Guardians could offer the Reds their best Tyler Stephenson replacement

Blog Red Machine's Stephen Parello argues that the Cleveland Guardians could provide the Cincinnati Reds with potential replacements if they fail to re-sign catcher Tyler Stephenson in free agency. Parello identifies upcoming free agent veteran Austin Hedges and minor league trade candidate Kody Huff as two options for Cincinnati if they are unable to afford Stephenson's expected price tag.

Parello cautions that both players carry substantial risk, describing Hedges' recent offensive production as a career outlier and noting the uncertainty of Huff translating Triple-A success to the majors. Consequently, the writer concludes that Cincinnati's safest course of action remains re-signing Stephenson to a projected two-year, $20 million contract.