Cincinnati Reds Listed as Fit For A's Bat at MLB Trade Deadline

The Cincinnati Reds are 56-52 entering play on Wednesday, and while they're 8.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central with the Chicago Cubs in between, the Reds are just three games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. If they were to claim that final postseason berth, the Reds would be set for a date with the New York Mets the way everything is laid out currently.

The Brewers (64-43) hold the best record in baseball, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers (63-45) and New York Mets (62-46) as the division-leaders, and the Cubs (62-45), Philadelphia Phillies (61-46) and San Diego Padres (59-49) rounding out the wild-card standings.

The Reds could use a right-handed bat with some versatility in order to help them climb into the postseason, and the A's may have just the fit for them in Miguel Andujar. It was recently reported that Andujar is drawing trade interest, and the Reds were listed as one of the teams that could use his bat, and his ability to play both third base and left field.

The Reds have been rolling with Gavin Lux against right-handed pitching, but he tends to sit against lefties. Andujar has been a bit of a lefty masher this season, going 19-for-45 (.422) against them with a pair of home runs. He has four home runs total on the year, so he has exhibited a great deal of power against southpaws by his standards.

Overall, Andujar held a 96 wRC+ (100 is league average) heading into Tuesday's game, and he went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles against the Seattle Mariners in that one. Against lefties, Andujar has a 187 wRC+ in his limited sample size. While he's not quite up to the level of Austin Hays (201) against lefties, he does rank seventh among all batters with at least 40 plate appearances against them.

He'd certainly give the Reds offense a boost down the stretch, and it could be enough of a boost to help them reach the postseason for the first time since 2020 when they lost two games to the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card round.

They also lost in the Wild Card round in 2013, their last time in the postseason since '20. The team owes it to the fans to make a bit of a push at the deadline, and Andujar's price tag isn't terribly high.

With the A's veteran set to become a free agent at the end of the season, they'll be inclined to move him in the next couple of days. The A's are after pitching, and it likely wouldn't take much to get this deal done. The A's could use bullpen help for 2026, and that may be the best way to maximize the return they get in this trade, being that relief arms are fairly interchangeable year-to-year.

Reds No. 19 prospect Luis Mey could be exactly what they're after. He's a hard-throwing bullpen arm that sat at 98 across his 14 1/3 big-league innings this season and also held a 55% ground ball rate. Given how the ball travels at Sutter Health Park when the wind is blowing, ground balls are an added bonus for A's pitchers.

The reason he could be available is that he also walked ten batters in those 14 1/3 innings and has exhibited issues with his control in his time in the minor leagues. Those tools, plus the fact that he has multiple options remaining would make him the perfect target for the A's. That could also be reaching just a touch higher than they'd be able to land for Andujar, but those are the tools that they'd be after.