Earlier this week there was a rumor out there that the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox may have been discussing a deal that involved Garrett Crochet. Jon Morosi’s report on it wasn’t as strong with the words to indicate if the clubs were actually talking or if it just made sense that they would be talking, but it turns out that they did indeed have a conversation.
But that’s where things get muddied up a bit as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the two clubs spoke prior to the Reds trading for Brady Singer and since they did, there’s no reason for them to continue down that road. Chris Cotillo, who covers the Red Sox for Mass Live, noted this afternoon that Cincinnati is “seen as a real threat to land Crochet”. I guess we’re all going to have to stay tuned on that one to see if anything comes of it.
That’s not the only rumor, though. Wittenmyer’s report also noted that the Reds and Guardians at least had some talks about Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor, but that right now things don’t seem to be moving forward. Those two would at least be viewed as potential help to an offense that struggled in 2024. Thomas really struggled in the second half after being acquired by Cleveland at the trade deadline – hitting just .209/.267/.390 after putting up an OPS of .738 while with the Nationals in the first half of the year. Naylor would certainly provide some pop to the lineup. A 1st-time All-Star in 2024, he hit 31 home runs and drove in 108 while hitting .243/.320/.456 in 152 games.
Sometimes talks slow down or even stop, but are revisited later on. With the winter meetings officially kicking off on Monday there are likely far more discussions to be had with other teams and perhaps they’ll get back around to this if nothing develops elsewhere.
Of course, plenty could develop elsewhere. Cincinnati is still trying to upgrade their offense and it seems that the outfield is the spot that makes the most sense to them to do just that. Between free agents and trade possibilities, that’s likely to be where we’re going to hear the most rumors this week with regards to the Reds. But maybe they’ve got something up their sleeve that will surprise us all.
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