History Repeats Itself With Latest Cincinnati Reds Signing

The Cincinnati Reds entered the offseason with a few key needs. They needed an upgrade to their lineup (preferably a powerful one), and they needed to reimagine their bullpen.

As has been in years past, Nick Krall took the shopping list to the grocery store and forgot half of the important items. You could argue he got the potatoes and left out the meat.

With the report that the Reds will guarantee $6.5 million to brand new reliever Pierce Johnson, you can effectively close the book on the Reds adding an impact bat. Unless there is more money in the budget than Krall said at the beginning of the offseason (which I doubt) or the Reds get creative and move some players to open up some more money for more moves (which I also doubt) then nothing more of consequence will take place.

Krall said that payroll would look largely similar to last season. The Reds are also one of nine teams to cut ties with their television broadcaster amidst continuing turmoil with the whole Regional Sports Network model. So payroll was already not changing and NOW revenue may be lessening.

For a budget-conscious franchise such as the Reds, that ain’t good.

Now I plead for them to explore some kind of trade that involves Brady Singer, or Gavin Lux, or both, to free up their money and go get a power bat. It feels as though the Reds' payroll is full of guys who are receiving money for a role that is either lesser than what the Reds should pay for that role, or totally undefined.

Singer is the fourth-best starter, moving forward, on this roster. You could argue he is lower on the depth chart depending on the health of Rhett Lowder. Yet Singer is the top-paid player on the team.

Lux is being tabbed as a DH but has HEAVY platoon splits and has been average, at best, in the field. His best role would be as a bench bat who has seen multiple positions. Yet he is the eighth-highest-paid player on the roster (after Johnson's addition).

The bullpen looks good. It is definitely a top-15 bullpen, when you consider all of MLB, with top-10 upside.

The lineup is not in the top 15 of MLB. It was right on that line last year (depending on which stat you look at), and it no longer includes Austin Hays, which means it’s worse.

It would appear that, in lieu of legitimate upgrades, the Reds will once again turn to hope. You know the one…that left fielder who is 6’ 6” with a cannon for an arm and a power bat that will knock the Tundra off its pedestal…in our imaginations?

Krall had a chance to make a legitimate impact on this roster. Now, without something happening that I would deem “unpredictable,” the Reds will enter 2026 with a glaring hole that looks a lot like the glaring hole the entered 2025 with.

Here’s hoping I am wrong.