Reds: 3 veteran free agent relievers Cincinnati should sign right away

The Reds need to add a veteran presence to their bullpen.

The Cincinnati Reds Achilles heel during the first month of season was the team’s bullpen. With little to no help available from within the farm system, the Reds front office may have to do something it didn’t do over the winter; spend money.

Reds manager David Bell, pitching coach Derek Johnson, and bullpen coach Lee Tunnell are not solely to blame for the lack of production from the Cincinnati bullpen. A fair share of blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the front office and ownership for failing to address the issue during the offseason.

That said, Amir Garrett’s early-season struggles are not the fault of the ownership failing to pay Archie Bradley. In fact, one could assume that Nick Krall and others in the front office assumed that AG was ready to supplant Raisel Iglesias as Cincinnati’s closer in 2021. That hasn’t proved to be the case, at least not yet.

The Cincinnati Reds are also minus one of their key relievers in Michael Lorenzen. The right-hander was slated to enter the rotation this season, but an injury has forced Mikey Biceps onto the 60-day IL. One has to wonder if he’ll be a starter or reliever once he returns to the active roster.

Sean Doolittle was Cincinnati’s lone major league free agent signing over the winter, and while the former Washington Nationals’ closer has been solid against left-handed bats thus far, his 4.66 ERA in 9.2 innings of work isn’t overly impressive.

The Reds need some reinforcements. I’m all for promoting the likes of Vladimir Gutierrez and Riley O’Brien to the bigs, but some more drastic measures may be in order if the Reds want to turn their biggest weakness into a strength. Which three veteran free agent relief pitchers could help solve the Reds bullpen woes?

1. The Reds should sign Shane Greene to be their closer.

The Cincinnati Reds clearly lack a closer, and yet one of the best in the game is still on the freee agent market. I don’t know what it would take for Bob Castellini and the Reds to bring Shane Greene to Cincinnati, but at this point, what do you have to lose other than the National League Central Division?

Greene was drafted by the New Yankees in 2014 and went to the All-Star Game with the Detroit Tigers in 2019. After being dealt to the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline in 2019, Greene’s struggles led manager Brian Snitker to begin utilizing Mark Melancon as the team’s closer. Greene produced solid numbers last season with a 2.60 ERA over 27.2 innings of work.

Greene has 66 career saves to his name. The only player on the Reds current roster to have more is Sean Doolittle (112). Having a veteran right-hander who can keep the ball in the ballpark would be an incredibly valuable commodity for Cincinnati right now. Greene’s 8.3% career walk-rate would be a nice boost to this Reds bullpen as well.

Greene signed a one-year deal with Atlanta last season worth more than $6M, so you’d have to assume that his contract demands are north of $7M and a big reason why her remains unsigned. Greene’s xFIP of 4.75 in 2020, a career-worst, is a bit concerning. Offering Greene anything more than a one-year deal is a fool’s errand, but a one-year/$7.5M contract could secure a proven reliever for this Reds team.

2. Adding Wade LeBlanc would improve the Reds bullpen.

Wade LeBlanc was just recently designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles. LeBlanc chose free agency, and there’s a chance the left-hander could latch on with a team in the coming days. The Cincinnati Reds would do well to investigate bringing the 36-year-old into the fold.

LeBlanc’s career spans 13 seasons and he’s played for eight different franchises during that time. His longest stint was the four years he spend in San Diego as a member of the Padres organization. More recently, LeBlanc has called the American League home, playing the last four seasons with the Orioles and Seattle Mariners.

It’s safe to say that an additional left-hander could be a valuable pick up for Nick Krall and the Cincinnati front office. Amir Garrett has been a shell of himself during the first month of the season, preferring to do more yapping with his mouth while allowing his ERA to balloon to 11.25. Sean Doolittle hasn’t been a terrible signing, but his lefty/ righty splits aren’t encouraging.

LeBlanc certainly isn’t the pitcher from 2014 to 2018 (3.92 ERA). Over the last three seasons, LeBlanc’s ERA is sitting at 6.23, and the southpaw has 111 strikeouts over 150-plus innings of work. No, those are not spectacular, but LeBlanc’s career splits don’t skew quite the way Garrett’s do, giving you some hope that the three-batter minimum wouldn’t handicap him too much.

If the Reds are looking for an additional left-handed pitcher out of the bullpen, Wade LeBlanc may be their best option. LeBlanc was a starter last season, but has come out of the bullpen five out of the six times he saw the field in 2021. Signing LeBlanc would be a low-cost, depth signing if Cincinnati chose to go in that direction.