Micah Owings stays with Reds, accepts Triple-A assignment

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty apparently wasn’t kidding when he said there was “not a lot of interest” in Micah Owings from other teams after the right-hander was designated for assignment last week. Owings cleared waivers and has accepted an assignment to Triple-A, which means he’ll remain in the Reds organization while losing his spot on the 40-man roster. He’ll try to get back on track in the minors, but Owings is unlikely to receive a September call-up now that a 40-man spot would need to be cleared for his return. He’s still just 27 years old and at one point looked like a potential middle-of-the-rotation starter long term, but Owings has ERAs of 5.93, 5.34, and 5.40 over the past three seasons and given his strong track record offensively I continue to think he’d be better off ditching pitching for an attempt at becoming a full-time position player. He has a .293 batting average and .538 slugging percentage in 198 career plate appearances and also starred as a hitter in college.