update: Tejay Antone resigned with the Reds today 11/14/2025 and will return. He is eyeing pitching in the big leagues after a third TJ, which is very difficult to do! Welcome back, Tej!
Tejay Antone’s time with the Cincinnati Reds has officially come to a close—at least for now. After missing another full season with injuries, aka his third Tommy John, the right-handed reliever has elected free agency following the 2025 season, ending a long and frustrating chapter defined by what could have been, should that elbow of remained in tact. One of the Reds most gracious players, may not be a Red going forward after all.
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Antone, once considered one of the Reds’ highest-upside bullpen arms, never managed to fully rebound from back-to-back Tommy John surgeries and repeated elbow and forearm issues. He missed all of 2025 after having his THIRD Tommy John surgery, a feat not many make it back from.
The Reds held out hope that Antone could eventually rediscover the dominance he showed in 2020 and 2021, where his high-spin slider and turbo sinker made him one of MLB’s most unhittable late-inning arms. But recurring setbacks kept derailing each attempted comeback.
At the end of the 2025 season, Antone had been throwing again, but not worth rostering as he’s still quite far away from being ready to throw in the big leagues again. He’s currently going to test the open market and will remain loyal to the Reds should they decide they want him back.
For Antone, free agency represents a fresh start — a chance to find a club willing to invest in his rehab, trust his upside, and potentially give him a clearer path back to meaningful innings. Teams in need of low-risk, high-reward bullpen arms will undoubtedly look closely at him this offseason. If it’s not the Reds signing him, one team, a smart team, will give him a chance with an MiLB contract and an invite to spring training. I’m going to be rooting for him HARDCORE.
The Reds, meanwhile, part ways with a pitcher who showed flashes of brilliance but never received the healthy stretch needed to fulfill his potential in Cincinnati. It’s the end of a tough chapter, but potentially the beginning of a new one—both for Antone and whichever team gives him his next opportunity. Like we said, though, it’s just…for now. Tejay Antone is very loyal to the Reds and could easily be brought back on an MiLB deal. This move is simply to remove him from the organizational depth chart, as they do every year and did last year, too, when they non-tendered him.
