Reds make Amed Rosario claim official, lose Jeimer Candelario to IL with toe fracture
The latest roster churn as the Reds try to stay afloat...
We have known since Sunday that the Cincinnati Reds won the waiver claim for Amed Rosario, plucking him off the loaded roster of the Los Angeles Dodgers amid their roster crunch. With the Reds across the border in Toronto to face the Blue Jays, however, it seems like the power of MLB paperwork needed a bit of extra time to get Julian Aguiar on the roster and to last night’s game, and perhaps the same was true with Rosario.
Anyway, he’s officially a Red as of Tuesday afternoon. Problem is, he needed a roster spot to make that become a reality, and the Reds placed big free agent signee and noted veteran presence Jeimer Candelario on the 10-day IL to free up room.
The #Reds today reported to the 26-player roster IF Amed Rosario and placed on the 10-day injured list IF Jeimer Candelario (left great toe fracture).
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 20, 2024
Did Candelario injure his toe last night during his 0 for 4 outing? Or is this something he’s been trying to play through for awhile now that simply hasn’t miraculously managed to get better? He’s just 4 for 29 over his last 8 games and owns just a .643 OPS during the month of August, after all.
In Rosario, the Reds get a 28 year old veteran of 8 MLB seasons, a guy who was formerly traded for both Francisco Lindor and Noah Syndergaard as his baseball journey took him from the Mets through Cleveland to the Dodgers before signing with Tampa as a free agent for the first time last winter. Tampa held on to him until retooling at the trade deadline, at which point he was flipped to the Dodgers for an uneventful few weeks before landing on waivers.
Capable of playing all across the infield (and in the corner OF, if need be), he’s the owner of a 113 OPS+ this year and 96 OPS+ for his career. A righty, he has mashed LHP to the tune of an .816 OPS this year (vs. .702 vs RHP), a trend that’s been pretty consistently similar throughout his career. You’d think that would help provide some versatility to a Reds OF mix that’s heavily lefty-hitting, with he and Spencer Steer both capable of rotating though there.
Welcome to Cincinnati, Amed. We need a miracle every day.