Reds claim Patrick Kivlehan off waivers

It appears the Cincinnati Reds are seriously serious about knocking the St. Louis Cardinals out of the NL playoff race, as they've claimed IF/OF/AF/EF/UF Patrick Kivlehan after he was placed on waivers by the San Diego Padres.

The Reds have claimed off waivers from the Padres IF/OF Patrick Kivlehan and transferred to the 60-day DL Zack Cozart (right knee).

— Reds Media Relations (@RedsPR) September 28, 2016

Perhaps the Reds have discovered the new, double-secret market inefficiency:  claiming players off waivers from the Padres and turning them into productive major leaguers.  It's how they nabbed Dan Straily back in March - that's 4.2 bWAR in 2016 Dan Straily, mind you - and it's also how they landed the versatile arm of Keyvius Sampson in January of 2015.  Or, perhaps this is just a training run for Dick Williams to make a transaction official before Walt Jocketty officially hands over day to day duties in the team's front office.

For the moment, however, the Reds will have the versatile services of Kivlehan at their disposal, something that they seemingly desired after injuries to Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart thinned the position player portion of their roster. Kivlehan, 26, has flashed some power through the minors (albeit mostly in the extreme hitter-friendly environments of the A+ Cali League and AAA Pacific Coast League), and has spent time at all OF spots and both corner IF spots along that path.

The former 4th round pick of the Seattle Mariners was once part of the trade that sent Leonys Martin to the Texas Rangers, was then part of a trade sending him back to the Mariners from Texas, and was selected off waivers from the Mariners by the Padres just seven weeks ago.  He'll take the current 40-man roster spot vacated by Cozart, though that's just a pair of formalities at this point since all members of the roster on the 60-day DL must be placed back on the roster or placed on waivers within days of the end of the season, and that, lest we forget, is just five days away.  Considering Cozart, Devin Mesoraco, and Yorman Rodriguez (maybe) will be taking up 3 of those 40 spots and a slew of Rule 5 eligible players must be added to the roster to protect them from being pilfered, it's not likely that Kivlehan will be rostered long term.

It's an odd move, but it's a Reds move nonetheless.  Here's to hoping he can freak a dinger or two against St. Louis in the coming days and put the final touches on ending their season on Sunday as well.