Reds: Abandoned offseason moves that could’ve saved 2021 roster

2. The Reds should have signed Jonathan Villar to a major league contract.

The Cincinnati Reds spent the majority of the offseason searching for a shortstop to replace Freddy Galvis. Galvis eventually signed a one-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles, and he’s enjoying a nice season offensively. While names like Didi Gregorius and Marcus Semien were floated around, the Reds should have signed Jonathan Villar to a major league contract.

Gregorius is slashing just .229/.266/.364, so it’s a good thing Cincinnati avoided a deal for their former farmhand. Semien is playing quite well, but there was no way the Reds were going to match his salary demands. Andrelton Simmons, another hot commodity this past winter, is playing about as well as you’d expect; fantastic defense and mediocre offensive production.

While the big three found homes outside of Cincinnati, the Reds were said to be very likely to sign Jonathan Villar this offseason. Apparently, the Reds became quite cheap and were only willing to offer Villar a minor-league deal. The former Miami Marlins infielder decided instead to take the one-year/$3.55M contract offered by the New York Mets.

Villar has been playing very well, hitting .239/.329/.403 with five home runs and 13 RBIs. Instead, Cincinnati decided they’d try their luck with Dee Strange-Gordon at shortstop. That experiment failed miserably, and eventually the team cut their losses, moved on from Strange-Gordon, and moved Eugenio Suarez to shortstop.