With the deadline clock ticking down, the Reds finally made a move - and it came with four minutes left. Cincinnati sent veteran infielder Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians, according to ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan.
The return was 19-year-old right-handed pitcher Alejandro Rivera, who has posted a 3.06 ERA in 13 games split between the ACL and Low-A this season.
Lowe’s path to this point was a little unexpected. Cincinnati signed him to a minor league deal in Spring Training, and he was considered a longshot to crack the club. Instead, he impressed in camp, made the Opening Day roster, and eventually earned a larger role after beginning the year as a bench piece.
That role came with a clear split in how he was being used. Lowe worked his way into the starting lineup against right-handed pitching, and the numbers explain why Cleveland wanted him.
In 251 plate appearances against righties, he is hitting .286/.363/.522 with 29 extra-base hits and 12 home runs. He also had three hits in Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Even with a roster full of expiring contracts, the Reds’ deadline day ended in a way that left plenty of questions. Cincinnati, which sits in last place in the National League Central, made only two trades, and one of them didn’t bring back a player at all.
That outcome is especially striking after Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall said in July that the team would listen. He told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer: "We’ve had teams reach out on a lot of our players on the roster," Krall told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
"We just have to figure out what are the moves that we can make that’s best for this organization. We’ve got to look at everybody that’s on the roster, and if there’s something that does make sense for the organization, we have to have a conversation about it, and we might go down that road.
If it’s not going to make sense for the organization at this point, then we (won’t).”
The Reds did listen, but in the end they apparently never got an offer they felt was good enough. Instead of moving more veterans, they held onto the group and left deadline day with more questions than answers.
The club still has several players on expiring contracts or with club options, including Burke, Singer, and Stephenson, and it will be interesting to hear Krall explain why Cincinnati chose this path.
In Other News...
Reds Face A Catching Problem That Makes Cardinals Hard To Ignore
The Reds are staring at a familiar kind of roster problem, only this one comes with a longer fuse. Tyler Stephenson remains the face of the position for now, but without a contract extension in place, Cincinnati has to think beyond the present and start considering what the catching depth chart could look like once his time here runs out. For a team trying to keep its core intact, that kind of uncertainty at such a demanding spot is hard to ignore.
It also explains why St. Louis keeps surfacing in the conversation. The Cardinals have more catching depth than most clubs, which naturally makes them an appealing neighbor on paper, but trading across the division is rarely simple. Any deal for one of their catchers would come at a steep price, and for the Reds, the challenge is not just identifying a fit, but figuring out whether the cost would be worth paying. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Surge Just Made One Deadline Decision Feel Even Bigger
A strong second half has at least put the Reds in a more interesting spot than they were a few weeks ago. Since the All-Star break, Cincinnati has won four series, and the latest reminder came in a lopsided 10-2 win over the Pirates that kept the momentum going. Even with that run, the club still sits 5.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card position, which leaves the next stretch of games carrying real weight for a team trying to decide how hard to push.
Terry Francona has made it clear the trade deadline belongs to the front office, not the dugout, and that distinction matters now more than ever. The organizations willingness to listen on players such as JJ Bleday, Nathaniel Lowe and Dane Myers suggests the Reds may be thinking beyond this season even as the standings leave the door cracked open. For a team that has played its way into the conversation, the deadline could say just as much about the long view as the standings do about the short one. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Deadline Could Bring Elly De La Cruz The Infield Help He Needs
The Reds are headed toward the trade deadline in seller mode, which opens the door to some familiar roster reshuffling in Cincinnati. Players on expiring contracts like Brady Singer and Tyler Stephenson could be moved if the front office decides to recoup value, and the bigger question is whether any of those deals help shape the club beyond this season.
One name drawing speculation is Baltimore infielder Jackson Holliday, a young player now on the trade block and the kind of addition that would fit a team trying to support its young core. For Cincinnati, the appeal is obvious: a chance to add more infield stability around Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart while the deadline market takes shape, even if no deal is close to being done. [Read more 🡒]