Cincinnati Reds Should Non-Tender Santiago Espinal To Maintain Flexibility in Free Agency

Espinal could be non-tendered by the Reds to open up payroll flexibility

Sep 19, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds second baseman Santiago Espinal (4) during the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Cincinnati Reds are going to be busy this offseason. The roster needs a bit of retooling in order to get into playoff shape for new manager Terry Francona. The first stop is dealing with arbitration-eligible players.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Santiago Espinal is going to make somewhere around $4 million next year through arbitration. They also believe that makes him a cut-and-dry non-tender candidate for the Reds. I agree.

It is conceivable that the Reds could approach the franchise record number of $125 million for their total payroll in 2025. Maximizing the amount of money spent on new additions should be the goal.

If this move were coupled with the possible non-tender of Ty France, the Reds' payroll for 2025 would sit around $60 million. Much of the goal with the offseason is about maximizing talent for the next season compared to the money it will cost. There aren’t a lot of cases where teams pay players next year for the contributions they made in the previous season.

Espinal seemingly helped the Reds out in a big way in 2024. He had a very nice stretch of production at the plate for a little over a month after the All-Star break. He was overall just an average player outside of that stretch.

Espinal had -0.4 bWAR for 2024 and an OPS+ of 77. Another way to say that is he was 23% worse than the league average hitter. His numbers were practically identical to what they were in Toronto. The Blue Jays got rid of him, the Reds should follow suit this offseason.

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