Reds Could Look Into Upgrade at Utility Man Position

Reds Should Move On from Utility Man Santiago Espinal

Espinal’s Contract

First things first, demoting Espinal to Triple-A is not an option for the Reds, as he has zero options remaining. He is entering his final year of arbitration and will be a free agent following the 2026 season.

At 30 years old, and the production he’s provided, it would be difficult to see him receive a contract larger than the $2.5 million mark he signed for last season during arbitration.

Espinal’s Defensive Roles

Espinal’s role on the team is purely a bench utility man. In 2025, here’s how many games he played at each position:

1B: 3 (2 starts) / -1 DRS

2B: 19 (14 starts) / -1 DRS

3B: 75 (50 starts) / 0 DRS

SS: 2 (0 starts) / 0 DRS

LF: 10 (4 starts) / 0 DRS

RF: 6 (5 starts) / 0 DRS

Not only was he able to handle these positions, he was also about league average at every single one of them in Defensive Runs Saved.

Offensive Production (or Lack Thereof)

Espinal suffered the worst season of his career in 2025 with a .575 OPS,  57 OPS+, and a -1.4 bWAR. All three of these are career lows.

He laced the cleats for 114 games and had 328 plate appearances, which are both basically on par with his career average. While he was never much of a power-hitting threat, he frustratingly had no home runs all season after popping nine over the fence in 2024.

It was the first full season in Espinal’s career where he had no home runs (0 HRs in 26 G – 2020). Subsequently, he posted his lowest slugging percentage of his career at .282.

It’s easy to harp on a bench piece for struggling at the plate, but Espinal’s performance was simply hurting the team. Speed, another important aspect on every MLB bench, was a non-factor in Espinal’s game as well. He stole just two bases while getting caught once, essentially a non-threat on the base-paths.

This was following a 2024 season that saw him steal 11 bases, getting caught just twice. The problem wasn’t his sprint speed, as it was 27.3 feet per second in 2024 and 27.1 feet per second in 2025. Technically, he was slower in 2025, but it is by such a small amount that it is a negligible difference.

Where Espinal’s Value Comes From

Through the storm of negatives, Espinal does have one clear-cut strength: plate discipline. In 2025, he had a 23.9 Chase%, 14.1 Whiff%, and 11.6 K%, all among the top of the league. However, these metrics did not result in a high walk rate (6.4 BB%) as pitchers will simply attack the zone since he is not an offensive threat.

These metrics also come with the caveat that Espinal does not make quality contact whatsoever when he does hit the ball. His 25.7 Hard-Hit% and 86.5 Average Exit Velocity are both at the bottom of the league.

Espinal does not chase and does not strike out, but he does not turn that into anything positive other than weak putouts in play. As a bench piece, though, this can still come in handy during late-game situations when there is a “move him over/get him in” situation, where there is a runner in scoring position that a ground ball or fly ball can allow them to advance/score.

Decision Time for the Reds

It might be quite difficult to shop Espinal on the trade market as they would likely get nothing noteworthy in return, but the Reds should still look to cut ties one way or another.

The infield is filled to the brim, and there are many young, highly touted infield prospects brewing in the minor leagues.

As discussed, Espinal is productive in one very specific situation.

These situations, however, are so rare in the grand scheme of a 162-game season that it begs the question of whether a team would be willing to make around $2 million for this one micro area of the game, when they can easily find better all-around bench pieces at the same price, if not even cheaper.