Krall: Reds’ 2026 Payroll Will Be “Around The Same” As 2025 Levels

The Reds enter the offseason likely to seek bullpen help and multiple upgrades within the lineup, but they won’t have an especially lofty budget for achieving those goals. President of baseball operations Nick Krall said Tuesday that 2026’s budget “will be around the same as our payroll from 2025” (link via C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic).

Cincinnati opened the 2025 season with a roughly $112MM payroll and finished around $116MM, per Cot’s Contracts. RosterResource pegs their end-of-season number a bit higher, at about $119MM.

Regardless, running back the same payroll gives the Reds a bit of spending power but not all that much. They’re currently projected for a payroll around $91MM, per RosterResource. That’s before option decisions on relievers Scott Barlow and Brent Suter. Barlow’s $6.5MM option seems likely to be bought out. Suter is a bit more of a borderline call at $3MM but could still be cut loose (or re-signed to a restructured deal with lighter immediate payroll implications, as was the case for the Cincinnati native this time last year).

The 2025 Reds nabbed the final NL Wild Card spot and saw an attendance increase of about 147,000 over their 2024 levels. However, the 2025 payroll was up about $20MM over the prior season, so much of the increased attendance revenue was offset by a more expensive on-field product. Reds ownership has never trotted out an Opening Day payroll north of roughly $127MM — though their prorated $55.5MM Opening Day payroll in 2020 indicates they’d have set a new franchise-high were it not for that year’s shortened schedule.

Cincinnati currently has just three players signed to guaranteed contracts for the 2026 season. Ace Hunter Greene will earn $8MM, while third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is owed $7MM and catcher Jose Trevino is owed $5.25MM. Assuming the options on Barlow, Suter and outfielder Austin Hays (a $12MM mutual option) are bought out, their only other financial commitments will be in arbitration. The Reds already outrighted infielder Santiago Espinal and reliever Ian Gibaut, sparing themselves a projected $4.6MM in salary between the two of them.

The Reds still have 12 arbitration-eligible players even after that pair of outrights (effectively non-tenders), but the only players projected to earn more than $5MM are right-hander Brady Singer ($11.9MM) and catcher Tyler Stephenson ($6.4MM). Any of Gavin Lux ($5MM), Sam Moll ($1.2MM) or Will Benson ($1.7MM) could be non-tendered or traded to buy a little extra breathing room. Speculatively, the pitching-rich Reds could swap out Singer for a comparably priced veteran bat to plug into their outfield (e.g. Taylor Ward).

Krall has downplayed the possibility of trading a starter, but the quintet of Greene, Singer, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and top prospect Chase Burns is strong as it is, and well-regarded young arms like Chase Petty and Rhett Lowder loom as rotation possibilities as well.

Adding to the bullpen also figures to be on Krall’s to-do list. Closer Emilio Pagan is a free agent. Holdovers Tony Santillan, Graham Ashcraft and Connor Phillips all showed well in 2025 (Phillips in a fairly small 25-inning sample), while young flamethrowers Luis Mey and Zach Maxwell provide some upside. Still, there’s not much end-of-the-game certainty among the group, making a few reasonably priced bullpen pickups seem likely.

Depending on further non-tenders and some potential trades, it seems the Reds probably have room for one big-ticket item. A major bat like Pete Alonso or Cincinnati native Kyle Schwarber would be highly out of character, but there’s probably enough payroll flexibility to make that type of splash if the other moves are minimally priced. The likelier outcome would be a handful of more measured, mid-range additions to the roster, likely with a bit of wiggle room left for in-season maneuverings like we saw with this summer’s acquisitions of Zack Littell and Miguel Andujar.