October is the time of the year in which the teams around Major League Baseball have tough decisions to make when it comes to rosters at the Minor League level. Unfortunately, each year sees players get released in October as organizations have to trim down their roster sizes. While some of the guys will get other opportunities, for some of them it is going to be the end of their careers in baseball.
Earlier in the month the team released Alex Webb. The Reds selected the right handed reliever in the 9th round of the 2016 draft. He missed the second half of the 2018 season with Daytona. He struggled before heading to the disabled list, posting an 8.20 ERA in 18.2 innings out of the Tortugas bullpen.
Darren Shred, another Canadian reliever, was also released. He missed most of the 2017 season and all of the 2018 season. He was selected in the 2015 draft in the 22nd round out of high school. His career only saw him throw 21.1 innings, spanning the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Doug Norman was the Reds 25th round pick in 2017. He didn’t pitch in 2017 for the Reds because he had Tommy John surgery earlier in the year while still in college. He returned to the mound in 2018, throwing 5.2 innings for Greeneville.
Among the two position players that were released, Hector Vargas was the one that had been around the longest. The infielder has been in the Reds organization for a long time, first playing in 2013 with the Dominican Summer League Reds. In 2018 he saw limited time in both Dayton and Daytona. His last game during the season came in late June for Daytona before missing the rest of the season.
Justin Bellinger was the other position player that was released. He was selected in the 22nd round of the 2017 draft out of Duke. After a solid debut for the AZL Reds in 2017 he went to Greeneville in 2018. He struggled there, hitting .209/.283/.357 in 35 games played for the Reds.
Shred was a pretty good amateur catcher as well. Wonder if they already tried that.
There’s not a Shred of evidence that they did. =D