Cincinnati Reds: 3 prospects who should be added to the roster

1. Alfredo Rodriguez, Shortstop

The Cincinnati Reds need to upgrade the shortstop position heading into the 2021 season. While free agents like Didi Gregorius and Marcus Semien may pique the interest of the Cincinnati front office, their abilities come with a price tag. Adding Alfredo Rodriguez to the 40-man roster would offer the Reds another option at shortstop until José García’s bat catches up to his glove.

To be fair, it’s not as though Rodriguez has an advanced bat. However he did make some improvements in 2019. After failing to hit above .253 during his first three professional seasons, Rodriguez slashed .267/.314/.327 while splitting time between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville.

Rodriguez will always be a glove-first shortstop, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Cincinnati’s infield defense was not very good at all last season. Eugenio Suárez and Joey Votto both had five errors apiece and Freddy Galvis accounted for three miscues. While his defense is certainly above-average, even García committed two errors in limited playing time during the 2020 season.

Alfredo Rodriguez was left off the 40-man roster last season, but no team selected the shortstop as part of the Rule 5 Draft. That may not be the case this offseason as teams will be looking to fill holes while not spending a lot of cash. Cincinnati should add Rodriguez to the roster in the coming weeks.