Reds receive 2 players for Cingrani

CINCINNATI -- Just before Monday's 4 p.m. ET non-waiver Trade Deadline passed, the Reds executed one trade by sending lefty reliever Tony Cingrani to the Dodgers for Minor Leaguers Scott Van Slyke and Hendrik Clementina. 
Cingrani, who is making $1.825 million this season, has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining. He became expendable this season as rookie left-hander Wandy Peralta emerged as a more dependable option in the late innings. Van Slyke, an outfielder and infielder, will report to Triple-A Louisville. Clementina, a catcher, will report to Rookie-level Billings.
"We got a young prospect we like in Clementina that fills a need for us at the lower levels that we think has pretty good upside," Reds general manager Dick Williams said. "Also, it opens up a spot in our bullpen going forward to look at some guys and get a deeper analysis on some of the guys we've got internally as to whether or not they'll factor into our bullpen going forward."
In 25 games this season, Cingrani had a 5.40 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP while pitching 23 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old was on the disabled list from April 21-June 6 with a right oblique strain.
While Cingrani was out, Peralta flourished, and when Cingrani returned, he floundered after initially looking good on the mound. In Cingrani's last 20 games, covering 18 2/3 innings, he had a 6.27 ERA with eight home runs allowed.
Cingrani was a third-round pick of the Reds in 2011 and reached the Major Leagues by '12. In '13, he was viewed as a promising young starting pitcher until shoulder injuries and struggles prompted a move to the bullpen in '15.
One hindrance for Cingrani is he is essentially a one-pitch pitcher and almost exclusively uses his fastball. But he has an excellent pickoff move when runners get on first base.
A move to replace Cingrani on the 25-man roster will be announced on Tuesday before the Reds open a series at Pittsburgh, Williams said. At some point, he did not rule out giving looks in the bullpen to some of the organization's young starting pitchers that didn't fare well in previous call-ups. Some of those include Amir Garrett, Rookie Davis and Cody Reed.
"It's something we've considered over the last couple of months," Williams said. "Our goal is to get these guys to continue to develop. For some of them, it might mean continued time at Triple-A. For some of them, the innings may be there in the bullpen."
Van Slyke, 31, is making $1.33 million this season and has bounced between the Major Leagues and Minors since 2012. Over 355 big league games in six seasons, he's a .242/.326/.417 hitter with 29 home runs and 55 RBIs.
"He's a guy that can play the corners on the infield. He can play the outfield," Williams said. "He can move around a little bit. He's somewhat a complement to the bench guys we have now available to us in the Major Leagues and on options."
Van Slyke is batting .122 in 29 games over multiple stints in 2017. At Triple-A Oklahoma City, he's batting .242/.332/.390 with five homers and 20 RBIs over 55 games. He is the son of former Major Leaguer Andy Van Slyke.
Clementina, 20, hails from Curacao and is in his fourth year of playing at the Rookie level. He is batting .370 in 24 games for Ogden.
For the Reds, this was poised to be a somewhat quiet Trade Deadline. Their two biggest trade chips, All-Star shortstop Zack Cozart and starting pitcher Scott Feldman, are both currently on the disabled list.
"Less attention was paid to transactions involving those two given their DL status. We were busy working on other deals," Williams said. "We were working on a number of different scenarios into today that involved other players."
Williams did not specify which players were involved. He also did not rule out a potential trade in August, although any player dealt after July 31 must first clear waivers.