Editor’s Note: I hope you will join me in welcoming Adam Taylor to the Redleg Nation family. Please make him feel welcome! — Chad Dotson
One name to watch in the battle for bullpen openings is Barrett Astin. Astin is a 25-year-old, right-handed pitcher and former third round pick out of Arkansas. He was acquired as a player to be named later during the 31 August 2014 trade of Jonathan Broxton to the Milwaukee Brewers. (History will remember this trade as the beginning of “The Closing of the Window.”) The salary dump allowed the Reds to shed Broxton’s nearly $11 million in future salary ($1 million for the rest of 2014 and the entire 10 million due in 2015).