The Cincinnati Reds are headed into another winter with Nick Krall and the rest of the front office expected back, and that decision looks harder to defend by the day.
The usual small-market explanation has taken a beating this season. Yes, the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and other heavyweights can throw money around in ways Cincinnati can’t.
That part of the gap is real. But the Brewers and Rays just punched their tickets to October, and they did it while operating in the same financial neighborhood the Reds keep pointing to as an excuse.
Milwaukee and Tampa Bay have shown what disciplined roster building can look like. According to Spotrac, the Reds rank 20th in payroll at $133 million.
The Rays sit 23rd at $107 million, and the Brewers are just ahead of Cincinnati at $145.5 million. In other words, the gap isn’t some impossible canyon.
That’s what makes the Reds’ situation so frustrating. They have the NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner in Sal Stewart, one of the game’s best young starters in Chase Burns, and a true superstar in Elly De La Cruz.
All three are still before arbitration, or in Burns’ case, before the terms of his extension. Together, they’ve produced the bulk of Cincinnati’s value while making a combined $2.3 million this season.
So the obvious question hangs over the rest of the roster and the rest of the budget: what has Cincinnati really done with the other $130 million? Not enough.
The Brewers and Rays keep showing the same formula. They move players before the price tag gets too high, reload through the pipeline, and squeeze value out of places other clubs miss.
They’re willing to make aggressive calls, too. Both clubs pursued Tarik Skubal at last year’s trade deadline.
The Reds, meanwhile, have built a reputation for talking about restraint and then spending in ways that don’t match the caution they claim they have to practice. Trading for Ke’Bryan Hayes and then treating his salary like a roadblock to further upgrades is exactly the kind of move that leaves a club stuck.
There’s also a stark contrast in how these organizations handle young pitching. Cincinnati and Milwaukee each had a young arm emerge as an ace this year, with Burns and Jacob Misiorowski filling those roles.
But the Brewers also dealt Freddy Peralta for a haul over the winter. The Reds kept Hunter Greene, and the result was five mediocre starts between elbow injuries, plus the fact that they’ll be without him for all of 2027.
That’s the heart of the issue. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay keep finding ways to think creatively, lean into development, and maximize what they have. Cincinnati keeps acting like every dollar is a crisis while still wasting the resources it does spend.
The Reds’ problem isn’t that they’re fighting the Dodgers, Yankees, or Mets on equal terms. It’s that they haven’t shown the kind of bold, efficient thinking that lets smaller clubs keep up anyway.
In Other News...
Terry Franconas Reds Future Suddenly Feels Bigger Than This Season
Terry Franconas arrival in Cincinnati was always going to be about more than one season, but the discussion around his future is already stretching beyond the immediate push on the field. He has a guaranteed year left on his contract, along with a club option for 2028, and team president Nick Krall made it clear the Reds expect to keep talking with him about where this goes next.
Francona has also given the front office every reason to treat him like a long-term fit. He recently picked up his 2,103rd managerial win, and his relationship with the Reds brass has been described as strong, which matters in a job where trust can shape everything from roster planning to clubhouse tone. For now, Francona is focused on continuing to manage, but the fact that his future is already part of the conversation says plenty about how the organization views him. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Just Got A Clearer Picture Of Who Controls 2027
Nick Krall gave Reds fans a little more clarity about the clubs long-term direction, saying he expects himself, the front office staff and the manager to be back for the 2027 season. For a team still sorting through its identity, that matters because it suggests continuity at the top even as the roster has lagged behind the rest of the division and the organization keeps trying to build around a small core of young players.
Krall also took responsibility for the clubs poor performance, a notable admission for a franchise that has spent much of this stretch looking for traction. Cincinnati has some financial flexibility to work with, but any plan to use it will have to account for a thin roster and the possibility of an offseason lockout, which could complicate how aggressively the Reds can reshape things before 2027 arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Have Every Reason To Doubt This Plan
Nick Kralls latest message to Reds fans was less about celebration than stability, with the president of baseball operations saying he expects the current front office and Terry Franconas staff to stay in place next season after talking with ownership. It was the kind of straight-ahead update that usually follows an underwhelming year, and Krall did not try to dress up the disappointment. He said the season fell short of expectations and took responsibility for the decisions made by baseball operations.
For a fan base that has watched this group reach the playoffs twice under Krall without winning a postseason game, the news is unlikely to inspire much immediate confidence. The Reds have also taken heat for some of the player signings and trades made during this stretch, so a promise of continuity may land more like a test than a reassurance. With ownership apparently aligned on keeping the current setup together, the real question is whether the organization can finally turn that patience into results. [Read more 🡒]