Cincinnati Reds Have A Mess In Left Field That Keeps Getting Worse

This time last year, the plan was for Marlon Byrd to play left field for the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 season and share it with Jesse Winker in 2016, all the while contending for a playoff berth. Things didn’t work out quite the way the Reds planned. 2015 was a disaster of a season. Winker spent all of 2015 in Double-A and the Reds surprisingly traded Byrd on Aug. 20. With Winker still not ready and Byrd gone, the Reds have a mess in left field.

Heading into the winter meetings, the Reds had Adam Duvall penciled into left, having acquired him in the Mike Leake deal. The Reds were hoping to trade Jay Bruce so that Yorman Rodriguez could slide into right field. During the Rule 5 draft, the Reds drafted Jake Cave from the New York Yankees and named him Duvall’s platoon partner. Since the winter meetings, the Reds have not been able to move Bruce. That left three people in one position, but it got worse.

The Reds moved Todd Frazier for Jose Peraza, thinking that Brandon Phillips would accept a trade to a winner. Two blocked deals later and someone (Peraza, Phillips, Eugenio Suarez) will need to find themselves at-bats in left and/or at short. Maybe they should go out and sign Byrd. It can’t get much more crowded than this. Not only is the position becoming more convoluted, but it will hamper the development of Duvall and Cave, the intended left fielders for 2016.

The solution is simple, yet ugly.  The Reds need to inform Phillips that he will be spending the majority of his season as the Reds’ starting left fielder. This will get Phillips to agree to a deal. He is closing in on Hall of Fame numbers as a second baseman, but if he doesn’t finish out his current contract at second he will never make it.

That will clear one man out of the mix. The other solution is to let Cave step in for Billy Hamilton in center from time to time. That will allow Rodriguez more time in left. Rodriguez can also spell Bruce in right more frequently than in the past. That will allow the Reds to see what they have in Duvall and Cave.

With the acquisition of Scott Schebler in the Frazier deal, the only thing that could make this worse is if he had a great spring. Schebler and Winker can make a great Triple-A outfield in 2016 and see who falls out before 2017. The Reds need the year to clean up the mess in left.