Cincinnati Reds Rumors - Players likely to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft
The Cincinnati Reds are finally good enough that some of the players they left unprotected are likely to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft.
The surprise player that the Cincinnati Reds are likely to lose in the Rule 5 Draft is Pensacola shortstop, Zach Vincej. He had already won a minor league Gold Glove when he went to the Arizona Fall League. While there, he ended up making the All-AFL team as the DH.
The most likely landing spot for Vincej will be in the American League with a team that has an offensive shortstop. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles could both be interested. He may avoid going to either of them because they won’t want to keep a roster spot for him.
Another possibility is the always enterprising Oakland Athletics. Their everyday shortstop, Marcus Semien, has had trouble his entire career defensively. Oakland could use Vincej as a late inning replacement or even toy with the idea of moving Semien to second base.
The other position player that the Reds might lose is Chad Wallach. He was a top prospect at catcher when he came over from the Miami Marlins in the Mat Latos deal, but he has loss some offensive upside. Wallach’s abilities to get on base and play first make him attractive.
The Cincinnati Reds may also lose one or more pitchers in the Rule 5 Draft, despite adding four to the forty man roster.
Zach Weiss is incredibly attractive in the Rule 5 scenario. He injured his elbow and missed all of 2016 after looking MLB ready in 2015. That means one of two scenarios could be available to the team that takes him.
If Weiss’s injury is still significant, the team that drafted him can stash him on the 60-man roster. The biggest rule there is that he cannot go on the DL until nearly the end of spring training. That means he could have to outlast players that a team wants to keep and use in games.
If he is healthy, Weiss is likely ready to contribute. Weiss came out of UCLA as a reliever and continued in that mold as he struck out 12 per 9 innings in 2015. Anything vaguely resembling that and he can be a short reliever for an MLB team.
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The Reds are counting on Weiss being healthy enough to avoid the DL, but not ready to contribute. About the only way Weiss stays a Red is a lack of roster space. Vincej, unfortunately, may be as good as gone.
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