The Cincinnati Reds made make or break roster decisions with a pair of veterans over the past week, choosing to outright both right-hander Ian Gibaut and infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal off the 40-man roster and assign them to AAA Louisville.
Both Gibaut and Espinal, though, have enough service time as veterans to control their own destinies in these situations. Rather than accept those assignments, both elected to become free agents in search of big league opportunities.
The Enquirer’s Gordon
Wittenmyer had the details this morning on Espinal, while Gibaut’s decision was noted in the MLB.com transaction log on Friday.
It’s a common occurance this time of year as teams look to free up spots at the end of their roster for administrative purposes. Players on the 60-day IL who still have team control have to be returned to the 40-man after the World Series, for instance, and the Reds now have just 37 men on the 40-man to help accommodate those returns (of Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson, and Julian Aguiar, in particular).
It’s also a common occurance for veterans in similar situations as Espinal and Gibaut. Both are arbitration-eligible players again this winter, though both are coming off the kinds of 2025 seasons that wouldn’t really inspire a team to give them a raise on salaries already above league-minimum. In other words, both guys were firmly in the non-tender crosshairs, but the non-tender deadline is another three weeks away – waiting for those three weeks before cutting them loose wouldn’t free up the roster spots they’ll need before then.
So, the Reds went ahead and made it happen.
Of course, both players likely cleared waivers for similar reasons in that no team is going to claim them right now given their expected salary raises. Teams often try to pass guys like this through waivers at precisely this time because they know those 40-man spots are precious right now, though that occasionally means a guy who’s more fringe than teams realize will become available on waivers. Now, the Reds have a little bit more wiggle room to pounce on such a player should the chance arise.
As for Gibaut and Espinal, both have shown they’re capable big leaguers in smaller roles over the last few seasons, and their own expectation is that they’ll be able to land a big league deal to do so elsewhere, even if it’s now at a rate that’s below what their arbitration estimates were had the Reds kept them around through that process.
