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Indians manager Terry Francona announced this morning that Cleveland has traded a veteran infielder Mike Freeman to the reds (Twitter link via Mandy Bell from MLB.com). Cincinnati sent money to Cleveland to complete the minor exchange, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. Freeman was at camp with Cleveland as a non-roster guest, so he won’t be on Cincinnati’s 40-player roster at this time.
Freeman, 33, has spent the last two seasons in Cleveland, working as a utility and posting a combined .270 / .352 / .377 hitting line across 256 trips to plate. He spent time in all four spots on the pitch and in the two outside corners during that time, although most of his work came as a second baseman and third baseman. Freeman doesn’t offer much power and has a fairly limited record in MLB, but he’s a career .304 / .369 / .418 hitter with quality take-out and walk rates in parts of six Triple- seasons. AT.
Freeman was vying for a spot on the bench at Cleveland, and he will give the Reds another option as they try to determine who will have some shortstop playing time this year. He has 1901 career innings in the position between the minors and the big leagues, although he hasn’t played there on a semi-regular basis since his run in 2018 with the Cubs affiliate Triple-A.
Still, Freeman at the very least gives the Reds a possible bench option that can handle the job. At the moment, the favorites for shortstop playing time appear to be Kyle farmer, Kyle Holder and unregistered veteran Dee Strange-Gordon. In the long run, the hope is that the best prospect Jose garcia can handle the place, but the 22-year-old looked overwhelmed when he first glimpsed MLB action last year, hitting just .194 / .206 / .194 in 68 appearances on the board.
In Cleveland, Freeman’s departure gives some clarity to the mix on the pitch. Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario are in contention to start the reps at shortstop, and if Gimenez wins, that would apparently push Rosario into an on-field / off-field role off the bench. Yu chang could join it as a utility piece on the bench. If the club decide to send Gimenez to the miners to start the year, Rosario would likely take the reins in the short term, with Chang serving as the main replacement in the infield.
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