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Dateline: 1,209 Kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico
The Reds cleared three 40-man roster spots in the first three days of November.
Infielder Santiago Espinal and right handed relief pitcher Ian Gibaut were assigned outright to Louisville. Espinal will likely elect free agency. Gibaut missed most of the season with a right shoulder impingement which required surgery in August. Espinal, an All-Star for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022, was an important role player for the Reds the last two seasons.
Both players elected free agency.
The Reds traded outfielder Ryan Vilade to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations. The Reds claimed Vilade on waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals. He had a good offensive season, slashing .290/.378/.511 with 29 doubles, four triples and 17 home runs with 66 RBI. He was blocked by Rece Hinds, Blake Dunn and Wil Benson.
The spots are necessary to allow the Reds’ to protect, shortstop Edwin Arroyo, outfielder Hector Rodriguez and infielder Leo Balcazar from the Rule V draft. November 18 is the deadline for that decision.
On the coaching front, Brad Mills retired as one of Terry Francona’s two bench coaches. Mills retires after 42 seasons in professional baseball, 22 seasons as a Major League coach or manager. He had been on Francona's coaching staff for 18 seasons, including with Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Mills managed Houston from 2010-12. He played professionally from 1979-86, including parts of 4 seasons from 1980-83 with Montreal.
Mills and Francona have been friends since they were road roommates on the Arizona Wildcats baseball team. They were teammates in Montreal too.
Mills was a bench coach for Francona in Cleveland but left his staff in 2020 when Mills’ son Beau suffered the death of his son. Francona brought Mills back as his bench coach this season and shared duties with long time Reds coach Freddie Benevides.
“He knows what I’m thinking before I do,” Francona said often of Mills.
Mike Napoli will replace Mills on the Reds’ staff. Napoli was a late addition to the Reds’ staff. Francona managed Napoli in Cleveland. Napoli was a key player on the World Series team in 2016.
Napoli was a Major League Staff Assistant for five seasons (2020-24), Mike was a member of the Cubs major league coaching staff, the last 3 seasons as first base coach and the first 2 seasons as quality assurance coach. Napoli had a 12-year major league playing career, where he hit .246 (1,125-for-4,572) with 224 doubles, 267 homers and 744 RBI in 1,392 career games with the Angels, Rangers, Red Sox and Indians. He was named an A.L. All-Star in 2012 with the Rangers. Mike was a member of the 2013 World Champion Boston Red Sox and also reached the World Series with Texas in 2011 as well.
Reds’ third base coach the last seven seasons, JR House, took a job with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Reds’ chose Willie Harris to replace House.
Harris last season was the Manager at A-Daytona. From 2021-24 he was the Chicago Cubs’ third base coach. He spent the 2020 season as Cincinnati’s minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator. From 2018-19, Harris was the manager for Class AA Richmond in the Giants’ organization.
Harris also served as a manager during the 2019 Arizona Fall League season. He began his coaching career in 2016 as the hitting coach for Great Falls, a White Sox rookie affiliate. He spent the following season as the manager of the White Sox’ Class A affiliate in Winston-Salem.
Harris enjoyed a 12-year Major League playing career, with stops in Baltimore, Chicago White Sox, Boston, Atlanta, Washington, NY Mets, and Cincinnati (2012). He scored the lone run in the White Sox’ World Series-clinching victory at Houston in 2005.
House also coached the Reds’ catchers.
Bill Hasselman will take over that role on the staff.
Haselman has played professional baseball or coached for 35 seasons. He has spent the last 4 seasons in Angels organization, the last 2 seasons as minor league catching coordinator and previous 2 seasons as Angels Major League third base coach in 2023 and catching coach in 2022.
Also in 2022, he was acting manager for 2 games (0-2) against Houston and Miami while Phil Nevin was serving a suspension. From 2004-06, Bill was a member of Francona’s Red Sox coaching staff. He held various coaching positions at the Major League level with the Red Sox.
Haselman was a 13-year Major League veteran, compiled a .259 (416/1606) lifetime average with 47 home runs and 210 RBI with the Rangers, Mariners, Red Sox and Tigers primarily as a catcher.
