Lyon Richardson elects free agency after clearing waivers unclaimed

Lyon Richardson, the right-hander Cincinnati drafted in the second round in 2018, has elected free agency after clearing waivers unclaimed, per MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. Left-hander Brandon Leibrandt, who was designated for assignment alongside Richardson earlier this week, also cleared waivers but chose a different path — accepting an assignment to Triple-A Louisville.

What happened

Per Sheldon's report, the Reds successfully moved both pitchers through the waiver process without a claim from any other club. Richardson, 26, reportedly becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. Leibrandt, meanwhile, is expected to continue pitching at the Triple-A level in Louisville.

The two moves resolve the roster questions that opened when both pitchers were designated for assignment earlier this week, though the circumstances that led to Richardson's return — and his quick exit — stretch back considerably further.

Why it matters

Richardson's path through the Cincinnati organization is a fairly tidy illustration of how a pitching prospect can exhaust his options without ever quite sticking. The Reds added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2022, per the report, specifically to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Under general league rules, a player must be on the 40-man roster to be shielded from that process, and the Reds evidently decided Richardson was worth protecting at the time.

He then spent the next three seasons, per the report, frequently shuttled between Triple-A and the major-league roster — the kind of up-and-down existence that is less a career arc than a commute. That shuttle work consumed all three of his option years in the process. Once a player exhausts his options, he can no longer be sent to the minors freely; any outright assignment requires him to clear waivers first.

That is exactly what happened in January, when the Reds sent Richardson through waivers for the first time. Because it was his first career outright assignment and he had accumulated fewer than three years of service time, per the report, he was required to accept the minor-league assignment rather than elect free agency at that stage. The rules governing that first outright effectively kept him in the organization.

He was added back to the 40-man roster last week, per the report, as the club was managing a number of pitching injuries. He made two appearances before being designated for assignment again — and this time, with the first outright already on his record, he held the right to elect free agency when no club claimed him. He exercised it.

Where the club stands

### Is this a sign of a roster overhaul in Cincinnati?

The Reds are 75-87 (.463), sitting fifth in the NL Central and 28 games back in the division. They have also been eliminated from the Wild Card race, ranking ninth in that chase at 13.0 games relative to the cut line. The roster is operating on a one-game losing streak entering a weekend series.

That context matters for understanding why Richardson's brief return looked the way it did. A club managing pitching injuries late in a season with no postseason path is going to cycle through available arms quickly, and Richardson's two appearances fit that pattern. When the injuries stabilized enough to require a roster decision, there was no longer a clear spot for him.

The Reds head to Busch Stadium this weekend for three games against the St. Louis Cardinals. Brady Singer is the reported probable starter for Friday against Kyle Leahy, Nick Lodolo is lined up for Saturday against Matthew Liberatore, and Rhett Lowder is expected to take the ball Sunday against Michael McGreevy.

What we don't know yet

The report does not specify what Richardson's two appearances looked like, what the pitching injuries were that prompted his return to the roster, or which clubs — if any — gave him a look during the waiver period before he cleared. It is also not reported whether Richardson has any interest in returning to Cincinnati on a different contractual basis, or whether other organizations have already reached out.

Leibrandt's situation at Triple-A Louisville is similarly unresolved in terms of timeline. The report confirms he accepted the assignment; it does not address what his role there is expected to be or whether there is a path back to the 40-man roster.

What to watch

Richardson is now a free agent for the first time, which means any club can negotiate with him directly. Given that he cleared waivers unclaimed — meaning no team was willing to take him at the waiver price — the market for his services is genuinely uncertain. That said, clearing waivers and drawing free-agent interest are different things; teams sometimes pass on a waiver claim for roster or financial reasons and circle back once a player is free to sign anywhere.

For the Reds specifically, the more immediate question is how the pitching staff holds together through the final stretch of a season that has already been mathematically resolved. The rotation for the St. Louis series is set, per Sheldon's report, but the bullpen picture — which is what Richardson was briefly part of — remains worth monitoring as the club works through whatever injury absences prompted his return in the first place.

Leibrandt's acceptance of the Louisville assignment keeps him in the organization and on the 40-man roster's periphery, though his standing there will depend on how the club's pitching needs evolve. A player who accepts a Triple-A assignment after clearing waivers is not guaranteed a return call, but he is at least positioned to be considered if circumstances change.

The Richardson situation, taken whole, is a reminder of how the option clock and the outright assignment rules interact to shape a player's leverage at each stage of his career. For three-plus years, those rules kept him in Cincinnati's orbit even when the fit was uncertain. Now, for the first time, he gets to test the open market — modest as that market may currently appear.