Aristides Aquino's time with the Reds may not be over just yet

The Cincinnati Reds made a series of subtractions from the team's 40-man roster on Tuesday night in order to usher in a new group of young, budding prospects.

Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, and Brandon Williamson are three of the top players in the Reds' farm system, and the Cincinnati front office is hopeful that the trio, along with players like Hunter Greene, Tyler Stephenson, and Alexis Diaz can help the franchise return to the postseason in the very near future.

However, with the addition of several young prospects comes the departure of a few longstanding roster pieces. The Reds parted ways with Aristides Aquino on Tuesday, but there's a chance that the Cincinnati faithful have not seen the last of The Punisher in the Queen City.

Aristides Aquino's time with the Reds may not be over just yet.

Aristides Aquino, along with five others, was designated for assignment on Tuesday. This means that Aquino will join a large number of other players from other organizations who may be claimed over the next several days.

But, here's where things get tricky in regards to Aquino. While a team could claim a player like Jared Solomon or Art Warren (both of whom were also DFA'd by the Reds) without much of a salary commitment, adding Aquino to a team's 40-man roster via waivers will require said team to offer Aquino arbitration.

The Punisher is up for arbitration for the first time this season, and despite his sluggish performance at the dish in 2022, MLB Trade Rumors estimates that Aquino will take home a salary around $1.6M in 2023. That's a pretty good chunk of change for what really amounts to a free-swinging outfielder with a plus-arm in right field.

If Aristides Aquino goes unclaimed, do not think for one moment that the Cincinnati Reds won't try to re-sign the 28-year-old to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training.

Aquino, of course, will be free to choose where he'd like to sign if he passes through waivers, but the outfielder has had a good relationship with Cincinnati over the years and it's not out of the realm of possibilities for him to re-sign with the Reds this offseason.