Cincinnati Reds Rumors: The chance to move Zack Cozart is now!

The Cincinnati Reds still have All-Star shortstop Zack Cozart despite his impeding free agent departure.

The Cincinnati Reds have arguably the best rental player left on the market.  With J.D. Martinez moving from the Detroit Tigers to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the biggest hitter is off of the market.  That leaves Zack Cozart and fellow All-Star Game participant, former Red Yonder Alonso, as the two best rental players available right now.

The Reds are reluctant to admit that they are actively seeking to move Cozart.  This is in stark opposition to how they handled his status during the off-season.  They actively took calls right up to the start of spring training.

The Reds claim that they are engaging in conversations with Cozart about an extension.  This doesn’t make sense on any level.  He is aging at a position the franchise is deep in and he is having his best offensive season.

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The Reds should be calling every team from Houston to Los Angeles to Boston looking for a partner in trade.  They need to move him while teams are still interested in having him play two full months, down the playoff stretch.  Instead the Reds are sending him to Miami for the ASG and holding a donkey day in Cincinnati, no matter how entertaining.

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The Cincinnati Reds just need to pull the trigger on the best  Zack Cozart deal before it is too late for them.

Cozart appeared to be headed to Cleveland right at the All-Star break when the Indians’ second baseman Jason Kipnis hurt his hamstring.  The most often name linked to Cozart is Akron shortstop, Yu-Cheng Chang.  The Reds like that Chang isn’t on the forty man roster yet, but still want a better return.

In the meantime the other teams that are looking at hitters are slowly using their assets on other players.  When the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Adeiny Hechavarria, the Reds should have moved Cozart.  The Rays are off of the list.   So are the Arizona Diamondbacks, as Martinez allows them to keep their infield intact.

The deals that the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs made earlier this month also take assets out of the competing teams’ hands.  The Cubs likely don’t want Cozart with a trio of options at second and Addison Russell at short.  The Nationals though could use a short term solution at short and a medium term solution at back-up infield.

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The Reds need to act before it is too late.  The Indians and other teams in need of a middle infielder won’t wait too much longer.  The Reds need to move Cozart before he’s here all year long.