Reds rumors: Cincinnati interested in signing Dan Straily

According to the latest Reds rumors, Cincinnati is said to be interested in Dan Straily.

Might the Cincinnati Reds reunite with former pitcher Dan Straily? If the latest Reds rumors are true, the answer is, yes. According to Craig Mish, a contributor for MLLB Network, Cincinnati, San Francisco, and the Los Angeles Angels are among the handful of team interested in Straily. The right-handed pitched overseas in the KBO last season.

Rather than playing for a minor league contract last season, Dan Straily took his talents to Korea and signed a one-year/$1M deal with the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). The move worked out quite nicely for Straily who put up phenomenal numbers.

Straily, one year removed from the worst season of his career, dominated opposing hitters in the KBO last season. After going 2-4 with a disastrous 9.82 ERA and 1.993 WHIP, Straily started 31 games, going 15-4 with a 2.50 ERA, 1.022 WHIP, and 205 strikeouts.

According to Mish, Straily will likely decide in the next week whether he’ll return to the KBO or entertain offers from major league teams. Straily had his best major league season the Cincinnati Reds in 2016. The right-hander went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA and 162 punch outs. Straily did, however, lead the league in home runs allowed (31).

After Straily’s 2016 performance, he was dealt to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Luis Castillo, Austin Brice, and Isaiah White. Brice and White are no longer with the team, but Castillo has become one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League. I’d say that trade worked out pretty well for the Cincinnati Reds.

Dan Straily could be a fantastic stopgap option for the Reds, as the team is likely to lose both Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani to free agency. Straily could be inserted into the rotation and offer another year of development for young prospects like Tony Santillan, Nick Lodolo, and Hunter Greene.

The latest Reds rumors offer a clue to Nick Krall’s plan heading into the winter. It’s become incredibly obvious that Trevor Bauer is not in Cincinnati’s plans and will likely sign elsewhere. This also reveals that the front office may not be overly enthusiastic about the idea of starting the season with Michael Lorenzen or Tejay Antone in the starting rotation.