{"id":104464,"date":"2025-07-21T17:09:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=104464"},"modified":"2025-07-21T17:12:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:12:28","slug":"five-corner-infielders-reds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/21\/five-corner-infielders-reds\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Corner Infielders the Reds Should Target at the Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Reds<\/a> are in the midst of a postseason push for the second half. While the corner infield additions aren\u2019t necessary, more offense is always welcome.<\/p>\n

Five Corner Infielders the Reds Should Target at the Deadline<\/h2>\n

Third baseman Noelvi Martel has looked much better in 2025, and there have been rumors of him getting practice reps in right field. This may be a sign that the organization is looking at offensive reinforcements at the hot corner.<\/p>\n

With Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand\u2019s struggles this season, the club should be looking at first base additions as well.<\/p>\n

With that, let\u2019s look at five corner infielders the Reds should target at this season\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Josh Naylor – (1B) –\u00a0Dream Acquisition<\/em><\/h4>\n

In his first season down in Arizona<\/a>, Naylor has done nothing but continue to mash at the plate. In 90 games this season, he is slashing .292\/.361\/.452 for an .814 OPS and 126 OPS+. He has 11 home runs and a surprising 11 stolen bases this year as well.<\/p>\n

While an argument could be made that Spencer Steer is also capable of these numbers, he hasn\u2019t shown the ability to do so consistently in the past few seasons. Naylor\u2019s consistency will be a welcome sight in Cincinnati as he never veers too far from his baseline performance.<\/p>\n

2022: .771 OPS \u2014 121 OPS+<\/p>\n

2023: .842 OPS \u2014 130 OPS+<\/p>\n

2024: .776 OPS \u2014 118 OPS+<\/p>\n

2025 (current): .814 OPS \u2014 126 OPS+<\/p>\n

A perennial 120 OPS bat is a lovely addition to any lineup, and can slot in at the cleanup spot behind speedster Elly De La Cruz.<\/p>\n

Naylor will be a rental as he is on a one-year, $10.9 million contract with the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

Ryan O\u2019Hearn – (1B) – Dream<\/em>\u00a0Acquisition<\/em><\/h4>\n

O\u2019Hearn was an All-Star for the first time this season, as he\u2019s producing on a faltering Baltimore Orioles<\/a>. He is working on his third consecutive productive season, with this year being the best in his career so far.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn is slashing .282\/.378\/.458 for an .835 OPS and 137 OPS+. More impressively, his plate discipline has been fantastic this year. With a 16.6 K% and 12.1 BB%, he has a nice mix of power, contact, and plate discipline that will benefit any lineup.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn is another player with consistency, as his last three seasons have all been comparable to each other.<\/p>\n

2023: .801 OPS \u2014 122 OPS+<\/p>\n

2024: .761 OPS \u2014 120 OPS+<\/p>\n

2025 (current): .835 OPS \u2014 137 OPS+<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn is 31 years old and will also be a rental, as he is on a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Orioles.<\/p>\n

Ryan McMahon – (3B) – Safe Acquisition<\/em><\/h4>\n

McMahon is a step down offensively compared to the two previously mentioned names, but he still has his value.<\/p>\n

He has never been a league-average hitter, according to OPS+, but he consistently falls around the 95 OPS+ mark.<\/p>\n

2021: .779 OPS \u2014 98 OPS+<\/p>\n

2022: .741 OPS \u2014 98 OPS+<\/p>\n

2023: .753 OPS \u2014 94 OPS+<\/p>\n

2024: .722 OPS \u2014 93 OPS+<\/p>\n

2025: .710 OPS \u2014 90 OPS+<\/p>\n

These offensive numbers don\u2019t jump off the page, but he can be a valuable piece for Cincinnati. They can even platoon him with someone at third base, as he has a .742 OPS against right-handers this season.<\/p>\n

On defense, McMahon has 4 OAA this year (91st percentile), continuing to slash the leather at the hot corner.<\/p>\n

An issue with him is the high number of swings and misses, as he ranks in the 2nd percentile for both Whiff% and K%, with 35.0% and 31.9%, respectively. He does, however, combat that with an impressive 11.8 BB% (84th percentile).<\/p>\n

McMahon isn\u2019t going to cost much, as the Rockies<\/a> missed their chance to ship him off at his peak value a few years ago. He has two more seasons left under contract at $16 million each, a relatively costly level, as he is in his fourth season of a six-year, $70 million contract with the Rockies.<\/p>\n

Willi Castro – (2B\/SS\/3B) – <\/span>Safe Acquisition<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Castro isn\u2019t a lock to get traded, but if the Twins<\/a> take a tumble here down the stretch of the season, we may see him get moved.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is more of a middle infielder, as he\u2019s only taken 33 plate appearances at third base this year. If the Reds decide to acquire him, he would be used as more of a utility guy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Castro would be an immense upgrade compared to Cincinnati\u2019s current infield utility man, Santiago Espinal, as his offense is miles ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the season, he is slashing .263\/.355\/.444 for a .799 OPS and a 118 OPS+. Castro walks a solid 10.2% of the time (69th percentile), making him a nice addition to the lineup should the Reds trade for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is also a player with consistency, having been above league average for three consecutive seasons now.<\/span><\/p>\n

2023: .750 OPS \u2014 105 OPS+<\/span><\/p>\n

2024: .717 OPS \u2014 102 OPS+<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 (current): .799 OPS \u2014 118 OPS+<\/span><\/p>\n

Castro will be a rental, as he is on a one-year, $6.4 million contract with the Twins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoan Moncada – (3B) – Risky Acquisition<\/em><\/h4>\n

Moncada\u2019s name doesn\u2019t garner as much excitement as it used to a few years back, but he has quietly been decent as of late. This is mainly due to the lack of availability for 2024 and 2025, as he played just 12 games in 2024 and 37 in 2025. He has been out with knee inflammation since June 2nd and still has no return timeline.<\/p>\n

Aside from that, he was great in those 37 games, as he slashed .244\/.341\/.513 for an .853 OPS and a 132 OPS+.<\/p>\n

Moncada is honestly not much of a viable option, but if the Reds decide to take a flyer on the former top prospect, he could be an option.<\/p>\n

Moncada will be a free agent at the end of the season as he is on a one-year, $5 million contract with the Angels.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: \u00a0Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Reds are in the midst of a postseason push for the second half. While the corner infield additions aren\u2019t necessary, more offense is always welcome. Five Corner Infielders the Reds Should Target at the Deadline Third baseman Noelvi Martel has looked much better in 2025, and there have been rumors of him getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5447,"featured_media":104497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,1071],"tags":[4144,3041,28329,5964,772],"class_list":["post-104464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reds","category-mlb","tag-josh-naylor","tag-ryan-mcmahon","tag-ryan-ohearn","tag-willi-castro","tag-yoan-moncada"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5447"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104464"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104501,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104464\/revisions\/104501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}