Eugenio Suárez, TJ Friedl Clear Waivers, Will Remain With Reds

Slugger Eugenio Suárez and outfielder TJ Friedl both went unclaimed on outright waivers and will remain with the Reds, reports Charlie Goldsmith of FOX 19. They’re expected to be with the club for Friday’s game at Wrigley Field, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic adds. Cincinnati placed both veterans on outright waivers Tuesday, hoping that another club would place a claim ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline for postseason eligibility — thereby saving the Reds some cash on the pair’s remaining salary. Suárez is still owed about $2.57MM of his $15MM salary. Friedl is still owed about $633K of his $3.8MM arbitration salary. It’s not a major surprise that either player went unclaimed. Neither has had a particularly productive season. Suárez, of course, is a big name and was a high-profile signing for the Reds this past offseason, but he’s batting just .208/.295/.410 on the season — about 9% worse than average, by measure of wRC+. He’s popped 19 homers in 410 plate appearances and drawn walks at an even 10% clip, but Suárez is also 35 years old and has gone down on strikes in 34.9% of his plate appearances. His days as a serviceable third baseman are behind him, too; despite logging only 315 innings at the hot corner this season, he’s received well below-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved (-5) and Outs Above Average (-7). Friedl’s season has been even worse. He’s played a strong center field this year (5 DRS and OAA alike in only 433 innings) but is mired in an awful 1-for-34 slump that has dropped his already poor batting line to a disastrous .158/.242/.234 through 253 plate appearances. He’d be in line for a modest arbitration raise, probably only a bit north of $4MM, but the Reds will have to give strong consideration to non-tendering the 31-year-old, who’s under club control through the 2028 season. There’s nothing stopping the Reds from placing this duo — or anyone else on the roster — on waivers in a couple days to see if anyone has a change of heart prior to the postseason eligibility deadline. Neither is likely to be claimed, but perhaps if the notoriously streaky Suárez has a hot start to his series in Chicago, a club would rethink it when the remaining commitment is a bit lighter. Suárez did hit a grand slam yesterday, and by Aug. 31 the remaining commitment on his salary would dip slightly, to $2.24MM. In all likelihood, however, Suárez and Friedl will finish out the season with the Reds, who’ll have some decisions to make on the pair’s future. Suárez’s one-year contract has a $16MM mutual option that bizarrely has no buyout on it. Mutual options tend to be used purely as accounting measures — a mechanism of pushing a portion of one year’s salary onto the next year’s books in the form of a buyout. It’s been 12 years since a mutual option was exercised by both parties (Aramis Ramirez, Brewers). The lack of a buyout might have signaled that the two were open to a swift resolution if Suárez had enjoyed a productive season in his return tour with Cincinnati, but it’s hard to imagine the perennially low-payroll Reds will want to lock him in at $16MM after the season he’s had. Friedl, as mentioned, stands as a clear non-tender candidate. The Reds aren’t exactly flush with outfield alternatives, but they have JJ Bleday, Dane Myers and Hector Rodriguez all on the big league roster at the moment and can explore further additions in the offseason. If the Reds are hoping to trim some money off the books, they still have a few options they could consider. Relievers Emilio Pagán, Brock Burke and Pierce Johnson can all become free agents at season’s end and thus all make sense as possible waiver dumps. Pagán has a $10MM player option, however, which might scare off interested parties despite the fact that he’s pitched quite well since returning from the injured list last month (2.08 ERA, 22-to-3 K/BB in 17 1/3 innings since July 1). Catcher Tyler Stephenson and starter Brady Singer are also free agents at season’s end who, rather curiously, were not traded at the deadline.