4 former Reds players we'll be glad are gone, and 1 we'll wish stayed

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When you think about the 2022 Cincinnati Reds, not many positive thoughts come to mind. The team lost 100 games and the front office traded away so many beloved and talented players.

Things unraveled barely a week after the lockout was over. After the owners and players had finished quarreling about money, the Reds began to tear it down. Sonny Gray, Eugenio Suarez, Amri Garrett, and Jesse Winker were all traded before the 2022 season even began.

That set the tone for what would be a summer of misery for Reds Country. While it may be hard to reminisce, let's look back at four player who we're all glad are gone. But, there's surely one player Reds fans miss, right?

Reds fans are glad that former LHP Mike Minor is gone.

You already forgot, didn't you? Thoughts of Mike Minor don't really invoke a lot of happy thought from the Cincinnati faithful. Minor was brought to the Queen City via trade. Reds general manager Nick Krall sent left-handed reliever Amir Garrett to Kansas City in exchange for Minor and his $10-million salary.

The trade itself was just bizarre, but the results were even worse that Reds fans could have imagined. Minor started 19 games and went 4-12 with a 6.06 ERA while logging just 98 innings. Minor began the season on the 60-day IL and was shutdown before the season ended.

Minor was little more than a stopgap to help eat some innings while the young group of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Graham Ashcraft learned the ropes. But Minor routinely was pummeled by the opposition.

There's few if any fans who were clamoring for Mike Minor to be re-signe after the season. The Cincinnati Reds did not pick up Minor's team-option and paid the southpaw $500K to go pitch elsewhere. Minor is currently a free agent, and it's a good bet that he'll stay that way.

Reds fans are glad that former OF Aristides Aquino is gone.

The Cincinnati Reds gave Aristides Aquino more than enough chances to prove that he was a major league-caliber player. Unfortunately, the shine that Aquino acquired during August of 2019 did not carry over into the rest of his career.

Aquino delivered a month that few in major league history will ever surpass. In August of 2019, Aquino lived up to his nickname. The Punisher absolutely crushed almost every baseball that he saw, hitting .329/.391/.767 with 14 home runs and 33 RBIs.

But that was the pinnacle of Aquino's career. Aquino quickly rose to stardom, but the outfielder came crashing back down to earth the following year. Replaced in right field by Nick Castellanos, Aquino became a bench bat in 2020 and never again the reached the level that he did in 2019.

Aquino had a cannon, and was a fine right fielder. But with so much swing and miss in his game, the only thing Aquino was punishing last season was the air around home plate. Aquino struck out 101 times in just 80 games played.

The Cincinnati Reds released Aristides Aquino this past offseason. Unable to find another team that would take him on, Aquino signed overseas with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League.

Reds fans are glad that former RHP Tyler Mahle is gone.

This one may be a bit surprising, but wait just a minute for jumping to criticism. Tyler Mahle was a fine pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds for several years. The right-hander put up very nice numbers during Cincinnati's 2021 season, recording 220 punch outs that season.

But Mahle just never took that next step in his maturation process. It's almost as if he peaked in 2021. Then, the Reds foolishly leaned on him to be the team's No. 2 starter in 2022. Because of an early-season injury to Luis Castillo, Mahle was actually Cincinnati's Opening Day starter last season.

Mahle would constantly nibble at the plate. He was rarely if ever able to harness an aggressive mentality at the plate. The former seventh-round pick would routinely get ahead of batters and inexcusably lose them to walk later in the at-bat.

It was talked about last week when speaking about Hunter Greene's inefficient outing on Opening Day; that was Tyler Mahle in almost every single start. Cincinnati, seeing the value in trading a quality starter at last year's deadline, was able to deal Mahle to the Minnesota Twins.

Mahle is a solid No. 4 or No. 5 starter, but he was never going to be more than that. In return for Mahle's services, the Cincinnati Reds were able to acquire Christian Encarncacion-Strand and Spencer Steer. Both appear to figure prominently into Cincinnati's long-term plans.

Reds fans are glad former 3B/ DH Mike Moustakas is gone.

There might not be a player that Reds fans were more frustrated with over the past few seasons than Mike Moustakas. The Cincinnati Reds inked the former All-Star to a four-year contract worth $64-million. If the club had it to do over again, they wouldn't have signed him $6.4-million.

Moustakas was a constant disappointment. He was either hurt or unproductive. Last season was a combination of both. Moose appeared in just 78 games while hitting .214/.295/.345. Moustakas landed on the IL six different times in 2022.

The Reds made the wise, albeit expensive decision to let Moustakas walk this past winter. In a move that cost the club $22-million, Cincinnati decided to designate Moose for assignment. The 34-year-old eventually signed with the Colorado Rockies.

Much of Moustakas' career in Cincinnati was marred by lower body injuries. During his three season in the Queen City, Moose played in a grand total of 184 games. Prior to his three years with the Reds, only once in his career did Moustakas play fewer than 130 games in a season.

Mike Moustakas' time in Cincinnati had to come to an end. Had the Reds made the wrong choice and kept Moustakas around due to his massive salary, players like Jason Vosler, Spencer Steer, and even Jake Fraley would be riding the bench in favor of the high-priced veteran. Reds fans will be glad Moose is playing elsewhere in 2023.

Reds fans wish former RHP Luis Castillo would have stayed.

If there's one player, with whom the Cincinnati Reds parted company in 2022, that fans wish could've stayed it's Luis Castillo. La Piedra will be missed in 2023 and beyond.

The ace of the Reds staff for the past two seasons, Castillo was traded to the Seattle Mariners for a quartet of prospects. The right-hander then promptly signed a contract extension with the M's worth $108-million over five years.

The contract Castillo signed was a bargain for a player of his caliber. Castillo was a two-time All-Star who's now pitching in Seattle for what amounts to an average of $21.6-million per year. While not in the category of pitchers like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, Castillo's annual salary is less than half of what those two are making.

The Reds could have surely inked Castillo to that type of deal, but heading into his age-30 season, a team is certainly taking a risk by signing a pitcher to a multi-year contract. If one of the Reds big three are able to eventually turn into the type of pitcher that Castillo was during his time in Cincinnati, then perhaps this trade won't be too bad over the long haul.

The Cincinnati Reds were able to land several top prospects in return. The hope is that Noelvi Marte or Edwin Arroyo turn into All-Star caliber major leaguers. But if they don't, and Levi Stoudt fails to become part of the Reds rotation, this trade will look worse and worse.

Having the trio of Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, and Nick Lodolo is nice, but if Luis Castillo was leading the way, the Cincinnati Reds would have one of the best rotations in all of baseball. As it is, La Piedra will be pitching in the Pacific Northwest for the foreseeable future.

Next. 5 Reds players who won't be on the roster by May 1st. dark

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