Cincinnati Reds designate Wil Myers for assignment

Shogo Akiyama. Mike Moustakas. The Wade Miley Option Experience™. Tommy Pham, and Tucker Barnhart. While the Cincinnati Reds have made a handful of deft moves over the last few seasons, it’s hard not to notice that the ones that have panned out the worst have come when they open up their pocketbooks the most.

That’s not to say that spending doesn’t get you anywhere in the game of baseball - it very, very much does. It just seems as though when you’re shopping at the bottom-end of the shelf, overpaying for what you find there turns out to be the norm more often than not. Such was the case with Wil Myers and the Reds, a sentence I’m typing using the past tense thanks to the team’s decision to activate him from the injured list today and designate him for assignment.

The Reds announced the move on Tuesday afternoon prior to their game against the Colorado Rockies.

Myers injury history is what allowed him to land in the lap of the Reds over the winter in the first pace, the former top prospect and 30-homer-smasher having had trouble staying healthy enough to produce over his final seasons with the San Diego Padres. That said, a small sample blitz of good work when he finally got healthy last season suggested that maybe, maybe the Reds and GABP could catch lightning in a bottle with him and - especially while Joey Votto rehabbed - he could provide a versatile bat for both the infield and outfield.

Injury and underperformance were all that followed, sadly. He hit just .189/.257/.283 across 141 PA before his back sent him to the injured list, and the Reds simply took off while he was out. Now, fitting him back into the lineup seemed virtually impossible, and with time ticking between now and the trade deadline, the idea of trading him and what remained of the $7.5 million guaranteed to him this year simply became unfathomable.

Best of luck to Wil, who genuinely looked ecstatic to be a part of what was around him while in the dugout during last night’s epic Votto game. At 32, he should still have a few taters left in him.