Cincinnati Reds Acquire Left-Handed Reliever in Trade Deadline Deal with Oakland Athletics

The Cincinnati Reds made a move to bolster the bullpen on Monday, acquiring reliever Sam Moll from the Oakland Athletics.

The Cincinnati Reds made a move to bolster the bullpen on Monday, acquiring reliever Sam Moll in a deal with the Oakland Athletics.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

The Athletics traded Moll to Cincinnati on Monday in exchange for Joe Boyle, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

ANALYSIS
Moll has taken a notable step back this season from his 2022 campaign, putting up a 4.54 ERA and 1.41 WHIP across 37.2 innings. Moll's high strikeout rate could buy him a few high-leverage appearances with Cincinnati, but the 31-year-old lefty likely won't be the Reds' go-to arm late in games.

The 31-year-old Moll is in his fourth year in the big leagues with the A's and Reds. He debuted in 2017 but didn't appear in a big league game again until 2021.

Lifetime, he's 2-4 with a 4.13 ERA in 117 appearances.

Boyle is now the 22nd-ranked prospect in the A's organization. Here's a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

His fastball is still as high-octane as ever, averaging over 97 mph, with riding action to it, a pitch that would hit triple digits regularly in shorter relief stints for sure. His upper-80s slider with good power and tilt misses a ton of bats and he also has a slightly slower low-80s curve that can flash above-average at times.

As it’s been since his college days, finding the strike zone is the biggest question mark for the 6-foot-7 right-hander. Even without much deception in his delivery, it’s clear he’s going to rack up strikeouts at any level, but while he’s done a slightly better job on the walks front as a pro, it’s still very much a work in progress.

The Reds entered play on Monday as the leaders in the National League Central (by 0.5 games) while the A's were the worst team in baseball.

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