Cincinnati Reds: Three possible trade scenarios if Marcell Ozuna signs

2. Reds snag a reliever from Motown

While the bullpen is certainly not a disaster, it could use an extra arm or two. Enter Joe Jímenez. One year removed from a spot in the All-Star Game, Jímenez struggled to the tune of a 4.37 ERA in 2019. At 24-years old, Jímenez is still very young and under team control through 2023. The Detroit Tigers are going nowhere fast, and a few talented prospects could be enough to sway their front office.

The Reds bullpen has the talented Michael Lorenzen along with lefty Amir Garrett and the surprising Robert Stephenson at the back end heading into 2020. The biggest question mark in the bullpen may be Raisel Iglesias, who tumultuous 2019 season ended with the closer being hung with a team-record 12 losses for a reliever.

While I’m not suggesting that the Reds replace Iggy as the closer with Jímenez, the right-hander definitely has the stuff to close out a game. Jímenez earned nine saves in 2019, and his fastball sits in the mid-to-upper 90s. According to FanGraphs, Jímenez’s average heater was sitting at 95.5-MPH.

Joe Jímenez was once a Top 5 prospect in the Tigers organization according to MLB Pipeline. After a season in which Jímenez’s HR/9 jumped to almost three-times what it was in 2018, Detroit may be looking to sell low. Perhaps Derek Johnson could work some magic and get Jímenez back on track. Giving up on Vladimir Gutierrez and TJ Friedl would not be a huge blow to the Reds farm system.