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Reds Sign Nick Krall To Extension, Promote Him To President Of Baseball Operations

By Anthony Franco | September 29, 2023 at 11:58pm CDT

The Reds have locked in their front office leadership. The club announced they’ve promoted Nick Krall from general manager to president of baseball operations. He also receives a contract extension of undisclosed length, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic. Meanwhile, Brad Meador has been promoted from assistant GM to general manager, solidifying him as the #2 person in the front office hierarchy.

“Nick has a great baseball mind and has shown exceptional leadership in advancing every aspect of our baseball operations,” CEO Bob Castellini said in a statement. “Nick and his staff have earned our confidence, and these moves help ensure the positive momentum will continue across the organization.”

Krall has led baseball operations for three seasons. The 45-year-old took the reigns when former president Dick Williams stepped away at the end of the 2020 campaign. Krall already held the GM title at that point, though as is the case with many front offices around the game, that came with the #2 role in the front office. Williams’ resignation pushed Krall to the top while he retained the GM title.

While he’s only been leading baseball operations for a few seasons, Krall has spent two decades with the organization. He began working as a scout in the early 2000’s and secured a front office position within a few years. The Reds promoted him to GM under Williams in May 2018.

Krall took control of the front office at an inflection point for the franchise. Cincinnati had targeted 2020 to emerge from their last rebuild. They went a little above .500 in the shortened season and were swept in the first round. They hovered around league average for the entire ’21 campaign, missing out on the playoffs after holding a Wild Card spot into September. At that point, the organization slashed payroll, kicking off another rebuild.

Cincinnati’s 2022 campaign was disastrous. The Reds lost 100 games for the second time in franchise history. After another quiet offseason, they entered this year with middling expectations. Cincinnati has surprisingly been one of the sport’s most improved teams. Barring a sweep this weekend at the hands of the Cardinals, they’ll finish with a winning record. They’re still in playoff contention in the season’s final few days, although they’d likely need to sweep St. Louis and get some help from both the Marlins and Cubs to qualify.

Much of that turnaround is attributable to a youth movement involving players acquired during their 2021-22 sell-off. Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand came over from the Twins in the Tyler Mahle deal at last summer’s deadline, arguably Krall’s best move to date. Noelvi Marte, the headliner of the Luis Castillo trade, is holding his own at the major league level as a 21-year-old. Brandon Williamson has turned in back-of-the-rotation results since being acquired in the Jesse Winker/Eugenio Suárez deal.

Matt McLain and Andrew Abbott — two of Cincinnati’s first four selections in the 2021 draft — are among the best rookie performers in the National League. Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo were selected while Williams was still leading the front office, though Krall was surely involved in those decisions as the #2 executive.

While there’s little question about the organization’s ability to stockpile young talent, it remains to be seen how effectively Krall and his staff can push the team to the next level. Cincinnati didn’t land the starting pitching they were seeking at this summer’s trade deadline. The likeliest outcome is that they’ll miss the playoffs for a third straight season. There’s plenty to like about the organization’s direction, making it unsurprising the Reds are committed to both Krall and fifth-year manager David Bell — who signed an extension running through 2026 in late July. They’ll no longer be a surprising upstart, however. Even if they fall shy of the postseason this year, next year’s club will have the highest expectations of Krall’s tenure atop baseball operations.

Meador, 48, has been atop the scouting and player development departments. He has been a member of the organization’s scouting group since 2009. Meador has surely played a key role in the selections of players like McLain, Abbott, Greene and Lodolo, as well as the signing of TJ Friedl as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

Promotions like this are fairly common in advance of the offseason. Teams typically grant employees permission to speak with other teams about job opportunities only if the other club is offering a higher position. By promoting Meador to GM, the Reds foreclose the possibility of losing him to another team that could’ve considered him as a candidate for the #2 job in their front office — presumably rewarding the longtime executive with a pay bump in the process.

Kiley McDaniel of ESPN first reported the promotions.

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Cincinnati Reds Newsstand Brad Meador Nick Krall

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View Comments (30)
Post a Comment

30 Comments

  1. Reynaldo

    2 years ago

    “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” type of promotion

    2
    Reply
    • iverbure

      2 years ago

      Kid gm knows how to get an extension. lol at that guy who hates in the gm.

      6
      Reply
  2. ohyeadam

    2 years ago

    New assistant gm spot. Lots of new positions opening throughout the league

    Reply
  3. Big whiffa

    2 years ago

    Kralls been in the same roll for 3 rebuilds. Now that one works he comes out of the shadow. Can’t say I blame him lol

    1
    Reply
    • dhud

      2 years ago

      Krall was promoted to GM in 2018

      Please count for me the 3 rebuilds in 5 seasons

      1
      Reply
      • Big whiffa

        2 years ago

        Dick Williams was a family friend. A fall guy. Krall pulled strings that whole time but knew the farm and talent combination equaled a doomed GM reign so he set up Dick to be the fall guy. Brilliant move ! And it’s crazy how offensive it is to some

        Reply
        • titanic struggle

          2 years ago

          Williams was family of the majority owners from the 75-76 teams. I was married to his Uncles niece..

          Reply
  4. acoss13

    2 years ago

    The Reds should be spending some money this offseason. The young talent is there, now Krall needs to supplement it with some free agent signings. Definitely should be looking at market for starting pitching for one.

    8
    Reply
    • oscar gamble

      2 years ago

      Hope the Reds don’t look at this season and figure that they don’t need to spend any money because it turned out ok this year.

      3
      Reply
    • Ban Jacob Nix. He knew Lindsey Hill was lying.

      2 years ago

      Should also identify who’s long term and who can be traded for a big bat or top of the rotation arm.

      I think Seattle and Cincy line up nicely there.

      2
      Reply
    • Big whiffa

      2 years ago

      Good lord if the reds start spending a bunch of money to “fix” the team – I’ll cry all offseason ! Votto and Bailey contracts set this franchise back a 1/2 a decade. Some of the worst contracts in baseball aren’t on the reds because players like yasmani grandel chose other teams. Now they are good and free agents will sign- the last thing they need is rotting contracts of 30+ year olds past their prime.

      Be the rays ! And 15-20 mil in payroll on 1 year deals over 3/4 players and make sure they all pitch.

      Reply
      • This one belongs to the Reds

        2 years ago

        To expect the Reds to go out suddenly and spend like the Padres or Mets in unrealistic. For one, they don’t have a good enough local TV deal and they are in bed with Bally’s so they can’t count on that anyway like half the sport. For another, this management team hasn’t shown the aptitude to get experienced major league talent.

        Some smart one to three year deals to supplement the holes until they get young reinforcements is probably the most realistic thing to expect, assuming they can pull it off. I hope Meador is more successful at that.

        Reply
  5. DonOsbourne

    2 years ago

    Krall should have waited until the offseason to accept this offer and shopped himself around before he got locked in as POBO. He may not have another platform season as strong as this one. Cincy’s ownership is never going to let him have total control.

    Reply
  6. This one belongs to the Reds

    2 years ago

    Maybe they think Meador can get some legitimate experienced major league talent this offseason.

    Proves the only saying, those who do, do, those who don’t get promoted.

    Reply
  7. Unclemike1525

    2 years ago

    Well he has amassed some decent talent, More than I thought he had at the start of the season I’ll admit, They still have a lot of holes. They have some decent young starters but a horrible bullpen and a ton of IF’s. Krall is going to have to make some savvy trades and RP signings to jump start this thing IMO, But I definitely have a more watchful eye on them than I did this season. They kind of snuck up on people this year, Does Krall have the stones to pull off the big deal? Or FA signing? Will management OK it? I feel like he’s still working with one hand tied behind his back but we’ll see I guess. They’re definitely more interesting to say the least. As a Cub fan this whole division should be up for grabs next year.

    1
    Reply
    • cguy

      2 years ago

      “horrible bullpen”? seriously? Reds relief pitching leads the ML with 11.2 WAR. Every one of their bullpen pieces return for 2024 except Buck Farmer. Even though on any given day about half their relief corp has been previously dfa(ed) from other clubs (Buck Farmer, Derek Law, Ian Gibaut, Alex Young, Fernando Cruz, & Daniel Duarte) their bullpen has kept them in the playoff hunt more than any other part of the team. Krall and DJ have done a great job in this area- and for practically no money.

      2
      Reply
      • gocats

        2 years ago

        According to fangraphs, their WAR is 6.0, not 11.2

        And their FIP ranks 22nd in MLB.

        Few people outside of Cincinnati thinks their bullpen is that good.

        1
        Reply
        • cguy

          2 years ago

          I quoted Baseball Reference which lists Reds RP as 11.2 in WAR and 5.1 in wins above AVERAGE, both the best among the 30 teams. Even using fangraphs stat- hard for someone to reasonably describe that as a “horrible bullpen”.

          1
          Reply
        • Jjjj

          2 years ago

          Few people inside Cincinnati think it’s great bullpen and most people don’t comprehend the subject or how the thing is accomplished.

          Reply
      • gocats

        2 years ago

        According to fangraphs, their WAR is 6.0, not 11.2

        And their FIP ranks 22nd in MLB.

        Few people outside of Cincinnati probably think their bullpen is in the top tier in MLB..

        Reply
        • JoeBrady

          2 years ago

          16th in OPS and 17th in ERA. and 48-30 record in a hitters park argues in favor of an average BP, at worst. The “horrible bullpen” remark was certainly off-target.

          2
          Reply
  8. Fire Krall

    2 years ago

    SH#[ CAN!

    Reply
  9. basketballguru89

    2 years ago

    Fire David Bell…but instead gave the man a 3 year extension smh

    Reply
    • Big whiffa

      2 years ago

      Right ! That’s my biggest knock on krall. Bell isn’t a candidate for any other manager job in the league.

      Reply
      • cguy

        2 years ago

        Might agree with you to some extent, but I believe Bell and his staff are a package deal Heaven forbid the Reds would lose Derek Johnson in manager replacement. Remember the Bryan Price regime?

        1
        Reply
      • This one belongs to the Reds

        2 years ago

        I am still amazed Bell gets the blame for the kid GM’s shortcomings. Bell can only use the players he has. I give him a lot of credit getting as far as he did with a bunch of dumpster dive pitchers, a worn out bullpen, and no vets in the starting rotation who would give them innings. Just as I give the kids a lot of credit for all those rallys and comeback wins. They went farther than their roster should have allowed.

        Reply
  10. Dorothy_Mantooth

    2 years ago

    You know what they say: “You have to learn to Krall before you start to win”

    2
    Reply
  11. Big whiffa

    2 years ago

    A place where krall has separated the reds from most of baseball is by drafting, international signings, and indentifying the right players to target in trades.

    Every trade he conducted over the past 3 seasons trading away mlb talent for prospects have hit big, they sign several top international players every year now, and reds drafting has been outstanding! The one caveat is that 2020 covid year 5 rd draft . Reds blew it in that draft which turned out to be loaded w talent.

    1
    Reply
  12. ShootyBabbit

    2 years ago

    Came here for Nick Kroll jokes, left empty-handed

    1
    Reply
  13. JoeBrady

    2 years ago

    They hovered around league average for the entire ’21 campaign, missing out on the playoffs after holding a Wild Card spot into September. At that point, the organization slashed payroll, kicking off another rebuild.
    ==========================
    That’s not really a rebuild. Decent+ in 2021 and decent+ in 2023, means they were only down one season. “Rebuilds”, imo, are those things where you take off 3-4 years.

    Reply

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