Goodwin, Bradley non-tendered by Reds

CINCINNATI -- Most non-tender deadlines come and go without major roster shifts. But like everything else in 2020, that wasn't the case on Wednesday, as the Reds did not offer contracts to five players.

Cincinnati declined to tender contracts to outfielder Brian Goodwin, reliever Archie Bradley, infielder/outfielder Kyle Farmer, catcher Curt Casali and reliever R.J. Alaniz.

Cincinnati now has 31 players on its 40-man roster.

? Full list of non-tendered players

“I think circumstances are always shifting -- I think just with people and budgets and where you are -- but I think at the end of the day, we felt that non-tendering guys and clearing up some space, with where we were, was just the right move for us," Reds general manager Nick Krall said. "Just because we non-tendered guys doesn’t eliminate bringing those guys back either.”

That quickly proved to be the case. About 20 minutes after the deadline, the Reds re-signed Farmer to a one-year Major League contract. The terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Goodwin, 30, had a brief tenure in Cincinnati after he was acquired from the Angels at the 2020 Trade Deadline in exchange for Minor League pitchers Packy Naughton and José Salvador.

In his 20 games for the Reds, Goodwin batted .163 with two home runs. In 50 games total in 2020, he hit .215 with four homers. When the trade was made, the Reds were looking for added offense and another center fielder while Nick Senzel was injured.

Goodwin was in his second year of arbitration eligibility and would have likely gotten a bump from his $2.2 million salary in 2020. In addition to Senzel, the club has Shogo Akiyama, Jesse Winker, Nick Castellanos and Aristides Aquino among their big league outfield options.

Bradley, 28, was acquired the same day as Goodwin and had a 1.17 ERA in six games as a setup man. The former Arizona closer had a 2.95 ERA and six saves overall last season.

Krall had no regrets about trading for the players despite their short stays.

“I think we needed to make both moves when we did just to make a playoff run last year,” Krall said. “We had Senzel that got sick. We had some dings in our bullpen as well. I think we needed to make those moves and make a playoff run. They helped us get there.”

Perhaps the toughest move was moving on from Casali, a clubhouse leader known for working well with the pitchers. Although his $1.46 million salary wasn’t a budget-buster, Cincinnati has Tucker Barnhart under contract for 2021, and its top catching prospect -- Tyler Stephenson -- is expected to be ready for the big leagues after a good showing during his brief opportunities in ‘20. Like Stephenson, Casali is a right-handed hitter.

Casali, 32, batted .260/.345/.440 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 167 games over three seasons with the Reds, while Stephenson was 5-for-17 with two homers during his first big league action.

“Tyler really came into his own last year,” Krall said. “He did a good job offensively in the limited playing time, but he also did a good job of working with the staff, learning and growing into that role. One of the benefits we had this year that I don’t think a lot of guys saw was being able to take him on the road and letting him sit in the game-planning sessions, letting him learn from the big league catchers, pitching coaches, the pitchers and working through the game-planning stuff -- which you don’t always get a chance to do when you’re at Triple-A and work with big-league pitchers.”

Farmer, 30, has become a versatile and valuable utility player. He played every infield position as well as catcher and left field in 2020 while batting .266 in 32 games. He became even more helpful to manager David Bell when he showed he could play shortstop at a high level.

Alaniz, 29, could also return under a different deal. A 2019 waiver claim from the Mariners, he pitched eight games last season and was at the club’s alternate training site this past season.