Cincinnati Reds Lose Long-Time Outfielder to Free Agency

TJ Friedl’s Cincinnati Reds tenure is ending the way so many long organizational stories do: not with a clean break, but with paperwork.

The Cincinnati outfielder was designated for assignment on Sept. 20 to open a 40-man roster spot after the Reds placed pitcher Chase Burns on the injured list and selected Carson Spiers from Triple-A Louisville.

Friedl, who has been on Cincinnati’s major-league roster picture since his debut in 2021, had enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency immediately. He did not.

He cleared waivers and accepted assignment to Louisville, a paper move that let him collect the remainder of his $3.8 million first-year arbitration salary.

When the minor-league season ended, that choice left him on a path toward minor-league free agency at year’s end, with a major-league non-tender widely expected.

Well, on Tuesday, Friedl did, in fact elect free agency, ending his tenure with the Reds, via the MiLB transaction log. He now becomes available to any club that wants a left-handed outfielder on a short-term deal.

The fall from everyday center fielder to roster casualty was steep.

Friedl signed with the Reds as an undrafted free agent in 2016, reached the majors on Sept. 18, 2021, and homered for his first big-league hit the next day.

By 2023, he was a leadoff fixture, hitting .279 with 18 home runs and drawing down-ballot MVP attention. In 2025 he still posted a .364 on-base percentage over 152 games.

In 2026, the bat disappeared: .172/.255/.255 with four homers and 13 RBI in 91 games. Speed and center-field range receded with them. Cincinnati optioned him in June, recalled him later that month, tried to move his salary on waivers in August, and finally took him off the 40-man.

Career numbers still read like a useful player: .246 average, 58 home runs, 214 RBI, 60 stolen bases in six seasons, all with Cincinnati. At 31, that résumé is now a winter audition tape.

Teams looking for a cheap left-handed bat and outfield depth will see the 2023–25 version and bet the 2026 collapse was an outlier. The Reds could even bring him back on a minor-league contract.

Familiarity is real. So is the arbitration raise he would have been owed if they tendered him.

For a player who spent a decade in one organization, the next uniform will be the first one that isn’t red. Friedl did not sprint into free agency last week. He took the last paycheck first. The open market is coming anyway.