With about three weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, there are still some notable free agents on the board but it doesn’t seem like the Reds are planning to be active in that department. The club kicked off their caravan tour today and Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer was there to talk to team personnel including general manager Nick Krall, who said that the roster is “pretty much set,” though the club could still bring in some more non-roster invitees.
There are certainly some areas of the roster where additional investment would be justified, but it doesn’t seem like the resources are there for the rebuilding club. It’s not exactly a shocking revelation as Krall has been downplaying the likelihood of significant upgrades since October. Since that time, the club has traded for Kevin Newman, Casey Legumina and Nick Solak while signing free agents Wil Myers, Luke Weaver, Curt Casali and Luke Maile. After those moves, the club’s payroll is just under the $100MM line, according to Roster Resource. That would be their lowest Opening Day figure since 2017, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, but it seems they’re committed to leaving plenty of runway to let their young players battle each other for future roles on the team. “We’ve got a solid group of guys both on the big league club and in our minor league system,” Krall said. “We have a lot solid young players at the big league level. It’s just continuing to develop out of our system.”
The rotation is perhaps the most intriguing part of the roster at the major league level. Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft all debuted last year and flashed good stuff, but with some polishing perhaps still required. Greene struck out 30.9% of batters faced but posted a 4.44 ERA, perhaps due to allowing 24 home runs in 125 2/3 innings. Ashcraft only struck out 15.3% of batters faced but got ground balls at a healthy 54.5% clip en route to a 4.89 ERA. Lodolo missed almost three months due to a lower back strain but was able to post a 3.66 ERA with a 29.7% strikeout rate when healthy. Those three will be joined by reclamation project Weaver, with Luis Cessa, Connor Overton and Justin Dunn among the options to fill out the back end. It’s possible that yet another highly touted prospect could join them at some point as Brandon Williamson finished last year at Triple-A.
The bullpen could also potentially be an interesting group for the club. Alexis Díaz debuted last year and posted a 1.84 ERA, taking over the closer’s job by season’s end. Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone both showed lots of potential over 2020 and 2021 but they each were set back by injuries last year. If they can both get healthy and back on track this year, it’s possible there’s a strong relief corps to build on in Cincinnati.
On the infield, it’s possible that the club will have some tough decisions to make down the road as most of their best youngsters play on the dirt. Baseball America recently released its top 100 list for this year, with infielders Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo and Cam Collier being the four Reds on the list. None of those players have reached Triple-A yet and won’t be able to help out immediately, but they will eventually join an infield currently manned by Kevin Newman, Jonathan India, Spencer Steer, Alejo López, Jose Barrero and Joey Votto. Newman seems like a placeholder and Votto is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, but the rest of that group are young and controllable for years to come.
The outfield is more of a hodgepodge of players who have had sprinklings of MLB time but without fully cementing themselves as viable solutions. Myers will give them one solid veteran next to Solak, TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley, Nick Senzel, Stuart Fairchild and Michael Siani. Behind the plate, Tyler Stephenson will be the primary catcher but he missed significant time due to various injuries in 2022, leading to the club bring in Maile and Casali so that Stephenson’s workload can be managed.
It’s unlikely that the Reds will find themselves in contention this year, but the individual performances of all these players could still shape the future of the franchise. There’s a decent amount of money coming off the books at the end of this year, as it’s the final guaranteed season for Votto and the now-released Mike Moustakas. That means there’s close to nothing on the books for 2024 and beyond. It’s possible the club could become more aggressive at that time, and how they dedicate those resources down the line will depend on how these players perform between now and then.
Well, duh….
Did they make any to begin with?
My heart goes out to you, Cincinnati Reds fans.
Same here. A great franchise, historically, but the last couple of decades have been rough.
Tip of the cap to you both. Last few years have been, in the immortal words, “and that’ll be a home run by Nick Casti”……I mean have been “a Titanic struggle” to say the least. And by looks of it, this particular sun has yet to set to be able to come out tomorrow. Best of luck this coming season to the rest of you
100 losses, 1.2M attendance, continued loss of a generation of Reds fans
I haven’t spent a cent on anything reds related in prob 7/8 yrs. Got me a burrow jersey though.
Haha what a sad organization
It is. But I will be laughing when all this young talent shows up next year (24) and contends for a wild card. And then wins the division the next year. All while Texas is trying to find out how to trade their insanely overpriced contracts and rebuild again.
What a sad mockery of my account by a troll who really hates Texas…
I would probably trade all the MLB non-prospects except for deGrom for Cincinnati’s team. Gray is greatly overpaid, Semien is worth half his deal, Pérez is the most overpaid in baseball, and the deals for Seager and Evoldi are unnecessary depth, when they need a left fielder. They should dump those deals or go all out. This in between nonsense needs to stop.
My first memories of baseball are when I was 4-5 years old, watching Cincinnati on the tv and listening to them on the radio with my grandpa back in 1975, in central Indiana.
The first MLB game I ever went to was at Wrigley Field and Johnny Bench was behind the plate.
I’ve been in St Louis now for more than 35 years but I feel bad for the Cincy fans and franchise. Such an amazing history there.
Shocker – Krall says, we’re doing nothing! Sell the team Bob.
I feel for Krall because the trades he’s made have been great and you could only wonder how good of a GM he could actually be with ownership support
He lost me with Puig Kemp. Looked a lot better of late. I liked the Castillo return. Gave up what I thought was a huge upside arm for Newman. So sitting back and seeing how that turns out. I would have just signed one of the 30 something ss on a 1 year deal. Newman is cheap and solid. Just really like Moreta.
The Puig Kemp was a creative salary dump. I didn’t feel like that was a trade anyone won or lost. I was just happy to watch Puig instead of another season of Homer Bailey on the DL
The only way u can say krall is good is to say he wasn’t in charge over Dick Williams. I find that hard to believe. Williams was his fall guy and reds ownership is just milking the system.
Go Nashville Reds !!
I’m not surprised. They are clearly rebuilding as well as waiting for Votto and Moustakas money to drop off. I still feel like the team is missing a veteran starter. The rotation has some good, promising young players, but it needs an innings eating veteran.
… and a miracle….
@Cincyfan – completely agree. A veteran arm in the rotation would really help limit the innings for such a young pitching staff. Guess the plan is to give their developing guys their set innings, then keep cycling through whatever dispensable arms they can find to cover the rest. Just like last season.
I really thought that there would be just one more major league pickup 🙁 I guess it was just wishful thinking.
Who’s the opening day starting pitcher on this team? So many unproven players in the projected starting 5…maybe Greene? Lodolo?
Actually wondering if Greene is a keeper in my league after I chose to keep Haniger and Correa over Alonso and Manoah last year …. OOF.
Greene was dominant the last month of the season, which was ignored or unknown by the writer. He came back from injury with a clear plan to go back to relying on the heater, but to pitch up in the zone. He is indeed a keeper.
Lodolo and Greene are both worthy; very happy with either.
My preference is Lodolo to start opening day
My sympathy to all Reds fans. Pirates A’s and Orioles fans as well. Might as well throw the Marlins fans in there for honorable mention although Marlins management does make the occasional attempt at improving their club.
Better add some more teams. If you don’t have a 100 million tv deal or 3 3.5 million attendance your aren’t going to have many playoff years unless you are top 5 in player development.
Pirates and Orioles look like they have gms that know what they are doing at least. I like their future better than COL KC Det
Wasn’t trying to get that deep into it. Just named a few teams that couldn’t care less about where they finish in the standings.
They care or they wouldn’t spend so much money and fire gms and managers. Not that 100 or 120 million is so much but they could just spend 40 50 million every year.
Imagine working in that building and seeing all the history on the walls around you….and then being okay with what that organization has become. Pathetic.
Nothing they can do about it. Local tv deals killed small markets. Unless you can out develop 20 other teams you can only hope for cycles of contending.
What an absolute dumpster fire of an organization.
What did anyone expect? Reds have a bunch of guys hitting the majors this year who don’t need to be blocked
Name them. Their #4 and 5 starters are going to be terrible, the bullpen will churn, their outfield is brutal
Brandon Williamson, Levi Stoudt, Elly De La Cruz, Connor Phillips, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Maybe Andrew Abbott and Noelvi Marte.
Not all those guys will hit the majors this year.
You’re right. Conner Phillips probably won’t.
Not a single living Reds fan should care if any of those players didn’t make it to the bigs this season. Especially if it meant competing.
First you have to Kraft before you can walk.
Job #1: Make sure the owners of the Reds are in the black.
“Castellini led a group that purchased the Reds from Lindner for $270 million, and in January 2006, Castellini was named the CEO of the franchise.”
According to Forbes, the Reds’ revenue in 2021 alone was $266 million, $4 million less than the purchase price of the franchise. Their operating income was $400,000 (by contrast, the Yankees’ operating income was -$40 million). The value of the Reds franchise as of March 2022 was estimated at $1.19 billion, a 10% increase from the previous year.
https://www.forbes.com/teams/cincinnati-reds/?sh=e2224d33003c
Can’t blame them for not spending money if their operating income was only $400K. They need to increase revenues to become a relevant franchise again.
Did you miss the part where the Yankees’ operating income was -$40 million and the value of the Reds franchise increased by 10%, roughly $119,000 in one year?
Baseball accounting is sketchy at best. I don’t believe the operating profit number. They get almost $70 million in national tv revenue, BAM proceeds, and revenue sharing. They’re paying for their payroll before opening day.
If the Reds are losing money, there is a simple solution, the owners should sell the team. They are not about to do that because the owners are raking in the dough.
We deserve better than this.
They are a long way from the days of the big red machine, the fans deserve better management. If the Ray’s can win on a small budget, why not the redlegs.
Because instead of firing Nick Krall they promoted him. Rays would keep trying new management until someone produced elite results.
AAA team with major league prices!
AAA team with major league prices
They need new ownership for sure. When you got the guy who created Big Mouth as your GM that doesn’t help. Lol. Seriously though I feel bad for Reds fans but hope my cubbies crush em this year.
He wasn’t a bad basketballer though. Maybe he could swing the bat?
This is gonna be a very long season for all Reds fans
Cubs, Brewers & Cards will feast on the Reds & Bucs this year. Despite their moves, Cubs are still likely 3rd place. With no WC coming from the Central, it will most likely take a division winner to make the playoffs.
Not enough division games anymore to feast on anyone. Pirates aren’t going to be a free win anymore anyways. Reds won’t be either in a few years.
Reds rotation is gonna be interesting to watch this year. I’m curious to see them progress
#FreeJoeyVotto from this abomination of a franchise.
Ladies and Gentlemen your 2023 Cincinnati Reds are complete. Or as complete as no money can make them. Wonder if this is the last straw to make Joey Votto leave, Which could be the whole point. Marge Schott was a spendthrift compared to these people.
Reds were about to actually be good then ownership was like yeah nah we wanna be like the Pirates.
Sell the team Bob!
Krall: Reds unlikely to make further baseball activities.
AAA Team charging major league prices!
They could be ready for a run in 2025.
Reds have put themselves and fans in a tough spot, attendance is down and with team it may not increase, they could use another starter, if any injuries occur they’ll be very short handed, they could use another big stick since our stadium is so hitting friendly, wishful thinking
Nice to know that the Pirates won’t be fighting for last place in the division this year. It’s all yours Cinci.
Benintendi is from the natti. That’s a sign that could have happened and be great sign of life for fans. Him Myers Gibson and chapman would have put a competitive team on the field.
When the Astros were in the NL West and NL Central, I HATED the Reds. Now, I feel bad for their fans and players. Joey Votto could be a HOFer if he played for a different franchise. Multiple seasons getting on base over 300 times but barely 100 runs each time. No support, sad.
If you look at his all time WAR, he is the 12th best First Baseman of all time. How is he not getting into the Hall? How is this a question?
I think he belongs in the HOF and hope he’s voted in but will he?
Who would Reds fans rather have as an owner: Bob Castellini or Arte Moreno?
One refuses to spend beyond a handful of one-year or minor league deals and has no problem with mediocre to bad results, the other will spend big money on all the wrong players while still netting mediocre to bad results
Great another 100 loss season
Isn’t it interesting that a family owned and even more poorly run professional sports team is thriving two blocks away from the Reds? I wonder why? As long as there is no salary cap in baseball it will continue to fall further and further behind the NFL and NBA.
With the possible exception of the St. Louis Browns, the Reds are the worst ran franchise in baseball history.
When I was young, I remember watching the Reds vs Red Sox World Series. I was rooting for the Reds. They were great, exciting and I was hanging on every pitch of every game. What a team they were!
Sorry your FO is a disaster. As a lifelong Mets fan, I can absolutely sympathize. I hope that your team has an ‘against the odds’ season. Good luck.
“ Krall has been downplaying the likelihood of significant upgrades since October. Since that time, the club has traded for Werner Uurbreninng, Jerf Bolby and Herming Violette while signing free agents Kip Jeggs, Tank Toulmne, Steele Cremingholm and Job Grighorner.”
Why can’t the Reds’ ownership understand it takes spending money to make money. Imagine if they put a competitive team on the field, how many more fans attending games, buying crap playoff money, what are these morons thinking?
AAA team with major league prices for fans.