The Reds’ offseason churn started with a long list of minor-league departures, and it also brought another reminder of how rough their late-spring bullpen trade turned out to be.
Cincinnati had 17 minor leaguers elect free agency earlier this week, a group that mixed in some recognizable names with a few players who had been around the organization for a while. The list included Darius Vines, Francisco Urbaez, Orlando Arcia, Anthony Misiewicz, Dominic Fletcher, Ivan Johnson, Trevor Kuncl, Ben Werski, Garrett Hampson, Nestor Lorant, Steffon Moore, Shane Sasaki, Austin Hendrick, Michael Chavis, Ryan Garcia, Pablo Aliendo and Julio Carreras.
A few of those departures stand out. Lorant was the Reds’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year just two years ago, though he spent much of the 2026 season on the injured list.
Hendrick was Cincinnati’s first-round pick in 2020, while Johnson made his major-league debut with the club earlier this season. Veterans such as Chavis, Arcia and Hampson were always easy candidates to test the market, but the door still remains open for any of the 17 to return on new deals this winter.
The other notable development for Cincinnati involved Kyle Nicolas, the right-hander the Reds picked up in their late-spring deal with Pittsburgh that sent former third-round pick Tyler Callihan to the Pirates. That move never paid off for Cincinnati.
Nicolas appeared in only seven games in 2026 and was hit hard, finishing with an 8.59 ERA and seven strikeouts across 7⅓ innings. The bigger problem was control: he walked 13, and that eventually pushed the Reds to designate him for assignment in late May.
From there, the path kept moving. The Orioles claimed him off waivers and sent him to the minors, but that stop didn’t last long either.
Baltimore DFA’d him again in June, and the Nationals took a shot on him. Nicolas finished the 2026 season with Washington’s Triple-A club in Rochester, and after being DFA’d once more, he’s now looking for his fourth organization in less than a year.
Callihan, meanwhile, had a brief hot stretch with Pittsburgh but mostly turned in a quiet season. He hit .211/.283/.389 with three homers and 15 RBI, spent most of the year in the minors, and is expected to fill a similar role for the Pirates in 2027.
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Reds Face A Big Tyler Stephenson Decision This Offseason
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Sports Illustrateds analysts expect the sides to find common ground on a short-term deal, which would keep the catching situation stable for at least another season. For the Reds, the appeal goes beyond the present tense, since Stephensons presence would help bridge the gap while the organization waits for its next wave of talent behind the plate to develop. [Read more 🡒]