Cincinnati Reds designate Jeimer Candelario for assignment
That’s it for the veteran infielder in a Reds uniform.
Despite a presumptive glut of corner infield options on the roster and in the upper minors of their system, the Cincinnati Reds sprung to sign Jeimer Candelario to a 3-year, $45 million deal prior to the start of the 2024 season.
That deal was a colossal failure.
Candelario accrued a combined -1.6 bWAR - that’s negative one point six - in 134 games played for the Reds across the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and that’s the precise number of games he’ll ever play for the club. That became reality on Monday afternoon when the Reds designated the veteran for assignment.
The #Reds today activated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment IF Jeimer Candelario.
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 23, 2025
He’ll go unclaimed given that hefty salary, meaning the Reds will ultimately watch him wade back into free agency while still owing him the remainder of his $16 million salary this year as well as the $13 million he’s owed next year - and, presumably, they’ll own the $3 million buyout on his 2027 option, too.
For a club that’s so hell-bent on being spendthrift, this marks yet another ‘big’ money deal (for them) that they’ve had to eat early. They dealt with an eerily similar situation with Mike Moustakas a few years back shortly after they were forced to eat the contract due to Shogo Akiyama, too. It’s a stain on the front office’s decision making, for sure, something that has otherwise been decent-enough with their draft decisions and trade decisions (for the most part).
It’s also a bold move to make this call now. Candelario had been sidelined for weeks with a back issue that wasn’t close to getting any better, and they’d removed him from his rehab stint over the weekend - surely in preparation for today’s news, I’d wager. Instead of letting him work his way back to health and, in theory, show the baseball world he could maybe again be worth some of the salary owed him, the Reds chose to move on completely over a month before this year’s trade deadline.
Perhaps that’s an indication that they’re satisfied with the work they’re getting from the gaggle of Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Gavin Lux, and Santiago Espinal at the corner infield positions. That said, Reds 3Bs this year have combined for just a .261 wOBA (4th worst) and 57 wRC+ (dead last) overall.
Maybe this is an indication that Noelvi Marte, who actually hit a bit before injuring his oblique, may be closer to a return than we’d envisioned. Otherwise, the Reds now have both a clear opening for better production and one fewer ‘established’ player in-house who could be capable of filling that from within.
Candelario’s Reds career wraps with him having hit just .207/.265/.394 in 554 PA, a 76 OPS+ that featured 22 dingers.