The Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday added another arm to solidify their bullpen, signing right-handed reliever David Hernandez to a two-year deal that a source said is worth a total of $5 million.
The Reds had been connected to Hernandez as far back as the winter meetings, and more recent talks were said to be serious between the two sides. Hernandez will make $2.5 million each of the next two years. He can also earn an extra $1 million a year by hitting certain performance bonuses based on appearances and games finished.
Hernandez represents just the second offseason addition by the Reds this winter, coming a month after the first. The day after Christmas, Cincinnati added righty Jared Hughes to the bullpen on a deal worth two years and $4.25 million, with a team option for a third year.
Hughes and Hernandez represent a stabilizing factor for a bullpen that otherwise features only players with less than three years of major-league service time. Raisel Iglesias has established himself as the team's closer and left-hander Wandy Peralta is coming off a nice year, and righty Michael Lorenzen is looking to course-correct after a rough second half.
The rest of the bullpen mix figured to be filled by rookies or veterans on minor-league deals, but now the Reds can lean on Hughes and Hernandez to handle some important innings.
The 32-year-old Hernandez missed all of the 2014 season with Tommy John surgery but has gradually worked his way back to being a reliable late-inning reliever. He posted a 3.84 ERA and struck out nearly 10 per nine innings in his first full season back, with the Philadelphia Phillies. Last year, he posted a 3.11 ERA and recorded his best-ever strikeout-to-walk ratio between the Los Angeles Angels and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He averages 94 mph on his fastball – a bit down from his peak velocity of 96 mph before his surgery – but last year began relying more heavily on a cutter that generated a swing-and-miss nearly 18 percent of the time.
With the addition of Hernandez, the Reds now have about $99 million committed to payroll for the 2018 season, when accounting for what they're likely to spend on their two unresolved arbitration cases for Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett. That already would represent their highest Opening Day payroll since 2015, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.