Reds GM Nick Krall spoke with reporters recently during the club’s end-of-season press conference, including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com and Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The presser covered a wide array of topics from the club’s offseason plans and budget, to a retrospective on Cincinnati’s inaction at the trade deadline this year, to the club’s impending club option decision on future Hall of Famer Joey Votto.
Regarding the trade deadline, Krall stood firm on his decision to largely stand pat this summer, only adding left-handed reliever Sam Moll to a club that was in first place in the NL Central on deadline day but wound up with a record of just 82-80 on the season after going just 23-31 after the calendar flipped to August. Starting pitching was by far the club’s biggest unfilled need, as they sported an MLB-worst rotation ERA of 5.91 following the trade deadline.
When asked about the club’s inaction, Krall noted that rival teams set exorbitant asking prices involving players who contributed to the major league roster this season. As relayed by Sheldon, Krall indicated that right-hander Connor Phillips, infielders Matt McLain and Spencer Steer, first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand and left-hander Andrew Abbott were all checked in upon by rival clubs this past summer, with Abbott in particular being the requested return for a rental player.
Looking ahead to the offseason, the Reds have a glut of position players between which they’ll need to sort through, to say nothing of potential external additions or the looming decision on Votto. On the infield, the club sports McLain, Steer, Encarnacion-Strand, Noelvi Marte, Elly De La Cruz, and Jonathan India all in need of regular at-bats. Meanwhile, the outfield picture features Jake Fraley, TJ Friedl, Stuart Fairchild, and Will Benson. Nick Senzel is another piece of the puzzle with experience in both the infield and the outfield, but he appears to be a candidate for a trade or non-tender after another weak offensive season where he slashed just .236/.297/.399 in 330 trips to the plate.
Krall made clear that the club hasn’t discussed moving either India or De La Cruz to the outfield as a potential way to clear the infield logjam. He did note, however, that Steer played well in the outfield corners across 38 starts at the positions this season, leaving the door open to more time spent on the grass in 2024. Of course, installing Steer as a regular outfielder would cut into the playing time available for Friedl, Fraley, Fairchild, and Benson. That’s particularly true of Fraley and Benson, both of whom were largely limited to the outfield corners and DH this season with little to no reps in center. However the club ultimately sorts out playing time for their wealth of young players, Krall made clear that manager David Bell will return in 2024- hardly a surprise after the club extended him earlier this year- and that he’ll retain his entire coaching staff for next season, as well.
Regarding Votto, Krall indicated that the club hasn’t yet discussed whether or not to pick up his $20MM club option for 2024. The option is effectively a $13MM decision given the $7MM buyout Votto stands to be paid if the option is declined. The decision on Votto is due five days after the World Series. In discussing Votto’s option, Krall revealed that the organization has yet to determine the club’s baseball operations budget for 2024, with meetings regarding the topic scheduled for next week. That said, the club’s unsettled budget situation hasn’t stopped the Reds from broaching the topic of extensions with some of their young players, as Krall noting that more pre-arbitration extensions in the vein of the one right-hander Hunter Greene inked earlier this year were a “possibility.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmeyer adds that a major stumbling block for the sides is how much playing time will be available to Votto next year. Even in moving Steer to the outfield full-time, the Reds would have five infielders in need of regular playing time next season on top of the crowded outfield mix. Offseason trades could help clear the positional logjam, of course, but the sort of trades available to the Reds this offseason, much like their impending decision on Votto, would be impacted by the club’s budget for next season. Wittenmeyer adds that Brandon Belt’s impending departure for Votto’s hometown Blue Jays could add another wrinkle for the sides, as he describes Toronto as “the one franchise besides the Reds that would benefit from significant marquee name value from Votto beyond baseball performance.”
