The Cincinnati Reds have released infielder Jeimer Candelario from his free agency contract.This is according to a report from MLB.com of the move.Candelario was signed to a three-year deal in December 2023 that was worth $45 million. He has rotated positions at first and third base during his time with the team.However, Candelario greatly struggled in his first month this season, only managing a batting average of .113.Eventually, in April, Candelario went on the injury list with a lumbar spine strain. During rehab, the infielder has managed to play some games with the Louisville Bats, the Reds’ minor league affiliate, where he has continued to put up similarly underwhelming numbers.”It was obviously a tough decision,” Nick Krall, the Reds’ president of baseball operations, said of the matter. “He’s a great guy. We signed the contract because we thought he was going to come in and be our everyday third baseman. But at the end of the day, it just didn’t work out. We felt this would give us our best chance to win games to keep the guys we had here versus activating him.”Krall said that he consulted with Reds owner Bob Castellini in making the decision, who agreed with Krall it was best to part ways with Candelario.At the same time, Krall said that bringing in new and promising talent to the team, such as pitcher Chase Burns, is helping the organization to chart a new path forward into the future.“This is a statement of intent. I think bringing Chase Burns is a statement of intent,” Krall said. “We want to win games. We felt these are the moves that gives us the best chance to win games and that’s what we’re trying to do.”In removing Candelario from the roster halfway through his contract, he is still owned approximately $22.5 million from the Reds. This marks the most money that the team has ever had to pay out for a defunct player.Reds manager Terry Francona said that Candelario was likely to see more limited playing time on the field even if the contract wasn’t canceled.“Before he got hurt, he had lost a little playing time and he was having a tough time with that,” Francona said. “Coming back now, there wasn’t an avenue for playing him every day.”In the infield, Reds first baseman Spencer Steer and third baseman Santiago Espinal have become fixtures of the team this season, with both having respectively played 77 and 73 games of the team’s 84 this season. Both have also put up more consistent stats in the process, including batting averages that are over twice as high as Candelario’s.
The Cincinnati Reds have released infielder Jeimer Candelario from his free agency contract.
This is according to a report from MLB.com of the move.
Candelario was signed to a three-year deal in December 2023 that was worth $45 million. He has rotated positions at first and third base during his time with the team.
However, Candelario greatly struggled in his first month this season, only managing a batting average of .113.
Eventually, in April, Candelario went on the injury list with a lumbar spine strain. During rehab, the infielder has managed to play some games with the Louisville Bats, the Reds’ minor league affiliate, where he has continued to put up similarly underwhelming numbers.
“It was obviously a tough decision,” Nick Krall, the Reds’ president of baseball operations, said of the matter. “He’s a great guy. We signed the contract because we thought he was going to come in and be our everyday third baseman. But at the end of the day, it just didn’t work out. We felt this would give us our best chance to win games to keep the guys we had here versus activating him.”
Krall said that he consulted with Reds owner Bob Castellini in making the decision, who agreed with Krall it was best to part ways with Candelario.
At the same time, Krall said that bringing in new and promising talent to the team, such as pitcher Chase Burns, is helping the organization to chart a new path forward into the future.
“This is a statement of intent. I think bringing Chase Burns is a statement of intent,” Krall said. “We want to win games. We felt these are the moves that gives us the best chance to win games and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
In removing Candelario from the roster halfway through his contract, he is still owned approximately $22.5 million from the Reds. This marks the most money that the team has ever had to pay out for a defunct player.
Reds manager Terry Francona said that Candelario was likely to see more limited playing time on the field even if the contract wasn’t canceled.
“Before he got hurt, he had lost a little playing time and he was having a tough time with that,” Francona said. “Coming back now, there wasn’t an avenue for playing him every day.”
In the infield, Reds first baseman Spencer Steer and third baseman Santiago Espinal have become fixtures of the team this season, with both having respectively played 77 and 73 games of the team’s 84 this season. Both have also put up more consistent stats in the process, including batting averages that are over twice as high as Candelario’s.