Christmas may have come early for the Reds, but the real work is just getting started.
With the 2026 World Series in the rearview mirror and the 2027 offseason opening at 4 p.m. CST on November 2, Cincinnati already made a pair of major financial moves. The club declined the options on 3B/DH Eugenio Suarez and RHP Pierce Johnson, and those decisions saved $23 million once Johnson’s $1 million buyout is included.
There was more good news after that. Closer Emilio Pagan turned down his $10 million player option for 2027, giving the Reds another layer of payroll flexibility. In all, those three moves opened up $33 million in space and pushed Cincinnati’s 2027 payroll obligations to around $92 million, before any non-tenders are factored in.
That gives the Reds a real chance to shape the roster around their best pieces. The core is clear: Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart, and Chase Burns are the three superstars the front office can build around, and Hunter Greene gives them a fourth elite talent even though he won’t be back from Tommy John surgery until 2028. With that group in place, Cincinnati has a path to putting a playoff-caliber team on the field in 2027 and beyond.
There’s still some business to handle behind the scenes, starting with the coaching staff. The club has already said hitting coach Chris Valaika will return for 2027, but it still needs a new pitching coach.
The ideal hire, according to the source material, would be someone with experience and a strong record of helping pitchers develop and take the next step. Matt Blake of the Yankees was available for a few weeks, but he has since re-signed.
The recommendation here is Rick Knapp, currently the Rays’ assistant pitching coach. His résumé is built on development, and the clearest example is what he did with Justin Verlander.
In 2008, Verlander went 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA, 201 innings pitched, and 163 strikeouts. The next year, he jumped to 19-9 with a 3.45 ERA, 240 innings pitched, and 269 strikeouts.
Verlander then stayed dominant in 2010 and took another leap in 2011, winning the AL Cy Young Award, AL MVP Award, and pitching Triple Crown with a 24-5 record, a 2.40 ERA, 251 innings pitched, and 250 strikeouts.
The idea is that several Reds pitchers could benefit from that kind of guidance. The source points to Knapp’s Detroit track record and also credits the Rays’ work developing pitchers of all ages as proof of what his methods can do.
Even with the payroll room and the top-end talent, the roster still has a clear shape problem. After roughly the first 12 players on the 26-man roster, the drop-off becomes obvious. That’s why this offseason matters so much: Cincinnati has a chance to build around its biggest names and follow a Rays/Brewers-style model of sustained success.
There are already some free-agent fits on the board. The names listed as possibilities are RHP Nick Pivetta, LHP Jeffrey Springs, LHP Adrian Morejon, RHP Bryan Abreu, RHP Johnathan Loaisiga, 3B Alec Bohm, and C Austin Hedges. A reunion with right-handed starter Brady Singer is also described as a possibility, especially with his three straight seasons of 31 or more starts.
The trade market matters too. The source highlights A’s relievers LHP Hogan Harris and RHP Luis Medina, along with CF Denzel Clarke. It also points to Twins OF Trevor Larnach and Nationals OF Dylan Crews and CF Jacob Young as names to watch on the trade front.
In Other News...
Reds Infield Overhaul Could Hinge On One Surprising Market
The Reds infield picture is suddenly looking a lot less settled than it did a few weeks ago, with the club weighing how to replace KeBryan Hayes at third base while also sorting out what comes next at first. One option on the table is shifting Sal Stewart across the diamond, but the bigger ripple effect may come from how Cincinnati handles second base and Matt McLain, whose uneven play has made the position part of the broader offseason conversation.
That is where the market gets interesting for a team trying to stretch its budget without leaving holes elsewhere. If the Reds decide to add at second base, it could free them to solve more than one problem at once, and the pool of available options gives them a few different ways to do it. The question now is whether Cincinnati treats that spot as a priority or uses it as the key that unlocks the rest of the infield plan. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Suddenly Face A Costly Closer Decision This Offseason
Emilio Pagn gave the Reds a steady finish in the back half of the 2026 season, and that late surge has now turned into an offseason dilemma. His work down the stretch made him one of the more interesting bullpen arms on Cincinnatis market, and it also put the club in position to decide whether it wants to keep leaning on a veteran closer or shift the late-inning job elsewhere.
Cincinnati now has to weigh the cost of bringing Pagn back against the possibility that another team will push the bidding higher on the open market. If the Reds choose not to go that route, the conversation quickly turns to the internal options already in house, with the bullpen hierarchy potentially changing in a hurry before next season even begins. [Read more 🡒]
Elly De La Cruz Trade Talk Just Put Pressure On The Reds
The trade-deadline chatter around Elly De La Cruz has only intensified since former MLB general manager Jim Bowden said the Red Sox put together a strong offer for the Reds at the August 3 deadline, only to be turned away. For Cincinnati, that kind of interest underscores just how valuable De La Cruz has become, even as the club continues to build around one of the most electric young talents in the game.
Bowden also suggested the Reds are likely to at least weigh trade possibilities again this offseason, which puts an uncomfortable spotlight on where the organization goes from here. Any serious conversation would surely start with a massive return, and the Dodgers have already been floated in speculative scenarios, but for now the bigger story is the pressure Cincinnati faces when a player this dynamic starts drawing that level of attention. [Read more 🡒]