Reds sign Curt Casali to 1y deal, DFA Moustakas

[RedTeamGo!]

Don’t understand the rush to dump Moose. They can DFA him any time they want and it’s a long time till next spring. You never know if the market will change. This just guarantees a $22M loss.

He’s cooked.

If they kept him he would just be taking ABs away from younger players who may have a future.

[Coopdaddy67]

Don’t understand the rush to dump Moose. They can DFA him any time they want and it’s a long time till next spring. You never know if the market will change. This just guarantees a $22M loss.

The were always going to release him after the end of the season, it was only a question of when.

Nobody was taking that contract and the Reds couldn't keep him on the roster as a bench player. That would have been bad for everybody involved.

[Ron Madden]

From C. Trent Rosecrans

C. Trent Rosecrans
@ctrent

Curt Casali is back and the Reds DFA Mike Moustakas. Busy day in Redsland

3 catchers is not unheard of in the day and age of the 26-man roster (especially with a cap on pitchers). Catchers get hurt. Tyler Stephenson will still catch. But he'll also DH and play 1B more. His bat will be in the lineup more.

And when there are injuries — and there are almost always catcher injuries — the Reds are better prepared with replacements. They don't have a young catcher that is big-league ready yet, so need to bridge the gap with older ones.

And in Casali, you get someone that has built-in trust and respect from many of the players, but also the coaching staff. He knows his way around, he has a seamless transition.

Casali is also a guy who understands and accepts his role. He has worked with Stephenson (and Derek Johnson and JR House) before, as well as with Luke Maile. The two came up together with the Rays and are close friends.

When asked if there was more room in the budget for further acquisitions, #Reds GM Nick Krall said they'd "have to get creative" which is a way of saying not unless someone takes more money off of their books

Krall also said Wil Myers would "mostly" be in RF

[westofyou]

Nice day to be a Moose. $22M to do... nothing.

He was already doing that too

[Wayne Krivsky]

Had to open up a 40-man spot for Casali.

Plus sometimes you have to do right by the player. We are under 100 days out from opening day. If Moose is going to find team to give him a real chance at making a team or even a chance to start somewhere the Reds should give him a head start on the hunt. As trivial as it seems it's the right thing to do. Stay on good terms with your former players and let future FAs know you can be human. The Reds have a ton of bad PR to make up for, this is a small step in the right direction.

[westofyou]

Don’t understand the rush to dump Moose. They can DFA him any time they want and it’s a long time till next spring. You never know if the market will change. This just guarantees a $22M loss.

He's done though.

Moose's top three comps are Todd Frazier, Ty Wigginton and Tony Batista. All three were done at his age, seems only natural that he is too

[CmdrCody]

Finally a move that had to be done.
Like getting Casali back.
I’d feel bad for Moose if he wasn’t getting $22,000,000 this year for doing nothing.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Casali and Maile are solid backup catchers. They free the Reds to play Stephenson primarily at DH too. Myers gets the Reds to respectability offensively. As a RH hitter, he balances the lineup pretty nicely.

India 2B
Friedl/ Fairchild CF
Stephenson DH/ C
Votto 1B
Myers RF
Fraley LF
Steer 3B
Maile/ Casali OR Solak C/ DH
Barrero/ Newman 2B

IF Barrero finds his 2019/ 2021 minor league mojo (OR EDLC proves ready), AND IF Fraley/ Friedl/ Fairchild put up 2022 numbers pro-rated over full seasons (OR Senzel finally blossoms) AND IF Votto finds the fountain of youth again, the Reds could be a .500 team. IF Greene and Lodolo take that next step presaged by the end of 2022, they might even compete enough to consider adding talent at the Trading Deadline.

They still, IMO, need another starter and at least one reliever, but at least most of the heavy lifting is done.

It still doesn't excuse the rottenness of refusing to use welfare for its intended purpose, but it's a start.

[Tom Servo]

Moose deal just epically bad lmao

Yeah but I still applaud the effort from that time. As bad as it turned out a 4/64 deal like that still isn’t something that should hamper an organization unless they like pleading poverty like our org.

[missionhockey21]

I get the need to free up a spot on the roster, but I do think its telling they didn't even give Moose a chance to show anything in spring training.

Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that they should have, but I do think its telling they elected to do this now vs letting some of the flotsam we have drift away. I can't imagine the Reds were happy with his lack of conditioning, beyond just performance. Even Shogo got time in the spring to make them change their mind and that was for far less.

Glad that Casali is back though.

[Jaysland Red]

I guess this is what passes as a thrilling couple of days of transactions for Reds fans. Casali is a good pick up and, I know Moose had to go (good riddance) to make roster space, but surely the Reds could have eaten huge chunks of this and last year's Moose contract to trade him then rather than throw $22M away now? And this is a club that pleads poverty.

[chicoruiz]

A lesson here is that bad body guys usually don’t age well. I know you can think of exceptions, but as a general rule, if a guy looks more like a regular on your Tuesday night bowling team than an elite professional athlete, maybe investing heavily in his future isn’t a great idea.

[LeatherPants]

the Reds could be a .500 team. .

Getting into the eggnog a little early?

[Mitri]

Casali back means mth gets his Christmas prayer answered.

[NebraskaRed]

I can understand not being excited by today's moves (for what they are, I think they're good), but if you're upset by them because the Reds haven't gone out and spent like the Mets then you're going to be upset for quite some time.