Cincinnati Reds go cheap again, lose Wade Miley on waivers to Chicago Cubs

I’m losing ways to describe just how unfathomably cheap the Cincinnati Reds are, have been, and continue to be.

Just days after forfeiting the chance to shop Tucker Barnhart for anything of note, they’ve lost Wade Miley for absolutely nothing, too. The team announced on Friday afternoon that Miley had been claimed by the Chicago Cubs, but I’ll go ahead and link to the Cubs tweet because I’m about to do my best to forget the Reds exist on all platforms.

In effect, the Reds had chosen not to pick up Miley’s $10 million option for next year despite the fact that he pitched well enough in 2021 to likely pick up some down-ballot Cy Young Award votes. That meant they’d be on the hook for his $1 million buyout, so instead of doing that they exposed him to waivers in hopes someone who was willing to pay him the $10 million to pitch next year would claim him, and they’d be on the hook for nothing.

The Cubs claimed him. They’ll pay a good baseball player to play baseball, just like the Tigers were willing to pay Tucker Barnhart.

This franchise is embarrassing, and there are few other words to use to describe it.