DONE DEAL : The Cincinnati Reds Announces the trade of another outfielder from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cincinnati Reds acquired a right-handed hitting outfielder from the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s what Reds fans have been asking for, right? Actually, not entirely. Cincinnati did sign an outfielder, but he is currently a 19-year-old minor leaguer. According to Francys Romero, the club acquired Arnaldo Lantigua from the Dodgers in exchange for more than $1,000,000 in 2025 international bonus pool space. Reds.com’s Mark Sheldon said that it was $1,500,000.

Before we get too far into this, let me clarify what’s going on. The 2025 international signing period for amateur players began on Wednesday. Major League Baseball allocates a bonus fund to each team depending on a variety of factors. The teams They cannot spend more than their allotted amount, but they may trade for up to 60% more than their original pool. In the Dodgers’ instance, considering that they have recently signed Japanese great Roki Sasaki, they need to add as much as they can here to meet whatever deal they had with him. The Reds signed 18 players this week and spent a significant portion of their pool. However, they did have a little portion of their pool remained (they were tied for the largest available pool), which they utilized to purchase Lantigua. It is vital to notice.

The Reds did not actually send any money in this transaction. They just gave the Dodgers a “allowed to spend” $1,500,000 allocation.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s speak about the prospect Cincinnati recently traded for. Arnaldo Lantigua was signed by the Dodgers from the Dominican Republic in January 2023, only a few weeks after turning 17. In 29 games that season, he hit.222. However, he walked 18 times and struck out 26, while also slugging.475 in a league where the slugging percentage was.356. He returned to the Dominican Summer League this season as an 18-year-old, and things went considerably better. The outfielder appeared in 49 games, batting.301/.430/.575 with 19 extra-base hits, 33 walks, and 34 strikeouts. His 11 home runs tied for second in the league, and he was one of just five players in the 51-team league to reach double-digit homers. As a player who has never played on a field in the United States, he is the epitome of the lottery ticket. But for a lottery ticket, there’s a lot to like. While figures from the Dominican Summer League should be taken with a grain of salt, it’s better when players crush the ball there than not. There are

There are numerous examples of players who never hit well in that league but went on to become major leaguers – we’re practically talking about a league full of kids, and individuals grow and develop a lot beyond that point. Still, Arnaldo Lantigua destroyed the ball in 2024, which is a positive indication. Add to that the fact that he was regarded a quality prospect prior to that, and you have another check mark in the good column.

In the long term, we’ll have to wait and see what happens, but the Reds were able to capitalize on this chance by adding a real prospect to their farm system in exchange for allowing the Dodgers to spend money. It’s difficult to see any drawbacks with this Kind of deal.