More relief!
Scott Barlow is a veteran of seven big league seasons in which time he’s appeared in 365 games. He has 58 career saves to his name spread across stints with the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, and Cleveland Guardians, and it appears as if he’ll be plying his trade in 2025 for the Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds reached an agreement with Barlow on a 1-year, $2.5 million deal on Tuesday, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.
More reliever news today: Reliever Scott Barlow is in agreement with the Reds on a 1-year, $2.5 mil contract, sources tell ESPN. Appeared in 63 games for Clev last yr. The deal is pending a physical.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 11, 2025
Barlow, who owns a career ERA+ of 127 and 3.39 career FIP, posted career worsts in both categories last year with Cleveland (96 and 4.02, respectively). That was due in large part to a spike in his walk rate (up to 5.1 per 9 IP after entering 2024 with a mark of just 3.6).
Though never a ‘fireballer,’ he did once average 95.3 mph on his heater back in 2021, though that number had fallen all the way to just 91.6 mph last year. Unsurprisingly, he’s reduced his fastball usage from 37.1% back in 2020 to just 20.5% last year, a reduction offset almost completely by an uptick in his use of a sinker (13.4% in 2024).
With a guaranteed deal in his pocket, he’ll throw a larger competition for bullpen spots into more of a condensed one. Alexis Diaz, Taylor Rogers, Brent Suter, and Emilio Pagan all figure to be locks for roles down there given their contracts and status when healthy, while each of Tony Santillan and Sam Moll seem plenty deserving of spots if healthy, too.
As MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon noted, the deal has not yet been formally announced by the Reds, who’ll need to make a 40-man roster move to clear room. Players can officially be moved to the 60-day IL as of tomorrow, however, so we may well see Brandon Williamson/Juilan Aguiar transferred there for the formality.
One guy who’ll be an interesting name to watch for the final spots in the ‘pen will be Josh Staumont, who the Reds signed to a minor league deal today that included an invite to spring camp in Goodyear, AZ.
The #Reds today signed RHP Josh Staumont to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League camp. pic.twitter.com/f2T9xKx2Z1
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) February 11, 2025
Staumont and Barlow were teammates for years in the KC bullpen, with Staumont himself picking up 8 total saves for the Royals across 2021-2022. Also similar is the amount Staumont has lost off his fastball since his peak of 98.2 mph back in 2020 – his velocity on his four-seamer with Minnesota last year dipped to just 94.1 mph, and that coincided with a devastating loss of K/9 (down to just 6.66 after a career mark of 10.2 entering the year).
If he can rediscover some velocity (and find the strikezone better than he ever has before), his arm is 100% live enough to be an intriguing option in the bullpen mix. We’ll get to find out if Derek Johnson has identified something he can tweak to make that more realistic beginning this week when pitchers and catchers begin their first workouts of the spring.
Bullpen depth! Imagine that!