CES DFA

[stringer bell]

Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been DFA'd by Cincinnati. There was a lot of hand-wringing when CES was part of the trade package for Mahle, but the only significant player in the trade has ended up being Spencer Steer. I'm not posting this in the Former Twins thread because CES never played for them, nor did Steer for that matter.

Quote

 

[Mike Sixel]

So much hand wringing....

[LA Vikes Fan]

I'd actually like to bring him back. He was good in 2023 but hasn't played well the last 2 seasons, although that seems to be due to injury. I think he's better than Wagaman and we don't have a 1B at AAA or, for that matter, at the MLB level. He's also only 26 and I think has 2 options left. He's worth a a waiver claim or a minor deal to see if he can perform like he did in 2023.  By the way, Steer is league average at best so I don't think any of the players from the Mahle trade have done a lot to help their new team. Here's the posting on CES == https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/reds-designate-christian-encarnacion-strand-for-assignment.html

[jaimedude]

35 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I'd actually like to bring him back. He was good in 2023 but hasn't played well the last 2 seasons, although that seems to be due to injury. I think he's better than Wagaman and we don't have a 1B at AAA or, for that matter, at the MLB level. He's also only 26 and I think has 2 options left. He's worth a a waiver claim or a minor deal to see if he can perform like he did in 2023.  By the way, Steer is league average at best so I don't think any of the players from the Mahle trade have done a lot to help their new team. Here's the posting on CES == https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/reds-designate-christian-encarnacion-strand-for-assignment.html

Yeah, why not take a flyer to see if Dinklemen and AAA staff can fix his swing. 

[ashbury]

Calling it hand-wringing is unnecessary and pointless. 

I thought Steer and CES were good trade chips to try to use.  I was skeptical that someone like Mahle coming off an injury was the smart choice.  His subsequent TJS had nothing to do with the shoulder injury before the trade, but there was a shoulder flareup shortly after the trade too, so we really didn't get a lot of mileage out of him.  I would have preferred a trade for someone more in the Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley mold - gobs of team control on top of the underlying talent.  Not impending free agency.

Steer could be headed to DFA soon too, judging by his numbers so far in 2026 - and he's been below average since debuting strongly in 2022-23, a bad omen since he's earning $4M nowadays.  Forgotten is pitcher Steve Hajjar who appears to be out of baseball now - I was bothered more by his inclusion than hindsight tells me I should have been.

But at the time, the right way to judge aspects of a trade, these three represent a missed opportunity because together they were worth more as prospects than we got in return.

[stringer bell]

I guess the question is whether he is broken. He put up really good minor league numbers with plenty of power, but stuff happens and sometimes injuries can add to adjustment problems and CES has been injured a lot in the last couple of years.