Seattle Mariners claim RHP Levi Stoudt off waivers from Cincinnati Reds

Sound familiar?

The Cincinnati Reds expedited their most recent rebuild at the trade deadline of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. A huge portion of that came in the form of dealing ace Luis Castillo to the Seattle Mariners, a club who had postseason ambitions both in that season and the future that would follow.

The Reds made out well in that deal, to date. Noelvi Marte was the centerpiece and remains, by most accounts, the top prospect in the Cincinnati system after his brief big league debut last year. The only place he seems to have been pipped for the title of ‘top prospect in the Reds system’ is from FanGraphs, where the ZiPS Top 100 prospect list actually has Edwin Arroyo – also acquired from Seattle in that Castillo deal – ranked slightly ahead of Marte.

While Marte and Arroyo were certainly the biggest reasons the Reds made that deal with the M’s, Cincinnati did receive pitchers Andrew Moore and Levi Stoudt to round out the deal. But after the Reds made the decision to claim Bubba Thompson off waivers earlier this week (for the second time this offseason), Stoudt lost his spot on the 40-man roster and was designated for assignment. Before he could clear waivers, however, it was Seattle who stepped in and claimed their former pitching prospect, as the M’s themselves conformed on Twitter Saturday afternoon.

Stoudt was shelled for 11 ER in just 10.1 IP across 4 appearances for the Reds last year in his first taste of the big leagues. The now 26 year old was hammered for 20 HR and 57 ER in just 82.1 IP for AAA Louisville last year.

It’s never a bad thing to have as much pitching depth as you can possibly get – Stoudt did get turned to for 2 starts for the Reds last year, after all. That said, with the number of arms the Reds have built up in the upper minors paired with their free agent signings this winter, Stoudt was about as expendable as a player on the 40-man roster could be at this time.