When the 2019 regular season begins next week, top prospect Nick Senzel will not be with the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds sent Senzel to minor league camp Friday morning and he will begin the season in Triple-A.
Senzel, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft, went 12 for 39 (.308) with six doubles and four stolen bases this spring. He also played center field as the club looks for ways to get him in the lineup. Senzel was drafted as a third baseman and worked out at both second base and shortstop last year. Now he's playing center.
After it was announced Senzel had been reassigned to minor-league camp, his agent Joel Wolfe blasted the Reds and called the move an "egregious case of service time manipulation." Here's what Wolfe told ESPN's Jeff Passan:
After the Reds sent Nick Senzel down to AAA, his agent, Joel Wolfe, told ESPN that it was “a simply egregious case of service-time manipulation.” Here are more quotes from that interview. pic.twitter.com/nTMvhgeduK
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 22, 2019
For what it's worth, Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams told The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans that service time was not a consideration in the team's decision to demote Senzel. That said, no team executive would ever admit to manipulating a player's service time, so what Williams said is hardly surprising.
There are viable reasons for Senzel to begin the season in Triple-A. First and foremost, he is learning a new position, which is a big deal. Learning a new position on the fly in the big leagues isn't easy, especially as a rookie, Secondly, Senzel was limited to 44 games last season by a series of injuries (vertigo, broken finger, bone spurs in his elbow) and he didn't play after June 22. He missed a lot of development time.
That said, Senzel is one of the game's truly elite prospects, and the Reds made a series of win-now trades over the winter. The best possible Reds roster almost certainly includes Senzel. Instead, MLB.com's No. 6 overall prospect will begin the year in Triple-A. Here is a snippet of MLB.com's scouting report on Senzel:
Senzel is an athletic player whose bat is just about ready for the highest level ... When healthy, Senzel uses a combination of strength and bat speed, along with an advanced approach at the plate, to be an extremely dangerous hitter from the right side. He makes consistent hard contact, doesn't strike out a lot and draws walks, which points to a future of hitting over .300 and perhaps competing for batting titles.
Service time manipulation is not against the rule but it's not done in good faith either. Sixteen days in the minors will push Senzel's free agency back from the 2024-25 offseason to the 2025-26 offseason. The Reds could call him up as early as April 12 and not only get that extra year of control, but also have him on their MLB roster for 149 games in 2019. That is exactly what the Cubs did with Kris Bryant in 2015.
Cincinnati will open the 2019 season with Scott Schebler flanked by Jesse Winker and Yasiel Puig in the outfield, and Matt Kemp on the bench. Eugenio Suarez is signed long-term and entrenched at third base, Senzel's natural position.
