Matt Harvey is still a Red, so now what?

DETROIT – As the 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline passed, Matt Harvey spent it on the field at Comerica Park, throwing with his teammates.

When it became evident that Harvey would be staying in Cincinnati, he high-fived his teammates and moved on – it was the opposite of #HugWatch.

Harvey said it wasn’t unexpected, that his agent, Scott Boras, had told him he thought he’d still be a Red after the deadline passed. Harvey and Boras were in the minority though.

From the time the Reds traded for Harvey on May 8, his time with the team was destined to end by Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline. Yet, there he was Tuesday and he’s scheduled to be on the mound Saturday in Washington.

“It’s a good feeling to have gotten into a place where, I know coming over here, there was all the talk about getting flipped right away as soon as things came back,” Harvey said before Tuesday’s game with the Tigers. “To be on the other end of that where they want me here, it’s nice to know that.”

Not so much that he’s ready to talk about an extension or anything like that, but happy nonetheless.

Dick Williams, the Reds’ president of baseball operations, said the team had conversations about all sorts of deals involving multiple players after Monday night’s deal for Adam Duvall, but nothing came to fruition.

“You have to set limits for yourself for what you’re willing to do and try as hard as you can to get deals done within those parameters and if they don’t happen, you have to be willing to accept it and move forward,” Williams said.

The Brewers, Braves, Cubs and Giants were all believed to be potential landing spots for Harvey in the final hours leading up to 4 p.m.

It was surprising because Harvey is a free agent and was widely seen as a reclamation project for the Reds. He’s pitched well in his time with the Reds, going 5-4 with a 4.44 ERA in 14 starts. He hit 98 mph on the radar gun in his last start, his highest reading of the season. That led many to think that someone would take a chance on him in an attempt to bolster their bullpen.

Nobody met the Reds’ asking price, which was apparently more than nothing.

Harvey could still be moved, but it would require him to either clear waivers or working out a deal with a team that would claim him on waivers.

The gamble when the Reds made the trade in May was that the team would receive more in a trade from Harvey at the deadline than the player they sent to the Mets, Devin Mesoraco. Mesoraco, it should be noted, wasn’t traded either.

The Reds used a six-man starting rotation since the return of Homer Bailey leading up to the deadline. Neither interim manager Jim Riggleman nor Williams was willing to commit to that plan going forward. Riggleman said the front office and the coaching staff would meet in Washington, D.C., to discuss the plan going forward.

Harvey’s presence would seem to delay a return engagement from Robert Stephenson, the team’s former top prospect who has been exceptional at Triple-A this season, going 10-6 with a 3.03 ERA in 19 starts for the Bats. The Louisville rotation could get even more crowded with the Monday night addition of right-handers Lucas Sims and Matt Wisler, who came over in the trade that sent Adam Duvall to the Braves.

“Between now and the end of the year, we do want to see some of the guys that are performing well at Triple-A up here,” Williams said. “There is certainly going to be the challenge of getting everybody the appropriate amount of starts. But we understand that we’ll work on different scenarios to accomplish that. In the interim, going with the six-man isn’t the worst thing. You don’t necessarily want to do that for an extended period of time.”

Now Harvey sits in the rotation, along with fellow veterans Bailey and Anthony DeSclafani, as well as younger pitchers Tyler Mahle, Luis Castillo and Sal Romano. Dealing Harvey would not only have brought back some sort of prospect but also could have opened opportunities for other pitchers at the big-league level in the final two months of a rebuilding season.

Still, Williams said he wouldn’t classify the Harvey deal as a failure despite the need to get something in return for a player who is nearly certainly headed for free agency.

“The acquisition of Matt Harvey has been a huge positive for us, period,” Williams said. “We got the guy because we wanted to stabilize our pitching and we wanted a guy that was going to come over here and make a positive impact. We took a risk – it paid off. He’s been a positive impact in the clubhouse. He’s been a positive impact on the field. Coinciding with his arrival, the team started to play significantly better. It wasn’t solely due to him but it did coincide with his arrival that we began to play better. It’s been a huge positive having him here.

“We didn’t get him just to flip him. Everybody knows the reality of his contract situation. He’s a free agent at the end of the year. We understand that and are open to moving him if the appropriate deal comes along. We said all along, you can’t execute a good trade if you put yourself in a position of feeling like you have to have one done by the end of the day. We set, what we thought, were appropriate parameters and we held to it. In the interim, he is very much bringing positive contributions to our team.”

(Top image: Matt Harvey by David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)