Sal Stewart may end up being more than just one of the Reds’ best young bats. He could be the piece that reshapes how Cincinnati builds its infield, and that’s where the offseason conversation gets interesting.
Stewart, just 22, already looks like part of the answer after a season that featured 32 homers and 112 RBI, along with a strong Rookie of the Year case. But his value to the Reds might go beyond the bat. He’s a natural third baseman, and moving him back to that spot would let Cincinnati get the most out of him while also clearing first base for a player who should be easier to add than a third baseman.
That’s where Vinnie Pasquantino enters the picture.
The Royals first baseman fits the kind of target Cincinnati should be chasing if it wants to deepen a lineup that was dangerously top-heavy in 2026. Pasquantino, a left-handed slugger, hit .249/.333/.428 with 17 homers in 114 games last season. The numbers are solid, but they come with important context: he fractured his hamate bone, had surgery, and later went back on the IL with hand and wrist soreness tied to that original injury.
When he was fully healthy in 2025, the production looked a lot louder. Pasquantino put up 32 home runs while slashing .264/.323/.475. For the Reds, that kind of power at first base would pair nicely with Stewart and give Cincinnati a pair of 30-plus-homer bookends in the infield.
He would also give the lineup a different shape. Reds hitters combined for a league-worst 25.5% strikeout rate, while Pasquantino struck out only 15.8% in 2026 and carries a career strikeout rate of 14%.
Cincinnati’s left-handed bats also struggled badly, posting a league-worst .217 average, a 23rd-ranked .387 slugging percentage, and just 50 homers, which ranked 27th. Pasquantino would help correct all of that.
Of course, getting him away from Kansas City would not be simple.
The Royals and Reds are in similar places: small-market Midwestern clubs built around young infield stars. Cincinnati has Stewart and Elly De La Cruz, while Kansas City is built around Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia, both signed long-term. Moving Pasquantino would also line up with Kansas City’s age curve, since he is older than their core and has only two years of team control left.
There’s also a roster angle on the Royals’ side. Opening first base could allow 23-year-old slugger Jac Caglione to move in from the outfield, where he has struggled defensively.
Royals general manager J.J. Picollo has already said the club will be aggressive this offseason after a disappointing 2026 campaign, but that aggressiveness will not come with a big jump in spending. Instead, it sounds more like a reshuffling of assets to address the most obvious weaknesses.
For Kansas City, those needs are clear: bullpen help and more offensive punch in the outfield. That creates a problem for Cincinnati, because the Reds also need bullpen help and do not have much outfield depth to trade away.
Picollo also said the Royals are too left-handed, which makes names like Hector Rodriguez and Carlos Jorge less attractive if the Reds wanted to put them in a deal. Even if handedness were not an issue, Cincinnati would be taking a risk by opening a hole in order to fill another one.
That means a straight one-for-one swap is probably not enough. The Reds would likely need a third team to get involved, sending out prospects to land a player that fits Kansas City’s needs better.
The upside for Cincinnati is that this is not an unfamiliar partnership. The two clubs already worked together on the Brady Singer-Jonathan India trade, so there is clearly a working relationship between Picollo and Nick Krall.
It would take creativity, but the logic is there. If the Reds are willing to be flexible and move Stewart to third, they could put themselves in position to make a move like this and come out with a better roster overall.
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That makes the coming offseason feel more consequential than a routine tune-up. The Reds may have to weigh a more deliberate rebuild, the sort of course correction the Cardinals have leaned into before, while also deciding how aggressively to keep pushing with a younger core and which veterans fit into that picture. Even beyond the winter, there is a sense that more of the organizational structure could be reviewed in the years ahead, with the possibility of a different general manager after 2027 hanging over the franchise. [Read more 🡒]