Cincinnati Reds acquire OF Travis Jankowski from San Diego Padres

The Washington Nationals are not World Series champs, the St. Louis Cardinals have not made the playoffs, and the Cincinnati Reds don’t have a losing record.

That was so, so 2019, y’all. It’s officially 2020 season, baby.

The Reds kicked off the start of their Hot Stove season with...well, not exactly a bang, per se, but with a real, live transaction. They’ve acquired OF Travis Jankowski from the San Diego Padres in exchange for international spending cash, the team announced earlier on Twitter.

I can see your excitement. Feel it, even.

The reality is that Jankowski, 28, is a lefty-swinging bench bat, a career 76 OPS+ versatile defender in the OF who can capably make a few plays here and there without you saying ‘hey, he’s not a baseball player at all!’ The former 44th overall pick from the 2012 MLB Draft isn’t taking the job of any Red currently on the roster, I wouldn’t wager, and considering he’s out of options, I wouldn’t even be surprised to see the Reds try to pass him through waivers when the time comes later this winter to add players to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

If that ends up happening, you could certainly do worse having Jankowski around as depth/insurance at the AAA level. He’s hit a respectable .324 with a .406 OBP in 547 career PA at the AAA level, after all, even though that obviously hasn’t translated to the big league level at all.

For now, just be glad it’s transaction season again, if you’re into that thing, or at least know that the Reds record is 0-0 instead of [insert number here] games under .500.