Reds acquire former All-Star from Blue Jays

The team hasn’t provided a timeline on McLain, but manager David Bell told reporters this evening that he wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season. Bell had rather ominously left open the possibility that McLain could require surgery this morning, although the team hasn’t announced anything on that front. The UCLA product is headed for a second opinion before there’ll be an official timetable.

That the Reds went outside the organization for another infielder wouldn’t seem to point towards them expecting McLain’s return in short order. While they await official word on his injury, they add a quality defender who can serve as a depth piece at any of second base, third base or shortstop.

Espinal, 29, rode a surprisingly strong first half to an All-Star selection in 2022. His overall track record suggests he’s more of a high-end utility player than a regular on a contender, though. Espinal has plus contact skills with below-average power. His career .273/.331/.367 batting line is right around league average, as measured by wRC+, but he’s coming off a down year.

The righty-hitting Espinal turned in a .248/.310/.335 slash with two homers over 254 plate appearances last season. He lost a couple of weeks to right hamstring inflammation but otherwise spent the year as a versatile infielder off the bench. Espinal saw most of his action at second and third base. He has graded as an above-average to plus defender at both spots in the eyes of public defensive metrics. He’s capable of playing shortstop but wasn’t asked to do so often in Toronto, where Bo Bichette has been an everyday lineup fixture for three years.

Espinal still has a pair of minor league options, so the Reds can move him to Triple-A Louisville, but they presumably would not have parted with a pitching prospect if they didn’t anticipate him being on the major league roster. He’ll back up Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz and Candelario while Marte and McLain are out. His acquisition doesn’t bode well for the chances of non-roster invitee Erik Gonzálezbreaking camp. The Reds also had Josh Harrison and Tony Kemp on minor-league deals this spring. Both players opted out and returned to free agency after being informed they wouldn’t make the team.

In January, the Jays and Espinal agreed on a $2.725M salary to avoid an arbitration hearing. That’s a fully guaranteed deal which Cincinnati agreed to absorb. RosterResource calculated their payroll around $102MM before the trade; they’re up to roughly $105M after the deal. Espinal has a little under four years of major league service. Cincinnati can control him via arbitration for another three seasons.

Toronto offloads a few million dollars from a payroll that had been projected around $236M. Their luxury tax number sat around $249M. That’ll also fall by $2.725M. As second-time tax payors, they owe a 30% fee on spending between $237M and $257M. Shedding Espinal’s salary also saves them around $818K in tax commitments.

Moving Espinal clears a path for the out-of-options Ernie Clement to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster. As a contact-oriented righty hitter with infield versatility, he offers a similar profile to Espinal. The Jays feared that Clement would be claimed off waivers if they tried to send him to Triple-A, particularly on the heels of a huge showing this spring.

They’ll add McElvain as a flier to the lower levels of the system. An eighth-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2022, he worked as a starter between two A-ball levels last season. McElvain pitched to a 3.75 ERA through 96 innings, albeit with a slightly below-average 21.1% strikeout rate and a walk percentage just south of 10%. He was not among Cincinnati’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America and didn’t receive a mention on Keith Law’s analysis of the system for The Athletic.