Reds have talked to Grady Sizemore about possible comeback

The Cincinnati Reds have recently talked to former Cleveland Indians All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore about a comeback.

Reds MLB.com beat writer Mark Sheldon shared the news on Friday via team general manager Walt Jocketty. Jocketty said he that he’s talked to Sizemore, but he’s “not sure where that is right now. With the holidays, not much has happened.” Jocketty said he believes Sizemore “appears to be” healthy.

The Reds are currently planning on playing rookie Billy Hamilton in center field next season. They had rental Shin-Soo Choo in that role last year after a trade with Arizona and Cleveland. Choo recently signed a mega seven-year $130 million deal with the Texas Rangers. Sizemore could then theoretically provide some insurance in Cincinnati’s outfield.

Now 31, Sizemore last played in a professional baseball game in September 2011. He then signed a $5 million deal with the Indians for 2012, but was never healthy enough to play. Last season, he shared that he would potentially join a team mid-season if healthy, but that also never came to be. Thus far this offseason, he’s reportedly already drawn interest from various teams.

SI.com’s Ben Reiter listed Sizemore as one of 10 under-the-radar free agents, noting that he could make a late-career comeback a la Carlos Beltran. He theorized that the New York Mets would be a great fit. FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski tweeted out a very depressing chart on Thursday about Sizemore’s rest-of-career projections as of the end of 2008. Former MLB outfielder and current Fox Sports Live analyst Gabe Kapler tweeted that he’d roll the dice on a Sizemore signing.

I’d think that more likely than not Sizemore won’t end up in Cleveland because of the team’s impressive MLB outfield depth, even with the recent trade of Drew Stubbs. Teams like the Reds or Mets make a little more sense for him to get a fresh start on his new career. I’m sure all Indians fans will wish him nothing but the best even as we lament on what could have been.

[Related from Aug. 2011: Have We Seen The Last of Grady Sizemore?]