Cincinnati Reds: Three dark horse candidates to make the taxi squad

MLB rosters will likely be expanded to 30 players with a 20-man taxi squad. Who are some dark horse candidates to make the Cincinnati Reds taxi squad?

For me, the idea of a 20-man taxi squad is easily the most intriguing aspect of a potential 2020 baseball season. How will teams like the Cincinnati Reds select who’s placed on the taxi squad? How will service time be handled? Will the 40-man roster be expanded to a 50-man roster? There are so many questions to be answered.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, Major League Baseball is looking to make every team’s active roster consist of 30 players while also having a 20-man taxi squad. What is a taxi squad? Simply put, it’s a group of reserve players who can “called-up” to replace a player on the 30-man roster.

Whether it’s fatigue, injury or illness, there’s no doubt that an abbreviated season with several doubleheaders likely to be played will result in teams having to shuttle players on and off the active roster. Pitchers, more than any other players, run the risk of injury and fatigue, so you can bet that more than half of a team’s taxi squad will consist of hurlers.

If we approach this idea under the assumption that the Cincinnati Reds will find spots on the 30-man roster for players like Mark Payton, Derek Dietrich, José De León and Joel Kuhnel, just to name a few, who might find their way onto the team’s taxi squad? Let’s look at three dark horse candidates.