LOS ANGELES — The clock was ticking on July 31. “It was late,” general manager Brad Meador said. “Almost right at the trade deadline.” The Reds desperately needed some more punch against left-handed pitching, and that was a big focus for the front office leading up to the deadline.

Since the start of last season, Miguel Andujar has the best batting average in MLB vs. LHP (.397) among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. He’s in a contract year and was on the rebuilding Athletics, so Andujar was a very obvious target.

The Reds just had to push the deal across the finish line.

“We were going back and forth,” Meador said. “It happened late, but it didn’t start late. Going into the trade deadline, we had things that we were targeting. For the most part, we were able to achieve all o

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