Nick Krall is once again under the microscope in Cincinnati, and the latest chatter around the Reds’ front office has only turned up the heat.
MLB Network’s Brian Kenny put Krall in his “trouble in paradise” category while sizing up executives around the league, a label that lands especially hard with the Reds sitting in last place in the National League Central and already eliminated from postseason contention last week.
“The Reds were very promising three years ago,” Kenny said. “But that's three years ago.
Nick Krall says he's coming back; the front office will remain intact. They have a nice talent base, but a lot of underperformance and a lot of guys getting injured.
One playoff appearance in six years.”
That scrutiny comes with the Reds fresh off a season that fell well short of expectations after their playoff run, even if that run was described as fluky. Over the last six years, Cincinnati has reached the postseason just once, and Krall’s tenure has drawn plenty of criticism for trades and contract decisions that haven’t aged well.
Krall didn’t dodge responsibility when asked about the season.
“It’s been a very tough season,” Krall told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Enquirer. ”Obviously, it all comes back on me. And we’ve got to make better decisions as an organization, and that’s on me.”
He added: “You can make all the excuses you want, but at the end of the day we haven’t done what we set out to do, and we’ve got to figure out how to do a better job going into next year,”
The Reds’ front office has been tied to a string of expensive mistakes, including two contracts they ultimately had to eat at more than $20 million apiece over the last three seasons. Cincinnati released Mike Moustakas in 2023 with $22 million still left on his $65 million deal, then cut bait on Jeimer Candelario a little over a year into his three-year, $45 million contract and absorbed $22.5 million.
The pressure doesn’t stop there. The Reds also traded for Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is due $30 million over the next three seasons, along with a $12 million club option for 2030 and a potential $23 million qualifying offer for Brady Singer.
On top of that, Cincinnati’s farm system is viewed as one of the weaker ones in the league, which makes it tougher to swing trades for impact help. And the big league roster doesn’t offer much in the way of easy chips to restock the pipeline either, unless the Reds were willing to move Elly De La Cruz, Chase Burns, or Sal Stewart.
That’s the bind facing the Reds now: limited room for error, a thin farm system, and a front office that keeps getting asked to explain why the results still haven’t matched the promise.
In Other News...
Elly De La Cruz Just Made The NL MVP Race Feel Real
Elly De La Cruz has already turned an electric season into something more than a highlight reel, and now its showing up in the MVP conversation, too. A recent MLB.com poll has the Reds shortstop tied with Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski for top-three National League MVP honors, a sign that De La Cruzs production has carried real weight even with time lost to injury. His offensive and defensive numbers have climbed to career highs, giving Cincinnati a legitimate star to point to as the seasons awards chatter sharpens.
Misiorowskis case brings a different kind of intrigue, because pitchers almost never win MVP and the debate around the award still leans heavily toward everyday players. The poll underscores how unusual this race feels, with De La Cruzs all-around impact stacking up against one of the leagues most effective arms. For the Reds, it is the kind of recognition that says De La Cruz has moved beyond promise and into the center of a much bigger argument about what the NLs most valuable player should look like. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Slide Is Putting The Real Blame In A Harsh New Light
David Bells firing on Sept. 22, 2024, was supposed to mark the start of a reset for the Reds, and Terry Franconas arrival for the 2025 season seemed to give the club a more seasoned hand at the top. Cincinnati did get back to the postseason that year, a step that looked like progress after four straight seasons without a playoff berth under Bell. But the follow-up has been less encouraging, with the Reds 2026 slide putting the whole arc of the last two years in a tougher light.
Francona has changed the face of the dugout, but the larger question is whether the real problem sits higher up the chain. The clubs current struggles point back to broader organizational issues, with president of baseball operations Nick Krall drawing sharper scrutiny as the Reds try to explain why the promise of a new managerial era has not translated into lasting stability. [Read more 🡒]
Barry Larkin Just Put The Reds' Biggest Problem Back In Focus
The Reds rough season has put an old debate back in the spotlight, and Barry Larkin is helping keep it there. With Cincinnati tracking toward the bottom of the NL Central, the Hall of Famer has been among the former players publicly voicing concern about where the club stands, joining Joey Votto in pointing to a larger issue than just one disappointing year.
For Cincinnati, the problem has long been tied to payroll and the realities of being a small-market team, and this slump only sharpens that conversation. MLBs proposal for a hard salary cap and floor in 2027 could eventually reshape that landscape, but for now the Reds are still living with the same question that has followed them for years: how to compete consistently when the margin for spending is so tight. [Read more 🡒]