The Cincinnati Reds put designated hitter/third baseman Eugenio Suárez and outfielder TJ Friedl on waivers, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic — and the timing is as strange as it gets. Suárez was the hero of Wednesday night's six-run, ninth-inning comeback against the Giants, a game-winning grand slam that had Great American Ball Park on its feet. Less than 24 hours later, the baseball world learned the slugger is available to any team willing to claim him. Neither player has been designated for assignment, and both remain eligible to suit up for Cincinnati while the 48-hour waiver window plays out. According to Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase, both players were placed on waivers Tuesday, meaning their fates will be decided Thursday afternoon.
How the Late-August Waiver Market Works
Waivers aren't what they used to be. The old August trade deadline is gone, but the waiver wire remains a backdoor for contenders to add help and for rebuilding clubs to shed salary. When a non-contender waives a player who won't be part of next season's plans, the hope is a playoff-bound team claims him and assumes the remainder of his contract. The claiming team gets a rental; the waiving team gets financial relief. There is real precedent here — the 2023 Angels famously used the waiver wire to duck under the luxury tax line in late August, and the market has been picking up steam ever since.
There's a catch for the Reds: the placement is irrevocable. If any team claims Suárez or Friedl, Cincinnati loses them — no take-backs, no negotiating. But that's exactly what the front office is hoping for. The only real downside is the awkwardness of a player going unclaimed and finishing the season with a club that just tried to give him away. The Reds are comfortable with that risk, which tells you everything about where this organization stands heading into the final month.
Why Suárez Is the Prize
Suárez is the bigger name on the wire, and he'd bring legitimate postseason utility to a contending clubhouse. He's got 19 home runs on the season, including that monster grand slam Wednesday night, and he's a respected veteran presence with right-handed power off the bench. He's playing on a $15 million salary with roughly $2.5 million remaining through season's end — a modest price for a proven bat in a pennant race.
The red flags are real, though. Suárez is striking out at an ugly 35 percent clip and carries a below-average .208/.295/.410 line through 410 plate appearances. He'll be a free agent at season's end, and neither the Reds nor any claiming team is likely to pick up his $16 million mutual option for 2027. In other words: he's a pure rental, and a team that claims him is betting on the version of Suárez who launched that grand slam, not the one who's fanned 144 times this year.
Friedl's Fall From Grace
Friedl's story is sadder. He entered 2026 as Cincinnati's everyday center fielder and leadoff man after a strong .261/.364/.378 season across 152 games a year ago. This season has been a nightmare: .158/.242/.234 with just three homers in 253 plate appearances, a career-worst 23 percent strikeout rate, and a demotion to Triple-A for most of June. Since being recalled, he's hitting .106 with one home run in 26 games — numbers that made the Reds' decision almost inevitable.
The financials make Friedl a tougher claim. He's earning $3.8 million in arbitration, with about $633,000 still owed. He's technically under club control for two more seasons, but any team claiming him would be on the hook for a similar salary next year if they tendered him a contract. Coming off a .158 season, that's a hard sell — which is why the waiver placement essentially confirms the Reds plan to non-tender him if he finishes the year on their roster.
Who's in the Claiming Line?
Waiver priority runs in inverse order of the standings and is not league-specific, so the Los Angeles Angels have first dibs, followed by the Colorado Rockies, Athletics, Giants, and so on up to the MLB-leading Brewers. Teams like the Angels, Rockies, and A's have no reason to claim an impending free agent — they're not going anywhere this October. The first club that might realistically bite is the Detroit Tigers (62-71), followed by the Minnesota Twins (64-70), Seattle Mariners (64-70), Toronto Blue Jays (65-69), and Baltimore Orioles (65-68). That's the cluster of sub-.500 teams still within striking distance of an American League wild-card spot.
The AL is noticeably softer than the NL this year, which means more sub-.500 clubs are still alive in the American League playoff race. For a team like Detroit or Seattle, claiming Suárez costs little more than pocket change and adds a proven right-handed bat for the stretch run. Even Friedl could draw a flier from a club desperate for center field help and willing to gamble on a change of scenery.
What It Means for the Reds
This is the clearest possible signal that Cincinnati is playing for 2027, not 2026. The Reds are drifting out of contention, and the front office is using the waiver wire to clear salary and open at-bats for the kids. Suárez's departure — whether by claim or by free agency — closes the book on one of the more colorful tenures in recent Reds history. Friedl's exit, meanwhile, is a sobering reminder of how fast a career can turn.
There's also a message being sent to the clubhouse: nobody's untouchable in August. That grand slam Wednesday night was one of the most electric moments of the Reds' season, and 24 hours later their hero was on the waiver wire. Baseball moves fast. By Thursday afternoon, we'll know whether Suárez and Friedl finish 2026 in Cincinnati — or get one last shot at October in a uniform that's not their own.
Marcus Bennett
Marcus Bennett breaks down games with a focus on style, pace, momentum, and matchup factors that help readers better understand the betting board.