Cincinnati Reds: Five players likely to make their big league debut in 2020

1. Mark Payton, Outfielder

If Mark Payton is to make the Opening Day roster for the Cincinnati Reds, he’s going to have to show up big time during spring training. Because he was taken in the Rule 5 Draft, if Payton is unable to crack the 26-man roster out of Goodyear, he’ll have to be offered back to the Oakland Athletics.

Payton had an uphill battle before the signings of Shogo Akiyama and Nick Castellanos, but those two outfielders who now project as starters in the Reds lineup only make is more difficult for Payton to break camp with Cincinnati.

Formerly a seventh-round selection of the New York Yankees in 2014, Payton was a Rule 5 draftee last winter. The Oakland A’s selected him from the Yankees and Payton played the entire 2019 season at Triple-A Las Vegas were he hit .334/.400/.653 with 30 home runs and 97 RBIs.

One look at those stats and every Reds fan is probably wondering why he hasn’t yet made his big league debut. Well, throughout his entire minor-league career, Payton had yet to eclipse the 1.000-plus OPS mark that he accomplished last season. It just so happens that the Pacific Coast League (PCL) is also the most hitter-friendly league on the Triple-A circuit.

If Payton’s performance in 2019 translates to the field in Goodyear, then there’s an outside chance that he’ll make the squad out of spring training. Otherwise, Payton must be placed on waivers for any other team to claim and then offered back to the A’s before being eligible to be outrighted to the minors.