On Friday afternoon the crew at Baseball America released the most recent set of transactions for each organization. There were a few previously unannounced moves made by the Cincinnati Reds. The two previously unknown signings were the re-signing of infielder Christian Colon and the signing of catcher Francisco Pena.

Christian Colon spent his 2019 season with the Reds organization. He played in 136 games for Triple-A Louisville, hitting .300/.372/.443 for the Bats. In 582 plate appearances he walked 57 times and had just 58 strikeouts. Colon also added in 37 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, and he stole 24 bases. He wasn’t initially called up when rosters expanded in September, but in the middle of the month Cincinnati needed another player to fill out the bench. Colon didn’t get a start, but he appeared in eight games as a pinch hitter, going 3-6 without a walk or a strikeout, and he was hit by two pitches.

In the minor leagues during the 2019 season he saw a majority of his action at third base, where he played in 105 games. But he also saw time at first, second, and shortstop. He even threw 2.0 innings on the mound in one game for the Bats.

The Reds also signed free agent catcher Francisco Pena. The catcher has played in parts of five Major League seasons with Kansas City, Baltimore, and St. Louis. But only in 2018 did he see any real amount of playing time, getting into 58 games and having 142 total plate appearances. In the previous four seasons combined he had 60 plate appearances in the Majors. Pena is a career .216/.249/.271 hitter in the Major Leagues.

In 2019 Francisco Pena spent the entire year in Triple-A. He began the year with the Cardinals, but in early May he had his contract purchased by the San Francisco Giants who assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate. Between the two stops he hit .290/.327/.547 in 297 plate appearances across 74 games. He also threw out 39% of attempted base stealers during the year.

Beyond those two signings there were also a handful of players that were released.

Junior Harding was drafted in 2017, and that was the lone season in which he pitched. He was injured and then missed time in 2019 after being suspended for a positive drug test for Methylphenidate, which is commonly taken for ADHD. Cory Heitler had a strong professional debut in 2018 when he posted a 2.50 ERA for Greeneville, but he missed all of the 2019 season. Jose Valenzuela didn’t pitch in 2019 until he joined Los Mochis in the Mexican Winter League, where he pitched in two games. Montrell Marshall retired, but his rights were being retained until his release.