This Reds prospect picked the worst time to fall off the radar

The Cincinnati Reds should be looking to buy at the upcoming MLB trade deadline. Cincinnati is in the thick of the NL Wild Card hunt and has been playing good baseball of late. In order to upgrade the active roster, Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall may be looking to dip into the team's farm system in order to pull off a big-time trade prior July 31.

One of the most obvious trade candidates in the Reds' pipeline is shortstop Edwin Arroyo. An uber-talented defender, Arroyo is blocked at the Major League level by Elly De La Cruz, and both Sammy Stafura and Tyson Lewis are receiving rave reviews in the lower minor leagues.

Unfortunately for the Reds, Arroyo picked a bad time to hit a slump. MLB Pipeline's most recent top-100 prospect rankings moved Arroyo out of the upper echelon. Arroyo, according to the experts at MLB.com, is no longer considered a top-100 prospect. That will greatly affect his trade value as the deadline approaches.

Reds prospect Edwin Arroyo picked the worst time to fall off the radar

Arroyo has been leapfrogged by catching talent Alfredo Duno, and according to MLB Pipeline, is now the Reds' seventh-best prospect in the farm system. The slick-fielding shortstop had been consider a top-3 organizational prospect the past two seasons, but a shoulder injury in 2024 and under-performance this year have seen Arroyo fall out of the good graces of the prospect evaluators.

Arroyo was never projected to be a power-bat and has always been viewed as a glove-first prospect who could at least hit for average. Reds fans have become accustom to the prodigious power of De La Cruz, but that's not the norm. If your team has a top-rated defensive shortstop who can give you 10-plus homers per season, that's a hot commodity. Unfortunately for Arroyo, what little power he did have has completely disappeared in 2025.

The 21-year-old posted back-to-back seasons with a .430 slugging percentage or better, however this season, that number has dipped below .350. The shoulder injury Arroyo suffered last spring, which necessitated surgery, could be the culprit. But this will put a damper on any sense the Reds' had to trade Arroyo before the deadline.

His trade value is likely at an all-time low, and that's not going to help Cincinnati to fetch a strong return. While the Reds could certainly shop the switch-hitting shortstop this summer, they may be better served to allow the rest of the season to play out and instead look to trade Arroyo during the offseason.

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