, too.
The Reds have reassigned Mike Ford and Tony Santillan to minor league camp.
The Reds now have 12 position players in camp (they’ll need 13). With Nick Martini also on the roster, the Reds opt to not keep two left-handed hitting first basemen.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) March 22, 2024
Equally as important to this all is the final caveat – the Reds only have 25 healthy guys in camp, and they’ll need another position player to round out the roster. Given that today was one of the major days around the league where veterans (like Ford) would find out if they a) made their team’s roster or b) would be granted their release, it appears the Reds have baked in an opening to pick up a player from elsewhere who can help them in a more fitting way than Ford who, like Martini, is a mostly positionless lefty bat.
A quick perusal of MLB Trade Rumors shows that veterans like Eduardo Escobar (Blue Jays), Kolten Wong (Orioles), Dominic Smith (Cubs), and CJ Cron (Red Sox) are just a handful of the names that have hit the free agency wire after similar stories as Ford’s with the Reds. While none of those seem to be great fits just yet, odds are there’s another player or two the Reds expect to become available in similar fashion that they’ll swoop in to sign as depth for Opening Day.
All of this, of course, would be alleviated by their walking wounded getting healthy in a hurry, though it increasingly seems as if that’s not going to be the case. Said Opening Day roster would appear to be this:
Catcher (2)
Tyler Stephenson, Luke Maile
Infield (5)
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Elly De La Cruz, Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan India, Santiago Espinal
Outfield (3)
Will Benson, Jake Fraley, Stuart Fairchild
Infield/Outfield/26th man (2)
Mysterious Player Yet To Be Named, Nick Martini
Spencer Steer (1)
Spencer Steer
Starting Rotation (5)
Frankie Montas, Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft, Nick Martinez
Bullpen (8)
Alexis Díaz, Emilio Pagán, Brent Suter, Fernando Cruz, Lucas Sims, Tejay Antone, Justin Wilson, Buck Farmer
10/15-day IL (7)
TJ Friedl (wrist), Matt McLain (shoulder), Ian Gibaut (forearm), Alex Young (back), Sam Moll (shoulder), Nick Lodolo (tibia), Brandon Williamson (shoulder)
80-game Suspension (1)
Noelvi Marte