Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte among six added to Cincinnati Reds roster

The offseason transaction wagon has begun clunking down its usual winter road, and the administrative moves from each Major League Baseball team have been hitched to it. Today was a significant date in that regard, as it served as the deadline for MLB clubs to make additions to their 40-man rosters prior to the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.

To be short, today was the chance for clubs to pick which players they wanted to protect from other clubs, making sure that each of their eligible prospects won’t get plucked away by their rivals.

The Cincinnati Reds made sure to protect their best and brightest eligible players, adding each of Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Levi Stoudt, Ricky Karcher, Lyon Richardson, and Brandon Williamson to their 40-man roster, the club announced on Twitter.

Doing so, of course, came at the expense of several other veterans, as the club’s 40-man roster was full at the outset of the day. Making way for that prospect foursome were many notable names, including Aristides Aquino, Jeff Hoffman, Derek Law, Kyle Dowdy, Jared Solomon, and Art Warren.

After the moves, the Reds roster sits full at 40, meaning they’ve left themselves with no openings to add a player during the Rule 5 Draft. That doesn’t mean they can’t make moves after the Rule 5, of course, as roster restrictions will ease once that draft is completed, it simply means they’ve chosen to skip the chance to pluck a diamond in the rough from someone else’s farm system at the Winter Meetings in three weeks.

Welcome to the winter roster churn, folks!