The Cincinnati Reds are staring at a problem bigger than the standings. The losing matters, sure. But what should really set off alarms inside the organization is the way the fanbase is starting to drift away.
Cincinnati hasn’t won a playoff series since 1995, a drought that now stands as the longest active one in professional sports. Read that again.
The Reds haven’t advanced in the postseason in 32 years, and unless they pull off a September surge, they’ll miss the playoffs for the 11th time in 13 seasons. In that 32-year stretch since their last October series win, they’ve reached the postseason only five times, including the expanded 2020 field.
That kind of stretch has shaped an entire generation of Reds fans who have never seen the club make a real postseason run. They know the stories of the Big Red Machine from the 1970s.
They’ve probably watched clips of the 1990 wire-to-wire champions. But for the newest wave of fans, the closest thing to a meaningful October breakthrough came on October 11, 2012, when Buster Posey finished off a six-run inning with a grand slam that put the Giants ahead 6-0 in Game 5 of the NLDS.
Since then, the franchise has too often felt like it has let elite talent slip through its hands. Fans have watched the organization effectively waste the Hall of Fame career of Joey Votto, and now there’s a growing sense that the same thing could happen with Elly De La Cruz. Cincinnati has already gone through two full rebuilds since 2014, and a third could be coming when this season ends.
That’s where the real danger lies. The Reds are still a baseball town, but some of the most loyal supporters are beginning to lose trust.
A big chunk of the fanbase is getting close to apathy, the point where they just stop caring. That should be the loudest warning sign of all.
The calls to “Sell the team!” have been around for years, but that’s not the move that changes anything in the short term.
The ownership group is staying put. The front office, though, is another story.
Nick Krall, Brad Meador, and anyone else tied to the last half-decade of this mess need to go.
Who replaces them is almost beside the point. The change has to be visible, and it has to be real.
Some fans may want someone with small-market experience. Others might want a bigger name such as A.J.
Preller or Mike Hazen. Either way, the current group can’t keep running the show.
Terry Francona is a different question. His credentials are beyond dispute.
He’s a Hall of Fame manager, and he got last year’s team to the postseason. Whether the game has passed him by is a fair debate, but he knows more baseball than almost anyone around.
Still, if a new leadership structure comes in, he’d have to be on board with what comes next, and that might mean another rebuild. Whether he’d want to stay for that is another matter.
The rebuild word is the one that makes fans cringe, and for good reason. The returns from dealing Luis Castillo, Jesse Winker, Sonny Gray, and others haven’t exactly inspired confidence.
Even so, the roster has a thin look outside of Elly De La Cruz, Chase Burns, and Sal Stewart. The farm system has a few names worth watching - Alfredo Duno, Steele Hall, and now Justin Lebron - but all three are probably at least two years away.
If rebuild feels too harsh, call it a reset. The label doesn’t change much. With CBA talks looming, 2027 is starting to look like the time for Cincinnati to hit that reset button and shift its focus toward De La Cruz’s final two arbitration-eligible seasons in 2028 and 2029.
None of that future planning matters much, though, if ownership doesn’t act after the 2026 season. The fanbase is asking for a fresh start. If the Reds don’t answer that call, some of those fans may decide their time, energy, and money are better spent somewhere else.
In Other News...
Sal Stewart Suddenly Has A Real Rookie Of The Year Threat
The National League Rookie of the Year conversation has tightened into a familiar two-man debate for much of the year, with Sal Stewart and JJ Wetherholt trading the spotlight as the calendar moved into the second half. Stewart has been a major part of the Reds offense and sits atop NL rookies in several key categories, giving Cincinnati a legitimate case built on both production and consistency. Even with the playoffs fading from view, his body of work has kept him squarely in the middle of the award race.
Carson Benge has now forced his way into that discussion, though, and it comes at a time when voters are likely to weigh more than just raw numbers. The Mets outfielder has made a real jump since the All-Star break, enough to turn what looked like a two-player race into something less settled. For Stewart, the issue is no longer simply whether he has been good enough, but whether the total value he has provided to the Reds can still separate him from a pair of challengers gaining ground at the right time. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Future Power Surge Is Creating A Tough Roster Question
The Reds disappointing 2026 season has only sharpened the focus on what might be coming next, and the loudest sign of optimism is coming from the farm. Daytons High-A club turned heads by setting a single-season home run record with 153 blasts, a total fueled by prospects Carter Graham and Alfredo Duno before both moved on to Double-A Chattanooga. It was the kind of power surge that can change the mood around an organization in a hurry, especially for a fan base hungry for reasons to look past the present.
Now the question shifts from production to placement. On the big-league side, Sal Stewart is already leading the Reds in home runs, while Dunos rapid rise has started to raise a familiar roster conversation behind the plate, where Tyler Stephensons status looms over the long-term picture. The Reds may have more power on the way than they know what to do with, and sorting out where all of it fits could become one of the more interesting decisions of the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Reds May Have To Make A Brutal Chase Burns Call
Chase Burns has been one of the more interesting developments in Cincinnatis season, but the workload is starting to catch up with him. After already moving past his previous career high in innings pitched, the rookie right-hander has shown signs of fatigue, and the Reds are now weighing whether the safest move is to shut him down for the rest of the year and protect his long-term health.
Terry Francona also said Michael Toglia will undergo season-ending surgery for a labrum tear, a reminder of how quickly a season can shift from evaluating talent to managing bodies. For the Reds, the Burns decision looms larger because it is not just about this stretch run, but about how aggressively they want to push a young arm when the warning signs are already there. [Read more 🡒]