Reds place Eugenio Suárez and TJ Friedl on waivers ahead of Thursday deadline

What happened

The Cincinnati Reds placed designated hitter and third baseman Eugenio Suárez and outfielder TJ Friedl on waivers, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase added that both players landed on waivers Tuesday, which means the 48-hour clock is expected to run out Thursday afternoon.

Neither player has been designated for assignment, per the report. That distinction matters: both Suárez and Friedl remained eligible to play for Cincinnati while the waiver process plays out, and both did exactly that — each appeared in Wednesday's win over the Giants, a game that included Suárez connecting on a grand slam as part of a six-run ninth-inning comeback.

So yes: a player can be on waivers and hit a grand slam in the same stretch. The late-August calendar is a peculiar place.

Why it matters

The late-August waiver market has grown more active in recent years, with the 2023 Angels' moves to get under the luxury tax threshold serving as a prominent example of how non-contenders use the mechanism. The general logic is straightforward: a club that is not in the race places a player who is unlikely to factor into its next competitive window, hoping a contending team claims him and absorbs what remains of his contract.

Per the report, any team that claims Suárez would be required to absorb approximately $2.5MM in remaining salary. That figure is the price of admission for any contender that wants to add a veteran corner infielder and designated hitter with postseason experience before the roster deadline arrives.

Friedl's contract terms were not detailed in the report.

Is either player going to stay in Cincinnati?

That depends entirely on whether a claim comes in before Thursday afternoon. If a team claims Suárez or Friedl, the Reds would have the option to pull the player back rather than let him go — or they could allow the claim to stand and let the claiming club take on the contract. If no team claims either player, they simply remain with Cincinnati. The report does not indicate which outcome the Reds are hoping for, nor does it name any teams with reported interest.

What the report does make clear is that the Reds are at minimum testing the market, which is itself a signal about how the organization views these two players' roles heading into the offseason.

Where the club stands

At 68-74 (.479), the Reds sit fifth in the NL Central, 19.5 games behind the division leader. In the Wild Card picture, Cincinnati ranks 8th, sitting 6.5 games relative to the cut line. The club enters this stretch on a one-game winning streak — that would be Wednesday's comeback over San Francisco, the same game in which Suárez hit his grand slam.

The Reds open a three-game series at the Cubs on Friday, August 28, with Rhett Lowder projected to start opposite David Peterson. Andrew Abbott is lined up for Saturday, August 29 against Kevin Gausman, and Chase Burns is scheduled for Sunday, August 30 against Shota Imanaga.

That is a rotation that suggests Cincinnati is not simply mailing in September. Burns and Abbott are names that matter to the franchise's next competitive window, and Lowder's development is similarly forward-looking. The waiver moves on Suárez and Friedl fit that same frame: the club is beginning to sort out which pieces belong to the next version of this team and which ones might be more valuable to someone else right now.

Under general league rules, the active roster expands from 26 to 28 players beginning September 1, which gives clubs additional flexibility to carry veterans through the end of the regular season regardless of how the waiver situations resolve.

What we don't know yet

The report does not name any teams that have claimed or are expected to claim either Suárez or Friedl. It does not specify the full terms of Friedl's contract or how much salary would transfer with him. It does not indicate whether the Reds intend to pull either player back if a claim comes in, or whether the organization's preference is to let a claiming team take on the contract and the player.

The ~$2.5MM figure attached to Suárez is the only contract detail in the report, and it applies specifically to him. Everything else about the financial mechanics of a potential Friedl claim remains unaddressed.

What to watch

Thursday afternoon is the operative deadline. If a claim is filed on Suárez, the Reds will face a decision about whether to let him go for the ~$2.5MM relief or pull him back and keep him in Cincinnati through the end of the season. The same decision framework applies to Friedl, though without a reported salary figure attached.

The Cubs series beginning Friday also provides an immediate backdrop. If both players are still in a Reds uniform by the time Lowder takes the mound at Wrigley, the waiver process resolved without a claim — or the Reds pulled them back. If one or both are absent from the lineup, the market spoke. Either way, Thursday afternoon answers the question the report raised Wednesday.

The broader late-August waiver activity is worth monitoring as well. Per the report, the market has picked up in recent years, and Cincinnati is not the only non-contender with veterans on expiring or near-expiring deals who might be useful to a club still chasing a playoff spot. The Reds' moves are a data point in a larger seasonal pattern, not an isolated transaction.