Reds trade closer Raisel Iglesias

The trade came five days after the Reds made more cost-cutting moves by not offering contracts to five players: pitchers R.J. Alaniz and Archie Bradley; outfielder Brian Goodwin; catcher Curt Casali; and infielder Kyle Farmer, who was then signed as a free agent. The Reds saved at least $9 million by not signing Bradley, Goodwin and Casali, according MLBTradeRumors.com, which keeps track of projected salaries of arbitration-eligible players.

“Everyone’s got a budget they adhere to,” Krall said. “This is not a sign that there’s more (deals) to come. We’re just looking at everything as a one-off and trying to make the best decisions as they come up and do the best we can to allocate our payroll.”

Iglesias and Ramirez are both 30. They were born about two weeks apart. They both made their big-league debuts in 2015.

Iglesias, who signed a three-year contract extension through 2021 in 2018, played six seasons with the Reds. He was 18-32 with a 3.15 ERA. He ranks sixth in Reds history with 106 saves. He began his career as a starter and moved into the bullpen in his second season. He was 4-3 with a 2.74 ERA and eight saves last season.

“He had a great year,” Krall said. “Good guy in the clubhouse. We definitely wish him the best. We felt this was the best move for our team right now.”

Ramirez was with the Boston Red Sox when he reached the big leagues. The Angels claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox in 2017. He has a 4.18 ERA in 184 career appearances.

“He’s been solid in relief the last couple of years,” Krall said. “He has a pretty good slider. He’s a guy that fits right in with the big-league bullpen moving forward.”

Krall said no other signings or deals are imminent, but with more than two months remaining until spring training, there could be other transactions coming. He said the Reds roster still has a solid core.

The bullpen has lost Iglesias, Robert Stephenson, who was traded to the Rockies, and Bradley but still has several strong arms.

“Right now, it’s Michael Lorenzen, who has been in the back of the bullpen, but he’s going to come in with a chance to start,” Krall said. “Lucas Sims and Amir Garrett had really excellent years last year. Tejay Antone also pitched in a rotation role. Someone’s not going to make the rotation, so I think they’ll end up shifting to the bullpen. There’s still a lot of work to do this offseason in reshaping what we want this bullpen to look like. We’re just going to keep working through that as we move to the next couple of months.”