Reds add Kyle Waldrop, Amir Garrett to 40-man roster

Today is the deadline for MLB teams to add players to their 40-man rosters to keep them off-limits for the upcoming Rule 5 draft, and the Cincinnati Reds added OF Kyle Waldrop and P Amir Garrett to bring their roster to a full 40 players.

The Reds have selected the contracts of LHP @Amir_Garrett and OF @K_Wally15. The 40-man roster is now at 40 heading into the Rule 5 Draft.

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) November 20, 2014

Waldrop mashed his way through Bakersfield, Pensacola, and the Arizona Fall League this year, and the Reds 12th round pick from the 2010 draft will see his name listed with the likes of Joey Votto and Jay Bruce for the first time on the same week as his 23rd birthday.  After hitting .338/.385/.516 with 14 dingers and 37 doubles in 2014, it's no surprise that the Reds chose to keep his talented lefty bat protected for the future.  Depending upon the OF depth acquired this winter (and potentially lost in the Rule 5 draft), Waldrop will likely spend the bulk of his 2015 in Louisville, though he'll probably begin the season bashing moonballs in Pensacola for a month or so.

Garrett's an interesting case, as the Reds 22nd round pick of the 2011 draft has spent the better part of the last three years splitting time between baseball and college basketball, first with St. John's and later with Cal-State Northridge.  The hard-thrower eventually chose to focus on baseball, however, and as a LHP who can routinely crank it up in the high 90's, keeping him in the organization was a no-brainer for Walt Jocketty and the rest of the Cincinnati brass.  After starting 27 games for the Dayton Dragons and putting up a 3.64 ERA and 8.6 K/9 in 133.1 innings, in 2014, Garrett will likely be looking at starting the 2015 season in Daytona with a fast-track to Pensacola in his sights.

It's also worth noting that with a now full 40-man roster, the Reds aren't likely to be selecting anyone in the upcoming Rule 5 draft, though stranger things have certainly happened before.