Designating Albert Almora Jr. for assignment is good news for Stuart Fairchild and Matt Reynolds

The Cincinnati Reds made the somewhat surprising decision to designate Albert Almora Jr. for assignment on Friday afternoon.

The Reds could have very simply optioned Stuart Fairchild back to Triple-A in order to activate Matt Reynolds from the injured list, but opted instead to DFA Almora Jr. This may give fans a glimpse into the front office's plans for the offseason.

Obviously, it would seem that the club had no intention of keeping Almora Jr. on the 40-man roster. But perhaps things are looking up for both Fairchild and Reynolds.

The Reds DFA'd Albert Almora Jr. in order to active Matt Reynolds from the IL.

Stuart Fairchild is quite honestly a younger, cheaper version of Albert Almora Jr. The former second-round pick has plenty of speed. In fact, according to Baseball Savant, Fairchild is the fastest player on the Cincinnati Reds and is among the Top 10% in all of baseball.

Fairchild has always been revered as an above-average. Being a right-handed hitter, same as Almora Jr., with more power, it's not all that odd that Cincinnati decided to move on from the former Chicago Cubs centerfielder.

Almora Jr.'s absence from the roster is also good news for Matt Reynolds. The former New York Mets infielder has been a solid, yet unspectacular performer for the Cincinnati Reds this season. Reynolds does not do any one thing great, but does a lot of things very well.

He's a the perfect veteran utility player that may be on his way to Goodyear in the spring. Cincinnati has several players (Kyle Farmer, Nick Senzel, Alejo Lopez, and Spencer Steer) that may be battling for that role next year, but having no minor league options remaining might bode well for Reynolds.

It's a little sad to see Albert Almora Jr. go, but he was not going to be a long-term answer in center field. While he can play dazzling defense, the 28-year-old was hitting just .223/.282/.349. Almora Jr. could accept an outright assignment to Triple-A if no other team puts in a claim within the next few days.