Reds risky leap to clear roster space could backfire in the worst way

Being a front office executive in professional sports involves a great deal of risk management. General managers and other front office personnel are constantly weighing risk versus reward in an attempt to carefully field a competitive roster that fits neatly into their owner's budget.

Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall took a calculated risk earlier this week when he designated starting pitcher Carson Spiers for assignment. While there's certainly a chance the move itself could work out just fine for the Reds' top decision-maker, it could also blow up in his face.

Spiers was a roster casualty on Tuesday when the Reds elected to promote a trio of top prospects to the 40-man roster. Cincinnati selected the contracts of infielders Edwin Arroyo and Leo Balcazar, along with outfielder Héctor Rodríguez. With the Reds' roster sitting at 38, a corresponding move needed to be made, and the Reds chose to DFA Spiers.

Reds DFA'd Carson Spiers and risk losing him to another team

For those unfamiliar with the process, when a player is DFA'd, he's removed from the 40-man roster. The team then has seven days to either trade the player or place him on outright waivers. If another team submits a claim, he's immediately added to their 40-man roster. The claiming team would then be responsible for the money owed to the player, which in Spiers' case will be the league minimum.

Obviously the Reds are hoping to pass the young hurler through waivers and then outright him to the minor leagues. Doing so would allow Spiers — who'll miss the entire the 2026 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer — to rehab from his injury while not counting against the team's 40-man roster.

Another club, however, could decide to add Spiers to the roster and then transfer him to the 60-day IL later this offseason. Teams are restricted from placing players on the injured list until the first week of spring training.

This is all very technical, but it's somewhat surprising to see the Reds DFA Spiers rather than a player like Roddery Muñoz, Will Banfield, or even Sam Moll. Perhaps Cincinnati's front office is attempting to sneak the right-hander through waivers amid all the roster confusion this time of year, but that's quite the gamble for a pitcher who, when healthy, is at least a serviceable starter.