Cincinnati Reds: J.T. Realmuto latest target of interest
By Bill Felber
At issue is the asking price; the Cincinnati Reds are hesitant to include their top prospects
The Cincinnati Reds, who have been on a winter-long shopping spree, are now kicking the tires on J.T. Realmuto.
Whether they are actually interested in buying probably depends on their reaction once they get a look at the Miami Marlins’ sticker price.
Several sources confirmed the Reds’ exploratory interest in Realmuto Monday and Tuesday. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman posted a tweet Monday suggesting that the deal could go down if the Reds were willing to include any of their top three prospects, Hunter Greene, Nick Senzel or Taylor Trammell, in the package.
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C. Trent Rosecrans, senior Reds writer for The Athletic, told MLB Network’s Hot Stove much the same thing Tuesday morning. “I don’t know if this is front-burner issue,” Rosecrans said. He added, however, “they’d get him if it was the right price.”
Rosecrans added that the “right price” probably didn’t include any of those front-line prospects. Instead, the Reds appeared to be using veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart as bait.
Bleacher Report’s Joseph Zucker speculated that even without including their top prospects, the Reds might be able to pull off the deal by including prospect Jonathan India with Barnhart. India is a 22-year-old third base prospect ranked No. 3 in the Reds system among position players.
Barnhart batted .248 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs for the Reds last season.
There was also speculation that the principal hangup was the Reds’ desire to open a negotiating window on a long-term deal with Realmuto. He is under team control only through next season. In negotiations with other teams – notably the Atlanta Braves — the Marlins reportedly have been unwilling to permit such pre-deal negotiations to take place.
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In their effort to move into a contending position in the NL Central, the Cincinnati Reds have already been one of the most active teams this winter. They’ve added pitchers Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark and Alex Wood plus outfielders Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig in trades, and they’ve done so at virtually no cost to their already strong offense.