Cincinnati Reds are proving to be a team of second chances

When you are rebuilding your team you must sometimes take chances on some players that may have previously stumbled with other teams.

That is exactly where the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in 2017.

Two perfect examples of this philosophy are former Tampa Ray OF Desmond Jennings and former Detroit Tiger Ryan Raburn, both whom the Reds have signed to minor league contracts with a Major League spring training invite.

Jennings was once a highly touted rookie for Tampa who ranked in the top 20 list of MLB prospects in both 2009 and even started in the 2010 All-Star Futures Game.

Unfortunately Jennings was never able to find his feet in the majors as was released from Tampa in August of 2016.

Desmond is the kind of player that could thrive in a change of scenery and moving from the American League to the National League.

Ryan Raburn, an 11 year MLB veteran, bring a career .253 average to Cincinnati with him to go along with 91 HRs and 352 RBI.  After struggling last season in Colorado Raburn is looking for a chance to continue his career and the Reds are happy to take a flyer on him.

Colorado can be a fickle place as a hitter.  Players that go there and play for several years tend to thrive due to the thin air, but on the flip side of that coin, some go there and attempt to change their game to become sluggers and take advantage of the great hitting environment.  It is worth a shot to see if Raburn can re-discover the form that lead him to a .301 batting average for 82 games in Cleveland just two years ago.

Neither of these guys may make a huge impact on the team, but both are worth a minor league look to help give the Reds some OF depth and gives them a veteran presence to help the young guys continue to learn and grow. 

Another veteran piece that Cincinnati has added is none other than former Red Bronson Arroyo.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not foolish enough to think that Bronson will come in and give the Reds 200+ innings or win double digit games but, more importantly, he will give them a veteran presence to help bring along some of the young core of a rotation with a bright future.

In 2013, which seems like forever ago, Arroyo was finishing off a stretch in which he gave the Reds 200 or more innings pitched in seven of eight seasons and the one year he didn’t reach that milestone he was just a single inning short.

One can only assume that he will not be called upon to handle such a heavy load this year if he does make the big league club out of spring training.  Instead, I believe he will mentor the likes of Amir Garrett, Robert Stephenson, Cody Reed, Luis Castillo and Lisalverto Bonilla.

With Homer Bailey starting the year on the DL while he recovers from surgery on his right elbow Arroyo could find himself as a bit of a player coach and getting his chance on the back-end of the pitching rotation for the first month of the season.  This could allow some of the young guys to either start in the bullpen or getting their time down in Louisville pitching in AAA until they are needed with the big club.

The Cincinnati Reds are not expected to compete for the National League Central pennant this year and likely will not threaten in the Wild Card standings for another season or two, but what they will do is play some great baseball in spurts and give their fans something to cheer for.