According to MLB dot com, the deal is for $1.4 million.
A year ago, Bleday looked like one of the best young center fielders in MLB. In 2024 with the Athletics, he hit .243 with a strong .762 OPS. Bleday finished the year with 20 homers while playing his home games in a massive ballpark, and he would have been projected to hit 31 homers in Great American Ball Park during that season.
Bleday, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, was showing his upside and firmly established himself as a part of the Athletics’ young core. In 2024, Bleday generally made good swing decisions, worked a good amount of walks, had success pulling the ball down the line and was great at hitting the fastball.
The 2025 season was a major step back. He was optioned twice to Triple-A, hit .212 and was designated for assignment at the end of the season. During 2025, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told reporters that Bleday felt like he had too many voices in his ear telling him different things about his approach at the plate, which overcomplicated his slump. Bleday, 28-years-old, finished the 2025 season with a .698 OPS and -.3 WAR in 98 big league games.
Bleday will need to make more consistent hard contact and make more overall contact in Cincinnati. Last year, while he didn’t chase much, Bleday whiffed a lot on pitches in the strike zone. He hit sharp line drives much less often than he did in 2024, and he also pulled more fly balls in 2025 than he did during the previous season. Bleday especially struggled against breaking balls in 2025.
The Reds plan to enter 2026 with a payroll that’s around the same as what the team had last year. That gave the Reds about $1-to-5 million left to spend before the team added Bleday.
There were more established and reliable options on the free agent board this winter like Mike Yastrzemski ($11.5 million per year), Adolis Garcia ($10 million), Cedric Mullins ($7 million), Rob Refsnyder ($6.2 million) and Lane Thomas ($5 million). But the Reds front office has had to work on a budget.
Bleday will get a chance to play every day in Cincinnati. He’ll compete with players like Will Benson, Gavin Lux, Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart for playing time. Bleday also gives the Reds something that they were in pursuit of as an experienced center field option to back up TJ Friedl.
Heading into 2026, McLain is expected to be the Reds’ primary second baseman, Elly De La Cruz is at short and Hayes is the primary third baseman. Noelvi Marte is in right and TJ Friedl is in center. The “battles” will mostly be at first base, left field and DH. Bleday profiles to be a strong defensive left fielder, and the Reds’ best overall defensive lineup looks like it would have Steer at first and Bleday in left.
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