Terry Francona disciple just hit free agency, but Reds should stay far away

There is no shortage of players the Cincinnati Reds should — and will — target once the offseason gets underway. With Terry Francona set to enter Year 2 of his tenure with the organization, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Reds skipper look to bring in a familiar face of two this offseason. While it probably doesn't need to be said, Mike Clevinger should not be on Tito's shortlist.

Clevinger, who wrapped up his third consecutive season with the Chicago White Sox, recently elected free agency. The veteran hurler will enter the free agent market this winter, and though he had plenty of success under Francona while with the Cleveland Guardians, that was a long time ago.

Mike Clevinger just hit free agency, but the Reds should stay far away

Clevinger burst onto the scene in 2016 and became a regular in the Cleveland rotation just one year later. From 2017-2019, he appeared in 80 games for the Guardians and posted an impressive 2.96 ERA with 513 punch outs over 447 innings of work.

Clevinger's career then took a wrong turn after leaving Cleveland. He was traded (along with Matt Waldron and Greg Allen) to the San Diego Padres in 2020 in exchange for Austin Hedges, Josh Naylor, and Cal Quantril. He then missed the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and only appeared in seven games for the Friars in 2022.

Clevinger then inked a one-year deal with the White Sox during the 2022 offseason and re-signed with Chicago the past two seasons. In three years on the South Side, Clevinger was 9-14 with a 4.24 ERA, with all eight of his appearances in 2025 coming out of the White Sox bullpen.

With the impending departures of Nick Martinez, Zack Littell, and Emilio Pagán, the Reds certainly have some innings to recoup this offseason. But with Brandon Williamson, Julian Aguiar, and Rhett Lowder returning to the rotation, there's no need for the Reds to bargain hunting this winter.

Though it'd be foolish to completely ignore the pitching staff — you can never have enough pitching — the Reds rotation depth is among the best in the league. Instead, almost all of Cincinnati's resources this offseason should be spent on the offense.