Nick Krall Shares Bold Statement About Reds' Budget and Spending Approach

With the Winter Meeting in full swing, more and more information is coming out on what the Reds may or may not be doing this offseason. Reds' President of Baseball Operations, Nick Krall, gave an interesting perspective on how Cincinnati budgets each year.

“I think people look at every aspect where we can," Nick Krall told Mark Sheldon. "Our ownership group puts everything back into the team every year. They try to figure out how to break even every year. That’s how we budget. We’re trying to figure out how to best utilize that budget for the big-league club.”

The Reds have had a similar payroll since 2013, the first year Joey Votto's contract kicked in on his 10-year $225 million extension. The team has not done a great job in recent years with their "big contract signings. Mike Moustakas signed the largest free agent contract in Reds history in 2019 at four years, $64 million, and was DFA'd with $22 million still owed. In 2024, Jeimer Candelario was signed to a three-year $45 million deal and was DFA'd just a year and a half into his deal.

The Castellinis are not the wealthiest owners in baseball, but they do spend money, albeit poorly, in recent years. They have the chance to right the ship if they can manage to pull off a signing of Kyle Schwarber or a player of his pedigree.