The Reds are promoting Jeff Graupe from vice president of player acquisition/strategy to assistant general manager, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic (X link). He joins Sam Grossman as holders of the AGM title. Graupe receives the bump a few weeks after the promotion of Brad Meador from AGM to general manager, a move that solidified Meador as the #2 in the front office hierarchy behind president of baseball operations Nick Krall.
Graupe has been working in the organization in one role or another for the past 18 years. He’d also served as senior director of player personnel and senior director of player development before holding his VP title.
The continuity in leadership extends to the coaching staff. Krall told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com (via X) that all of their coaches will return in 2024. David Bell will be back for a sixth season as manager. The 51-year-old skipper signed a midseason extension that keeps him under contract through 2026.
Krall also revisited the club’s quiet trade deadline. Asked by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer whether he feels in retrospect the front office should have done more to aid their playoff push, the front office head said he “(doesn’t) have any regrets not doing anything.” Krall added that he felt the asking price on impending free agents and/or “shorter-term assets” wasn’t prudent.
With a couple of Wild Card clubs playing in the NLCS, one can question the Reds’ deadline approach. Sitting in the top Wild Card spot at the end of July, Cincinnati only made one move, acquiring left-handed reliever Sam Moll from the A’s for right-hander Joe Boyle. It was surprising the front office didn’t add to the rotation, in particular, as Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo were injured and the team was largely reliant on an inexperienced starting staff.
Cincinnati went 23-31 after the deadline, finishing two games out of a postseason berth. Whether the team’s fortunes would have been different had the Reds been more aggressive in July obviously can’t be known. (The D-Backs succeeded despite also coming up empty in their search for rotation help, although they did add closer Paul Sewald.) Krall and his staff are hopeful the progress shown this year lays the foundation for sustained success in 2024 and beyond.
In on-field news, left fielder Jake Fraley underwent surgery last week to repair a fractured toe on his left foot, relays Sheldon. Fraley had played through the injury and told reporters in August that he was going to require an offseason procedure. He’s expected to be full-go for Spring Training. The left-handed hitter put up a .256/.339/.443 line in 380 plate appearances this past season.
Nice to see Po Boy doubled down on his failure and learned nothing. Reds fans, take note when you spend your hard earned money.
They tried to make trades for pitching but the other clubs were wanting the young talent that was on the roster, McLain, Elly, Steer. No way do I want to see them give up those guys
Were you in the room or are you just speculating?
Interesting that all the pitching at the deadline was dealt for a whole lot lesser talent than those guys.
Trades are negotiations. Of course they will ask for the moon at first but they always settle for what they were really after one step down.
The closer the deadline gets, the more the price drops.
Tater was in the room where it happened like that Lin Manuel ponytail dude. Nice job w the swiffer and don’t forget to empty the ash trays. You can take the muffins and home w you, we’re done with continental breakfast
Of course other teams were asking for the Reds best young players, then you say “no” and work for another deal. Other teams make deals without giving up their top five prospects. Had the Reds won another game, they would have made the post season. For the GM to say he has “no regrets”, proves winning is not a priority.
Nick Krall could have had Clevinger for just money. The Castellinis are too cheap.
your a dooo shhh
The Reds front office was smart at the deadline. There is a bigger picture for this team.
Well said DonOsbourne! Thank you!
I guess the bigger picture is literally having the least post-season success of ANY baseball team since Bob C acquired the team.
Now go sign some pitchers this off-season. Spend some money. The payroll is practically empty and most of the roster is cheap through 2025.
Exactly. I have my doubts Po Boy will do it though. Sounds like he already is saying that.
Nobody is expecting a Snell signing, but they need to lock down 2 solid SPs this winter, and that could be any combination of any two (like Gray & Ryu for example). I know most of their pitchers are young, but the position players are outpacing the pitchers, and they need two veterans to give them a better chance at the NLC.
All of us know that is what the Reds SHOULD do, but must of know, it is something they WON’T do because the Castellinis are cheap.
They did the right thing by standing pat, and I applaud that move. There was no one out there that was going to put this team over the top in retrospect. We’re all hungry for a winner, but this was a fledgling team that hasn’t even grazed their potential. Five years from now it will prove to be a brilliant decision not to trade away a tremendous amount of great talent for a peak of something they weren’t prepared to take home.
More than likely, five years from now they will all be gone with no playoff success to speak of just like the 2010-2012 teams and the last team they broke up in 2022. All because they didn’t do what was needed.
This is the unfortunate sad truth. One bad season and he’ll be unloading every single one of these guys for “prospects” and we’ll be back to a rebuild. The time to win is always now.
The Reds had almost no realistic path to putting together a postseason rotation at the trade deadline. The prospect cost would have been high to add even one starter, and for the rest of the rotation they were already maxing out innings on a bunch of rookie arms that they’ll be relying on for years to come. Plus, they weren’t going to be sending prospects within their division to St. Louis, so they were looking at a very limited supply of arms who’d have added much anyway.
If the Reds had added another starter or two in the offseason they’d have been in a better position. And hopefully with much greater expectations for 2024 that’s what they’ll do now.
Po Boy didn’t act last offseason when he had a chance. Amazing people think that will change now, especially after the trade deadline inaction when they were actually contending.
Bummer too as I had some moolah on the Reds emerging from the scrum that is the NL. This is after a similar fruitless investment in the Bucs. Arrrr. Shiver me timbres.
Wish the Redlegges had taken a swing for some of the White Sox chaff, as maybe your lads might have benefited some, at least more than the California sisters, who ultimately sank into the sunset. Tho were the Reds bandying about any legit prospects? The Os kept their powder dry while the Angels in typical Quixote fashion, swung badly at windmills and missed. Such is the state
Hard to say which path is right. Otoh, a team like the Os might have benefited from an addition or two to get them over the top instead of hoarding prospects but they’ve got multiple chances. But then you see how little impact a Mac Scherzer has in a playoff series (and no one wants Verlander at the last minute save his old club since he’s a deuce). Lot of two and dones so maybe the Reds would have been one of those. But then you see the Snakes and Phils and think maybe. A Reds Phils slug fest would have been absolutely bonkers! At least you weren’t the silly Cubs- not trading Stroman or Bellinger when they could have collected more capital and then fading badly
Five years from now McLain, EDLC, Abbott etc. will all be playing on the coast. Once they became arb eligible they will be sent packing.
Why do you think there us talk of trading India? Arbitration maybe?
Defensively, India can realistically only play 2B.
Matt McLain ought to be the everyday 2B. If you disagree and think he should play SS, that’s fine – except that it means Elly has to play 3B.
…and that leaves Marte without a position.
My point was that India is about to hit arbitration which according to Bob makes him the odd guy out.
Picking up on your thread though, I can see India being the DH as it doesn’t sound like Joey will be back. I think the best defense has Marte at SS and Elly at third (agree with McLain at second). CES will be at first and Steer pretty much full time in LF and as Bell does, move him around to rest guys. Friedl is a solid CF and I assume Fraley will miss more time again so Benson will play a lot in RF. Position players are good. Maybe a couple of veteran off the bench guys.
The big question will be pitching. They have no veteran ace. They don’t have the depth necessary in the backend of the bullpen. Both are needed to get deep in the postseason. Greene and Lodolo HAVE to learn to be more pitch efficent to be an effective 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th option. Ashcraft seems to have learned this and may have surpassed them because of it. If Po Boy thinks this rotation is sufficient, they will keep being on the outside looking in.
Good hire! Heard about this Red promotion on the Graupevine.
It was a promotion as you stated. Why then force your troll cleverness by saying something stupid like “Graupevine.”
Theo do you have the link on that?? I typed in gropeville.com and it came up all naughty stuff, so I was confused. Or is it on Sirius ??
Shirley you can’t be Sirius?
Bob Shirley?
A playoff berth was in easy reach for the Reds. The team and its loyal fans deserved the best effort from management. They did not get it. Why on earth we needed two more OF (Bader and Renfro) I can’t explain. Both fell flat on their faces.
Should have made a push at the deadline for a SP and used the surplus of infield talent to get one.
Get to the October Dance and anything can happen. To wit, the five teams that won 99 or more games this season are sitting at home watching the playoffs on TV and calling for tee times.
Hope they add a SP or two in the off-season. The NL Central can be won. And I say, “Baloney!” to those who are looking five years down the road.
Apparently you are unaware that a patient approach with limited trades is not mutually exclusive to making the playoffs. The fact this team came out of nowhere with a patchwork rotation to nearly make the playoffs should be enough for anybody to understand that, But you be you.
Like it or not, the transistioning period for the Reds is far from over. I seriously doubt Krall will limit the future potential of this team by adding more than a couple MLFA this winter/spring. I hope they sign 1 of the international pitchers available and obviously a catcher, but patience continues to be Krall’s best ally to develop a long term competitive organization.
Reds were hottest w healthy Fraley in the middle of that lineup. He earned his spot and I’m expecting him to take another step forward next season.
As far as reds success, I heard it on water talk last night, all of the teams left have really smart managers. And they credit good decision making for long playoff pushes. Reds will never have that in bell. That guy isn’t qualified to manage any other major league team and he’s not qualified to manage the reds. So as long as he’s there – reds better get lucky !
They have really smart front offices too. Bell can only use what he is given to work with. I thought he did a heck if a job with limited oitching resources, especially in the bullpen outside Diaz.
Reds need pitching and Giants need hitting.
I’d love Harrison for De la Cruz but so many fans on both sides would cry. It’d be awesome though.
I don’t think there is a world where EDLC gets traded anytime soon (and there shouldn’t be).
Oh, yet another exciting offseason update from the Reds! A vice president of player acquisition/strategy promoted to assistant general manager, that’s thrilling news. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm! I mean, who needs big-name signings when you can just reshuffle the front office titles, right?
And let’s not forget the stunning revelation that the coaching staff will be returning in 2024. Such a bold and unexpected move! The element of surprise is overrated anyway. Plus, why fix something that’s not broken, even if it didn’t quite get them into the playoffs?
Speaking of not getting into the playoffs, let’s applaud the Reds for their fearless trade deadline approach. Who needs to bolster your rotation when you can simply hope your injured pitchers miraculously heal themselves? It’s not like acquiring short-term assets is a common practice during a playoff push. The asking prices were just too high, clearly. Those other Wild Card teams playing in the NLCS must be regretting their acquisitions right about now.
Oh, and the injured left fielder who played through a fractured toe, and then underwent surgery? Well, I’m sure he’s super excited to be back for Spring Training, where he can continue to endure injuries for the team. What a trooper!
The Reds’ offseason is like a rollercoaster of emotions, and I’m just holding on for dear life!
A good gm makes deals happen ! Cubs did an amazing job at that when they sold off a bunch of rentals in a buyers market. That curved a year or 2 off their rebuild. As i didn’t want to see the reds acquire a rental there were other options to be had.
Lynch and Singer were 2 of them. Reds could have sent a slew of log jammed prospects and players to an underdeveloped royals organization while acquiring 1 or 2 controllable starters.
If the Reds don’t address the pitching, it’s going to be a rough year. Brewers aren’t going anywhere, and they still have some arms even if Woodruff is probably missing all of 2024, The Cardinals have the ability to rebound, and the Cubs aren’t going anywhere. Pirates will probably take another step forward too. I’m just saying they need to make some moves to supplement this young core.
Nick Krall has done a good job. I’d say Excellent only if they win a WS.
I wish they had done no trades! Boyle looked good in OAK.
Other clubs wanted too much for SP at the trade deadline. See Anaheim and you know why they can’t win with the 2 best players in MLB. They gave up top prospects, just to waive them lol. Idiots!
I’m ok going to ST as is, and without Votto. Hope the SP leaves ST healthy. Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Abbott and Williamson with Phillips waiting in AAA and Petty right behind.
Maybe next year at the trade deadline than can aquire some help, IF NEEDED.
That is about the exact sentiments I have. If we acquire anything in the off season, it should be a couple of relief pitchers and maybe a right handed OF bat to rotate with the 2 lefties. Senzel could possibly fill that role if he can stay healthy. We have enough starters to compete if they stay healthy and at least a couple or 3 not that far away.
Some really unrealistic and short term thinking posts on here. Better to have the core talent retained than trade away quality for a maybe. The problem is not the lack of trades. the problem is the rash of injuries to the SPs. Something was off in the off season conditioning and selection of players. In addition I have never been a fan of AZ spring training and farm activities for a midwestern/eastern US based team. Humidity and health adaptation medical reasons.
If you trade away quality, it is not for a maybe, otherwise, you’re an idiot for doing that.
There were guys that were had for less than Po Boy was spouting. It is called negotiations for a reason. The fact is, other teams did it and he didn’t.
I totally agree on the conditioning, especially for pitchers. I think they baby them too much, but that’s just me. You can’t go from limited innings to a full big league season and expect there not to be injuries.