TORONTO – On the final day of the Cincinnati Reds season at Rogers Centre in Toronto, veteran catcher Tyler Stephenson had the day off and a flood of thoughts.
“Bittersweet,” he said, looking around the room and measuring words against the emotions.
If anything a sense of dejá vu hit the veteran catcher as he contemplated – for the second time this year – his final day in a Reds uniform after seven big-league seasons and after more than 11 years overall since the Reds drafted him 11th overall in 2015.
“I feel like I’ve already said goodbye in a sense from all the deadline stuff,” said Stephenson, who shared an emotional farewell to fans and the city on the eve of an Aug. 3 trade deadline that seemed certain to ship him to a contender.
“I’m kind
of going through all those emotions again. It’s not as emotional this time around, just because I have more peace with everything.
“It’s a weird feeling.”
Could it get even weirder? Is it possible Stephenson returns to the Reds on a free-agent deal?
Stranger things have happened with him, just in the past two months.
Stephenson is a free agent in the market for a deal during a winter rife with labor uncertainty. Some say he’s one of the top two free-agent catchers in the market.
The Reds are in the market for a catcher, their big-league in-house options down to Jose Trevino and rookie Will Banfield, with top prospect Alfredo Duno awaiting a possible 2027 big-league debut after a decorated minor-league season that finished at Double-A Chattanooga.
“We’ve just got to figure out where we are going into the offseason,” Reds president Nick Krall said, giving no specifics but ruling out nothing. “He’s a great teammate, great clubhouse guy. I wouldn’t be able to say enough good things about Tyler as a person.”
The sides haven’t talked about an extension since spring training 2025. Stephenson made $6.8 million this year after winning an arbitration hearing.
“I think everybody knows that this place is really special to me,” he said. “I’m not saying no. I would definitely be open to it if it makes sense for both sides. We’ll see what happens.”
With a labor lockout all but certain to start when the current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, the Reds aren’t likely to move in the free-agent market during the weeks leading up to the lockout – making their potential for improving a vastly flawed roster subject to some unpredictable marketplace at some undetermined time of labor resolution next year.
Would pursuing a known player in such an area of need make sense for the Reds if Stephenson were to accept maybe a shorter term deal as a bridge to Duno?
Would it make any sense for Stephenson to forgo the long game this winter for more up-front certainty in a fraught marketplace, assuming another team doesn’t pursue him more aggressively in November?
He said he talked briefly a couple seasons ago about the fact his free agency landed in a winter of labor uncertainty and isn’t sure now how that will impact his market or his choices.
Part of him admittedly wants to see what a first crack at free agency looks like, regardless.
“I would love to stay here, but I also have made it six years to obviously earn that opportunity to be a free agent, whether I sign here or elsewhere,” said Stephenson, who also has served as the Reds’ union rep. “I’m not saying no to anything.”
Stephenson, an above-average hitting catcher in his career who has been criticized at times for defense, got off to a slow start this year before hitting .272 with 11 homers and an .808 OPS over his final 80 games. That included a torrid July leading up to the go-nowhere trade deadline.
His overall numbers this year: .241, 15 home runs, .727 OPS in 130 games.
When it comes to a possible return with the Reds, that ball’s in the team’s court as Stephenson prepares for the open market.
“I love this group of guys, and I love this city and this organization,” he said. “We’ll wait and see.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Could Reds try to fill catching need by signing ... Tyler Stephenson?
