Reds acquire Austin Slater – MLB Trade Rumors

The Reds and Giants reached a late-night deal with just three weeks until the trade deadline. The Reds have acquired the outfielder, as announced by both clubs austin slater From San Francisco in exchange for a left-handed player. alex young, Cincinnati is also receiving cash consideration as part of the deal. Following the transaction, the Giants optioned Young to Triple-A.

Slater, 31, has been in the Giants organization for more than a decade. His professional career began when he was selected by the club out of Stanford in the eighth round of the 2014 draft, although he did not make his big league debut with the club until his age-24 season in 2017. Slater was largely a part-time player during his first few years in San Francisco, and he made only 544 plate appearances in the majors between 2017 and 2019. In that limited playing time, he posted a nice .254/.335/.368 slash line that was good enough to split time between all three outfield spots, first base and even making brief cameos at both second and third base. Splitting that for a 92 wRC+.

Slater got a massive break in the shortened 2020 season, as he posted an excellent 150 wRC+ for the Giants while appearing in 31 of the club’s 60 games that year, playing mostly right field and DH for the club. Were staying. That offensive explosion brought Slater a larger role in the following years, and while most of his playing time was still against left-handed pitching, he carved out a proper platoon role for himself as opposed to the reserve outfield role he had previously used. did. , Slater handled the increased responsibilities well and the lefty masher hit a solid .259/.352/.421 (118 wRC+) between the 2020 and 2023 seasons.

That line went from solid to sensational when looking specifically at his production against southpaws, against whom he matched up to the tune of a .285/.380/.486 line with a wRC+ of 141. That production was good against left-handed pitching. 17th best in baseball during that four-year period, like on par with star hitters. jose altuve And xander bogarts,

While the Giants leaned heavily on Slater as a platoon partner for a primarily left-handed outfield that consisted of sluggers mike yastrzemski, Michael ConfortoAnd joc pederson During those years, Slater’s playing time was further reduced due to injury problems. Since the start of the 2020 campaign, Slater has made seven trips to the injured list due to groin, hamstring, wrist and hand problems, as well as a number of injuries. Slater also required elbow surgery last season to remove bone spurs and relieve nerve pain. It’s possible that the long list of injury issues has helped contribute to a difficult 2024 season for the 31-year-old, as he’s hit just .200/.330/.244 in 112 outings this season. A month-long stay on the IL due to an injury earlier this year.

In acquiring Slater, the Reds are certainly hoping they can incorporate some of the lefty-mashing ability he has shown in past years to give him a quality replacement for the club’s many left-handed hitting outfielders. Platoon partner can be made. Slater’s main competition for playing time in that role is considered to be Stuart Fairchild, who has slashed .224/.298/.347 (81 wRC+) in 189 trips to the plate this year. However, in the short term, both Fairchild and Slater will get a lot of reps Will Benson And spencer steer Thanks to the absence in the club’s outfield mix jake fraley, TJ FriedelAnd nick martini, Fraley is currently on the Family Medicine emergency list and will likely be back within a few days, but Friedel and Martini are both on the injured list and potentially facing lengthy absences.

In exchange for parting with Slater, the Giants are getting some left-handed bullpen help in Young. Once selected by the Diamondbacks in the second round in the 2015 draft, the lefty made his big league debut in 2019 and generally struggled at the major league level in a swing role with Arizona and Cleveland. This changed in 2022, when San Francisco acquired Young in a cash deal with the Guardians and began playing a small relief role full-time. The lefty pitched quite well during his first stint with the Giants, posting a 2.39 ERA and 2.96 FIP in 26 1/3 innings of work before being non-tendered by San Francisco the following November.

more to come…