JJ Bleday didn’t just survive the trade deadline. He stayed exactly where he wanted to be.
While plenty of Reds rumors swirled around the deadline, Bleday was one of the names believed to be in play. Instead, Cincinnati kept him, and the outfielder made it clear that was the outcome he wanted.
"That's good for me. That's good for my family. We really wanted to stay here," Bleday said.
That matters for a Reds team that opened the post-deadline stretch against the Athletics with Bleday back in the No. 3 spot, a spot he’s settled into since earning National League Player of the Month honors in May. For Cincinnati, the move to hold onto him may end up looking like one of the smartest decisions it made this week.
Team president Nick Krall said Bleday was heavily discussed before the deadline.
“He’s a guy who was a very popular ask on the trade market,” Krall said after the Reds’ quiet Aug. 3 deadline day, when Nathaniel Lowe went to Cleveland and Caleb Ferguson was sent to St. Louis in low-level deals.
“We felt that we’ve got him for several more years under control, and we’re really excited to have him.”
That kind of confidence makes sense considering how Bleday got here. The former fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft signed a one-year, $1.4 million deal with the Reds in December, a month after the Athletics non-tendered him. He had been released by Oakland after a rough season, then started the year in the minors despite a strong spring because of roster and contract mechanics.
Once he crushed Triple-A pitching, though, his Reds debut on April 26 came with a home run, and he’s kept rolling ever since. The turnaround has put him in the middle of the conversation as one of Cincinnati’s best value pickups in recent memory.
Bleday said the decision to join the Reds in the offseason has already paid off.
“It shows we made the good decision to pick this team in the offseason,” he said the day after staying put at the deadline. “I hope it’s the same on their end as well.”
Against the Athletics this week, he also had a chance to show the other side what they lost. In the Reds’ series-opening win, Bleday singled, walked and made a highlight-reel catch in left field.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay took notice.
“He’s a player that sits in my mind as a guy that I’ll look back on in my career,” Kotsay said, and hopefully learn how to connect and how to help a player through those times in a better way.”
Now 28, Bleday has put together a season that points to a real breakthrough. Through 84 games, he owns career-best marks in on-base percentage at .343 and slugging at .463, and he’s one home run shy of his career high of 20 from 2024 with seven weeks left.
For Bleday, the fit has been obvious.
“So far it’s been a good fit,” he said. “We just really enjoy our time here, and I love being a Red.”
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