Reds pick up OF Myers in trade with Marlins

CINCINNATI -- As the Reds look for a significant offensive boost this offseason, they have been able to shore up other areas of need. On Saturday, that meant two separate value additions to their outfield.

Not long after signing free agent JJ Bleday to a one-year, $1.4 million contract, Cincinnati picked up Dane Myers from the Marlins for Minor League outfielder Ethan O'Donnell.

However, the search for more offense will continue.

“We’re going to try to improve the rest of the offseason. I think we want to figure out if there’s a way to get better," president of baseball operations Nick Krall said.

To make room for Myers on the 40-man roster, right-handed reliever Lyon Richardson was designated for assignment.

Myers, 29, batted .235 with a .617 OPS, six home runs and 31 RBIs in 106 games last season. A right-handed hitter, he can play all three outfield spots and had two outs above average (OAA). He played 68 games in center field, 31 games in right field and 11 games in left field and is rated in the 97th percentile in arm strength by Statcast.

“The Dane Myers thing came up last night and we just felt like it was something we just wanted to jump on," Krall said.

A lifetime .245 hitter with a .653 OPS in 172 big league games over parts of the last three seasons with Miami, Myers is a pre-arbitration player under club control through 2029.

“He’s average-to-above in center field. Over the last three years, he’s hit .297 against left-handed pitching and a .360 on-base [percentage]. We really think he can help that group," Krall said.

Although heralded for his all-out style of play on defense, Myers also has a history of getting injured on the field. There were two stints on the injured list in 2025, including in September when he suffered a right knee laceration after crashing into the fence in Philadelphia but has recovered fully.

On July 13, 2024, while the Marlins were playing at Cincinnati, Myers suffered a fractured left ankle from kicking a door in frustration during a loss after being called out on strikes.

Miami originally claimed Myers off waivers from the Tigers on Dec. 7, 2022. A former two-way player, he was a sixth-round selection of Detroit in the 2017 MLB Draft out of Rice University. He converted to the outfield full-time ahead of the 2021 season.

O'Donnell, who was ranked as Cincinnati's No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline, spent 2025 at Double-A Chattanooga and batted .236/.327/.325 in 125 games.

By adding Bleday and Myers, Cincinnati's outfield picture now has center fielder TJ Friedl and right fielder Noelvi Marte plus an infielder that also plays the outfield in Spencer Steer. Other outfielders include Will Benson, Blake Dunn, Tyler Callihan, Rece Hinds and prospect Héctor Rodríguez. It's expected that Gavin Lux, who played some left field last season, will become more of a utility infielder in '26.

“We don’t really see Bleday as a center fielder going in. We see him more as a corner [guy] that’s got some pop in the bat," Krall said. "Dane Myers is a guy that’s a good center fielder that can give Friedl some days off [and] can play left and right as well.”

With a 2026 payroll that will be largely unchanged from the 2025 Opening Day budget of around $112 million, the Reds went into the offseason looking for more offense in the middle of the order to go behind Elly De La Cruz. They were in the mix of teams competing for superstar free agent Kyle Schwarber but fell short at bringing the designated hitter to his hometown team.

While unable to land Schwarber, Cincinnati did address its bullpen by re-signing closer Emilio Pagán to a two-year, $20 million contract, lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson to a one-year, $4.5 million contract and right-handed reliever Keegan Thompson to a one-year, $1.3 million deal.

Thompson, who has a split contract with a lower Minor League pay scale, was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Bleday.

Krall felt there was still enough room in the budget to add a bat.

“Dane Myers is a zero-to-three guy. JJ, we got on a deal that was close to where his arbitration salary was going to be," he explained. "We’ve got some more money to be able to use. We looked at these deals as potential upside, but it also allows us to continue to try to make this team better.”