“We wanted to give this team every opportunity to get into a playoff and win a playoff,” Reds General Manager Nick Krall said. “That’s our goal. We’re a game and a half out right now. We want to give this team a chance to get there and see if we can make a run.”
The Reds (15-19) entered a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park tied with the New York Mets for the 11th-best record in the National League. Eight of the 15 teams in the league make the playoffs. That includes the top two teams in each of the three divisions. The Reds trail the second-place Cardinals by 1½ games.
The Reds will play 25 games in September. Eleven of those games will be against the three teams ahead of them in the division: the Chicago Cubs, Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.
“I like the guys we have,” said Gray (5-1, 1.94 ERA), who will start the second game of the series vs. the Cardinals on Tuesday. “I really do. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know every one of these guys in the clubhouse. We’re close. We’re not giving up. We’re not ready to quit. We’re not going to give up on this thing until we legitimately have no shot. That’s not in our near future.”
The Reds sent infielder Josh Van Meter and outfielder Stuart Fairchild, the organization’s 11th-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com, to the Diamondbacks for Bradley. VanMeter hit .059 in 14 games with the Reds this season.
Bradley, 28, was 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA and six saves in 10 games. This was his sixth season with Arizona. He saved 18 games last season when he was 4-5 with 3.52 ERA.
Bradley joins a bullpen that has the fourth-worst ERA in baseball (5.48). He could split closing duties with Raisel Iglesias.
“Both have been in that role,” Krall said. “Both have had success. I think you can mix and match and do a lot of different things.”
The Reds sent minor-league pitcher Packy Naughton and a player to be named to the Angels for Goodwin.
Goodwin, 29, hit .242 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 30 games. He started his career with the Washington Nationals in 2016.
“He can play both offense and defense,” Krall said. “We’ve got a DH this year. You can mix and match people throughout the lineup. Nick (Senzel’s) been on the injured list for some time. This allows us to put a guy in there — as soon as we get him here — who can contribute to the club. It was another bat we felt could lift this offense up.”
NOTES: In other roster news, the he Reds recalled outfielder Aristides Aquino and optioned to the alternate training site reliever Joel Kuhnel. ... Manager David Bell and outfielder Jesse Winker each received a one-game suspension from Major League Baseball on Monday for their roles in a bench-clearing incident during a game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at Great American Ball Park. Bell, Winker and Joey Votto also received undisclosed fines. Cubs catching coach Mike Borzello was also suspended one game.
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