Tuesday links!
The latest administrative move from the Cincinnati Reds once again involved them increasing their cash flow. This time, it came in the form of a trade with the Seattle Mariners, with reliever Casey Legumina heading to the M’s in exchange for cash considerations.
Legumina originally came up in the Minnesota Twins organization and was dealt to the Reds in the Kyle Farmer trade after the end of the 2022 season. He had been designated for assignment to clear up a 40-man roster spot for the signing of outfielder Austin Hays last week, and while the Reds probably would’ve liked to see him clear waivers and stick around, it’s hard to argue that the results Legumina put up in limited big league team really make this a needle-mover.
In other news…
- As Chad Dotson noted over at The Riverfront, we’re now just days away from the 25th anniversary of the Reds acquiring Ken Griffey, Jr. from the Seattle Mariners for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Jake Meyer, and Antonio Perez. It was a trade that shocked the baseball world and inspired thousands of Cincinnati Reds fans everywhere to get used to the idea that the Reds and Mariners were the only two teams allowed to trade with one another for decades to come.
(In all seriousness, it has become somewhat hard to remember just how cool it was for the coolest baseball player, and perhaps coolest athlete around, was going to be a Red back then. I can’t believe it’s been that long ago.)
- The transaction ledger shows the minor league signings of pitchers Ian Gibaut, Joe La Sorsa, and Wade Miley became official today. I suppose the four-ish days it took from when news broke about these signings and them becoming ‘official’ is an endorsement of the relative health of all parties involved, especially Gibaut and Miley (as both are coming off serious arm injuries).
- Our friends at Redleg Nation relayed that catcher/utilitybody PJ Higgins has re-signed with the Reds on a minor league deal. Higgins spent the 2024 season at AAA Louisville, has some limited big league experience with the Cubs a few years back, and was teammates with Connor Overton at Old Dominion University back in 2014.
- PJ Higgins is the only player who has ever played for Lyman Hall HS in Wallingford, CT who has reached the majors. However, Rusty Brooder was drafted in the 45th round of the 1967 draft out of Lyman Hall, and his name is too damn cool not to point out.
- Brooder was a reliever on the 1968 Medford Giants of the Northwest League where he was teammates with future Reds MVP George Foster and future Atlanta Braves pitching coach/guru Leo Mazzone. Robert ‘Rusty’ Brooder dropped that nickname and went by ‘Bob’ for the rest of his life. He passed away in Hilton Head, SC in 2006.
- Sometimes it’s better to do your best to take a deep breath, ignore the passings of the day, and do an incredibly deep-dive into the annals of Baseball Reference. Today was one of those days.
- Finally, the Cincinnati Reds have begun to load their trucks to send out to Goodyear, Arizona for spring training, as WLWT noted yesterday afternoon. Pitchers and catchers report on February 12th, which my mathematical mind tells me is one week from tomorrow.