Former Reds reliever Ron Marinaccio cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, according to Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie’s Chalkboard. Cincinnati also signed right-hander Darius Vines to a minor league contract.
Marinaccio had a brief run with the Reds. They claimed him off waivers shortly after the trade deadline. He spent two weeks in their bullpen and was shelled for 10 runs across 5 1/3 innings. He’s out of options and has now been designated for assignment three times this year. This is the first time he’s gotten through waivers.
The Delaware product crossed the three-year service threshold this summer, giving him the right to elect free agency. He hadn’t qualified for arbitration before this year, so he’s not leaving any guaranteed salary behind. Marinaccio will look for other opportunities but probably needs to take a minor league contract at this point.
Marinaccio has combined for 57 2/3 innings between the Padres, Pirates and Reds. He’s sitting on a career-high 6.09 earned run average with a subpar 18.5% strikeout rate. Marinaccio had decent numbers in middle relief with San Diego through the end of May. The wheels have fallen off since then, as he’s been blitzed for 25 runs in his past 26 2/3 innings. He has walked 18 batters and hit seven more in that stretch. The recent form has been rough, but he was a decent reliever early in his career with the Yankees and shouldn’t have any trouble finding a non-roster deal.
Vines, 28, made nine appearances with the Braves between 2023-24. He missed all of last year with an undisclosed injury in the minor leagues. He has spent this season in Mexico, turning in a 3.32 ERA with a 23% strikeout rate over 15 starts. That’s very strong production for the Mexican League, a hitter’s paradise where the league average ERA is north of 5.00. Vines will report to Triple-A Louisville and try to earn a late-season big league return.
