Reds are shopping their relievers — but they’re not selling yet

ATLANTA — The Cincinnati Reds are informing teams they will trade relievers, but their decision stems from a roster crunch, not a move to become outright sellers.

A more dramatic pivot is still possible for a team that was swept in its first series after the All-Star break and fell into last place in the National League Central, league sources tell The Athletic.

But for now, the Reds face other issues.

Their roster includes three relievers who will be free agents at the end of the season, right-handers Lucas Sims and Buck Farmer along with lefty Justin Wilson, and another, right-hander Nick Martinez, who has an opt-out after the season.

Three of the team’s top relievers — closer Alexis Díaz, right-hander Fernando Cruz and lefty Sam Moll — have minor-league options remaining but are too valuable to be sent to the minors.

The team did option right-hander Casey Legumina on Tuesday and called up prospect Lyon Richardson, but Richardson is a starter and was expected to pitch behind Martinez, Tuesday’s scheduled starter, against the Atlanta Braves. Starter Carson Spiers is eligible to come off the injured list Sunday and would fill out the team’s rotation.

The only other reliever on the roster Tuesday was 27-year-old Tony Santillan, who is out of options and wouldn’t clear waivers if designated for assignment. Healthy for the first time in several years, Santillan is seen as a valuable bullpen arm for this season and beyond.

Veteran right-handers Emilio Pagán and Ian Gibaut are out of options and getting closer to a return, leaving the Reds short on roster spots for relievers they’d like to keep. Gibaut, who had surgery to relieve a nerve issue in his right forearm in May, is expected to start a rehab assignment next month. Pagán (right lat strain) is on a similar timetable as Gibaut. Lefty Brent Suter is on the injured list with a partial tear of his left teres major muscle but said Tuesday he has had similar injuries and expects to return this season.

Thus, teams looking for bullpen help are scouting the Reds, aware the team likely will move at least one pitcher from the bullpen before next Tuesday’s trade deadline. The Reds already traded lefty Alex Young, who was in Triple A for much of the season, to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Austin Slater earlier this month. That deal only slightly cleared its reliever logjam.

The decision on other players, such as starter Frankie Montas and second baseman Jonathan India, might be pushed closer to next week’s deadline. Entering Tuesday, the Reds were 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and a half-game back of the fourth-place St. Louis Cardinals. Like every other NL team aside from the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins, they are within reasonable striking distance of the third playoff spot, four games behind the New York Mets, who started the day holding the third wild card.

The Reds’ 48-53 record at the start of the day was the same as the Giants’, with four other teams between them and the Mets. But of those teams outside the playoff spots, the Reds’ plus-34 run differential was more than double that of any of the other teams in the race. That run differential was better than two of the teams currently occupying wild card spots, the Cardinals (minus-32) and the Mets (12).

The Reds’ 8-19 record in one-record games is the worst in the National League and their 1-3 record in extra-inning games is better than only the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. Though those indicators can often be seen as luck, at some point in the season — now 101 games in — that doesn’t matter.

Entering Tuesday, Cincinnati still had two games against the Braves and three on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays before starting a series at home against the Chicago Cubs before the deadline. If the Reds don’t make up any more ground, that’s when the real selling can begin.

(Photo of Lucas Sims: Sam Greene / The Enquirer / USA Today)