The Reds almost made the playoffs last year as they promoted several exciting prospects and seemed to firmly end their rebuilding period. They added to that foundation this offseason by spreading money around to several free agents.
Major League Signings
- 1B/3B Jeimer Candelario: Three years, $45MM (including buyout of 2027 club option)
- RHP Nick Martínez: Two years, $26MM (Martinez can opt out after 2024)
- RHP Frankie Montas: One year, $16MM (including buyout of 2025 mutual option)
- RHP Emilio Pagán: Two years, $16MM (Pagan can opt out after 2024)
- C Luke Maile: One year, $3.5MM (including buyout of 2025 club option)
- LHP Brent Suter: One year, $3MM (including buyout of 2025 club option)
- RHP Buck Farmer: One year, $2.25MM
- C Austin Wynns: One year split deal (Wynns was later outrighted off 40-man)
2024 spending: $61.75MM
Total spending: $111.75MM
Option Decisions
- Team declined $20MM option on 1B Joey Votto in favor of $7MM buyout
- Team declined its end of $4MM mutual option on C Curt Casali in favor of $750K buyout
Trades And Claims
- Claimed OF Bubba Thompson off waivers from Royals (later lost on waivers to Yankees)
- Traded OF TJ Hopkins to Giants for cash considerations
- Traded RHP Daniel Duarte to Rangers for cash considerations
- Claimed OF Bubba Thompson off waivers from Twins
Notable Minor League Signings
- Tony Santillan, P.J. Higgins, Reiver Sanmartin, Alex Blandino, Connor Overton, Mark Mathias, Erik González, Brooks Kriske, Hernán Pérez, Conner Capel, Brett Kennedy, Justin Bruihl, Alan Busenitz, Tyler Gilbert, Josh Harrison, Tony Kemp, Mike Ford
Extensions
- IF/OF Jonathan India: Two-year, $8.8MM deal to avoid arbitration
Notable Losses
- Joey Votto, Harrison Bader, Curt Casali, Nick Senzel (non-tendered), Derek Law (non-tendered), Justin Dunn, Ben Lively, TJ Hopkins, Daniel Duarte, Levi Stoudt, José Barrero
Though the Reds came up just shy of a postseason berth in 2023, it was still an encouraging campaign. Exciting prospects like Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Andrew Abbott and Noelvi Marté all debuted, adding to a roster of young talent that already included TJ Friedl, Spencer Steer, Will Benson, Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and others.
It was a turning point moment for the franchise in another way as well. In addition to that infusion of young talent, 2023 was the final guaranteed year of Joey Votto’s long-running contract. Signed way back in 2012, he had many excellent seasons for the Reds. But as is so often the case with lengthy contracts, the final years weren’t especially pleasant. Votto missed time in each of the past two years thanks to shoulder surgery. He could have been retained via a club option but the Reds understandably wanted to give more playing time to younger players.
It’s a bittersweet pivot for the club, as Votto is a franchise legend and was one of the few reasons to watch during some challenging years. But he was making $25MM annually in the final years of his contract, a sizeable chunk of change for a club that doesn’t generally run high payrolls. He lingered in free agency for a while but recently signed with the Blue Jays on a minor league deal which comes with a modest $2MM base salary if he makes the club.
With Votto’s contract off the books, the Reds were able to have one of their busiest offseasons in recent memory. Their huge supply of position players seemed to not only squeeze out Votto, but also led to plenty of speculation about a trade. Since the club had an on-paper infield of Marté, De La Cruz, McLain and Encarnacion-Strand, it seemed that Steer was going to be pushed to the outfield and India onto the trading block.
Despite persistent rumors, the club was consistent in maintaining that India wasn’t going anywhere. The 2021 National League Rookie of the Year is coming off two injury-marred campaigns but the Reds seemed to believe in a bounceback and also to value his clubhouse presence. Not only was he not traded, he got a two-year deal to avoid arbitration, locking in a salary for 2025.
The club not making a trade was one surprise, but it was even more surprising when they added another infielder. They signed Jeimer Candelario to a three-year, $45MM deal with a club option for 2027. His presence further crowded the infield picture, but the Reds don’t have a strict DH, so they could use that spot to rotate their many infielders through. Candelario also gave them a bit of insurance if any of their young infielders suffered an injury or a sophomore slump and needed to return to the minors for a spell.
In hindsight, it now looks wise that they added to their infield, as Marté was recently hit with an 80-game suspension for a positive PED test. As he will sit out the first half of the season, the infield suddenly looks far less crowded. Candelario can play both corner spots but will now likely replace Marté as the regular third baseman.
Elsewhere in the position player mix, the club was facing a slight catching shortage. Last year, they had three backstops, with Luke Maile and Curt Casali in the mix. That allowed Tyler Stephenson to serve as the designated hitter and occasionally play first base. He had a bit of a down year but at least the smaller workload behind the plate kept him off the injured list. Each of Maile and Casili became free agents but the Reds re-signed Maile. Since Casali signed elsewhere, it seems they will pivot to a more traditional two-catcher setup this year.
But the main target of the offseason was pitching. The pitchers on the 2023 club were fairly inexperienced and they also dealt with a number of injuries. The pitching staff as a whole had a 4.83 earned run average last year, better than just five other clubs in the majors. The rotation was even worse, with the Cincy starters posting a 5.43 ERA, better than just the Athletics and Rockies.
They could have expected some improvement just with their incumbent options. Each of Greene, Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft spent time on the injured list last year, while Abbott was only able to log 109 1/3 innings due to his midseason promotion. But the club wasn’t content to rely solely on improvements from that group and went on to cast a wide net this winter in looking for upgrades. Their interest extended to notable free agents and trade targets, including Sonny Gray, Tyler Glasnow, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Yariel Rodríguez and Wade Miley.
They didn’t seem to find much traction in those pursuits. The talks with the White Sox about Cease stalled when the Sox seemingly asked for four or five notable prospects, a price that the Reds were understandably unwilling to pay.
Instead, their big rotation addition came from free agency. The club took a bounceback flier on Frankie Montas, who has been battling shoulder issues for quite some time. He missed some time late in 2022 due to his shoulder and was shaky when on the mound, then required surgery going into 2023 which wiped out most of that season.
There’s certainly risk in giving $16MM to a pitcher with those health concerns, but it’s only for one year and will be a bargain if Montas can get back to his previous self. He made 32 starts with the A’s in 2021 with a 3.37 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 42.8% ground ball rate.
The club also bolstered their staff by signing swingman Nick Martínez, who will likely be in the rotation but could eventually end up in the bullpen depending on how things play out. He has worked both roles with the Padres over the past two years, giving Cincy some flexibility to assess the health and performance of Greene, Abbott, Lodolo, Ashcraft and others.
In case Martinez is needed in the rotation, the club also reinforced their bullpen in other ways. They took a gamble on Emilio Pagán, signing him to a two-year deal. He’s coming off a strong season, having posted a 2.99 ERA with the Twins in 2023. But he’s a flyball pitcher who saw his home run to flyball rate drop to 5.3% on the season. The previous three seasons saw that rate fall in the 13-19% range as his ERA finished between 4.43 and 4.83 in those years. Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park was the most homer-friendly venue in the league last year, per Statcast, so the move is a bit eyebrow-raising.
On the other hand, their signing of Brent Suter looks like a steal. He has kept his ERA under 4.00 in five straight seasons, generally doing a great job limiting hard contact. That continued in 2023 even though he moved to the hitter’s haven of Coors Field. He likely could have secured a contract larger than one year and $3MM if he looked to maximize his guarantee, but he grew up in Cincinnati and went to high school there, perhaps leading him to take a bit of a discount to play for his hometown team. Buck Farmer was also brought back to Cincy on a modest deal.
All told, the club boosted the floor in a lot of different areas. They added a couple of starters to the rotation, a few relievers to the bullpen and even added to the already-strong position player mix. Perhaps the recent news about Marté will lead them to dip back into free agency, as there are still players out there.
The club was previously connected to Michael A. Taylor, who remains unsigned. He can provide elite defense and his right-handed bat would pair well with lefty-swinging outfielders like Friedl, Jake Fraley and Will Benson. Steer and India are both right-handed and in the mix for outfield playing time but the Marté suspension might open up some infield playing time for them, perhaps making the fit for someone like Taylor more viable.
Regardless of how that plays out, the roster looks strong going into 2024. They were carried by their lineup last year and almost made the playoffs, despite dismal results from their pitching staff. Even a slight correction could be enough to make them a legit playoff club, but they also increased their chances by signing Montas, Martínez, Pagán, Suter and Farmer. Internal improvements from Greene, Lodolo, Abbott, Ashcraft and others would only help matters.
The National League Central is fairly wide open, with no clear favorite. The Reds clearly sensed they have a chance this year and are trying to take advantage. They didn’t make any blockbuster moves but strengthened the roster in several other ways.
Horrible off-season and a 500 team.
How so? And give actual examples.
80 games suspension for Marte makes it an f of an off season.
I can’t believe F is the lowest number of votes. This is a team that could have taken the leap to win the division and just said “No thanks, we’re good!”.
Judging by those poll numbers a lot of pie in the sky Reds fans voted.
The Yankees traded all their depth for Soto. Bet they would not have if they would have known about Cole. Reds were decimated with injuries last season; so they chose to add depth this year. Opposite approach of Yankees and the way everything is shaping up with all these pitching injuries- maybe it was the right move !?
They also, on paper atleast, made a much better offer for cease than what white sox settled for. So the effort was there.
Added depth to rotation and bullpen. Their ceiling is as far as their young talented roster can take them. Their floor is deteremined by the number of key injuries they sustain.
Their only real failure this offseason was not acquiring a bona fide number one starter. Adding Montas on a one year deal to see if he can rebound was a decent gamble, and Nick Martinez is looking like a good signing who can give them some solid innings, but they needed a true #1 to anchor that young rotation. They are overflowing with young talent and had very little money on the books, so to me there is no real excuse to have not brought in a true TOR arm. If they had added that ace in addition to the rest of what they did this offseason, I’d probably give them an A. I still like their chances this season, and if they’re contending by July there is no reason they can’t pursue another top pitcher then.
Snell and Montgomery are still out there, so it’s still possible for them to get a top arm (Monty is perhaps not an ace, but still very good)
Not this front office.
I once believed snell or monte would not consider signing with cincy , but at this point…..
Spending big money of those pitchers comes with big risk as well though. Reds seemingly feel more comfortable rolling with what they have in house than risking flushing $30mil down the drain with a torn UCL or strained flexor tendon
Not signing Votto to at least a minor league deal was also a failure.
Acquiring a “bona fide number one starter” is expensive (in $ or prospects, or both) and they don’t grow on trees. Plus, who are you gonna sit down of all the talented young starters?
No one expected much of Williamson after
mediocre or worse results in the upper minors. The Reds gave him a shot in the MLB rotation, and he flourished. Many of the starters have ceilings of being a front of the rotation pitcher. Hunter Greene could be that ace, but he needs innings. Lodolo has a ton of talent but needs to show that he can get healthy. Let the youngsters pitch and sort themselves out. If none of them take a big step forward, then consider adding another starter from the outside. However, that call should be made at the trading deadline at the earliest.
The Reds have stockpiled pitching talent the way a small market team should: via the draft and trades. Top pitching is expensive as heck, so they need to develop the pitching. Conversely, hitting isn’t as nearly expensive, and the reds were able to land a middle of the order bat in Candelario for a bit of a discount. Many have question the move, but the man is a doubles machine, and many of those will be going out of the park at GABP.
The pitching talent on the team is the best it’s been in 10 years, and the same could be said about the lineup. Play the youngsters, and the weak spots will present themselves over time.
This is a good team
Well written earmbrister. Many opinions on this site are impatient. I’m looking forward to watching our young talent develop (or not) this season. Many questions will be answered. We have about 10 young hurlers who have the potential to have long productive careers so let the cream rise to the top.
Totally agree. Especially the last paragraph.
The Candelario contract may never make sense to me.
I didn’t know why they gave Moose that contract in 2019 or 2020, whenever it was. I don’t know why they gave Candelario this contract. Also, I like the Jose Tabata callback.
Especially when they expected Moose to play 2B.
Candelario will hit 230-240 in those 400 ABs he will get in Bell’s platoon system of many infielders. He will not like that platoon system.
Oh boy, the Moose at second experiment didn’t last long.
I still don’t see what Candelario has done in the past to warrant the high expectations. He isn’t young, so he is what he is. I don’t buy they signed him because of what they knew about Marte. You have India, Steer now for 3B and I suspect Arroyo is going to push Elly to another position by mid to late season. likely the OF since Marte will be back..
Yeah man, he was non-tendered by the Tigers. That tells you something. If they wanted another infielder (and a versatile one at that), why not sign Donovan Solano for a year for 5 million?
They know what they would have in Donnie Barrels too. He has been there before.
India was going to come into camp hurt and Marte was facing a suspension. So once that came out – signing a division rival kept making more sense to me
Yeah it turned out the Candelario addition made some sense as depth with the Marté suspension. Plus, apart from the switch-hitting EDLC, all of the Reds infield hits right-handed. So Candelario helps balance the lineup and also positions the Reds for a potential trade from their infield depth later this season or beyond.
Closer Alexis Diaz isn’t as famous as his big brother but definitely deserves mention as part of Cincy’s core of young talent.
Didn’t get the bonafide starter they needed. The leading innings eater had 140 innings last year and no one else above 120. Didn’t get any back end of the bullpen talent leading to Diaz. Didn’t get a right handed hitting outfielder for a manager who loves platoons.
Did get an infielder they didn’t need after releasing a franchise icon because “they didn’t have room for him.”
Right now a third place club after their kids overachieved last year without the front office’s help.
Their great hope is that it happens again without a lot of effort from the owner and front office.
There are cheaper options available, Clevinger and Lorenzen, and they wouldn’t break the bank.
I actually thought that was a well thought out and accurate review of what the Reds did this off season. Candelario was more important than a starter? I didn’t get that at all. Was kind of like the Cubs signing Dominic Smith when they had Mervis and Busch and we all knew Bellinger was coming back. The Cooper thing-Bravo. The Reds needed pitching and kept signing IF’s. They have to hope all those young starters hit this year. I think it’s long odds.
You are correct sir! Nice analysis HB. Ahahaha!
I gave them a B. The Candelario signing still seems unnecessary to me. Otherwise they did exactly what they should have done. This is still an evaluation year even though I like them to win the Central.
Evaluation or transition year, not quite ready to “all in” on a $100-250MM SP ace.. If they actually need one. The same criticism can be made of every team in the Central Division. I like this model of competing as is and possibly adding a SP at the trading deadline.
Meanwhile, another year of this team’s window is wasted. They already wasted the first one.
How can you use the term “wasted”? Reds young player/prospects need opportunity -and at the ML level. This is a team that will be in transition at least through the first half of this season. Extremely unlikely any small market team can go from +100 losses to NL champion in 2 years. That’s being a “pie in the sky Reds fan” to me. Meanwhile the Reds will be one of the most exciting ML teams to follow. It’s all good and certainly not wasted.
Small markets have a 3 to 5 year window to compete before a rebuild has to begin in this fouled up system. Any opportunity wasted in a year off that window wasted. No pie in the sky here but a long time Reds fan giving you a dose of reality based on experience.
We have seen this before with the last two groups that were eventually busted up. They haven’t win a playoff series in decades. Starting in just two years, they will start shopping guys they think they can’t or won’t re-sign in guys like India, Stephenson, Diaz.
I find it interesting that someone who thinks Candelario was a good signing is saying young players need opportunity at the major league level. That signing is reducing opportunity for someone along the line every day among the six infielders.
Even a young talented team needs a veteran presence in their lineup.. With Votto gone, it was wise to bring in Candelario. Still plenty of opportunity to go around, especially after the Marte suspension and moving Steer to the outfield. Comparing the “last two groups” to this team is not relevant. Some of the best Reds prospects are still in the pipeline- which is unique to this version of the Reds and you should know that. Their current window could easily last the rest of this decade. If they don’t overspend into payroll oblivion.
@king thanks it’s a deep cut for Jose Tabata fans. It’s a niche.
Sign Trevor Bauer and Cincinnati could be looking a B rating off season with plenty of choke experience.
I’m a Reds fan I gave them a C. Why? Montas and Martinez are nice signings but I wanted to see something like an India/Collier Aroyo or whatever it took package sent to someone like Cleveland for Bieber for example and then at least that justified Candalario.
I understand not picking up Votto’s option and I like the Harrison move and Kemp at least they once were productive, but not even a legit #2 or 3 outfielder? Friedl likely overachieved and I like the dude, Farley has an injury history and Benson looks like he can be great but Fairchild remains?
Come on man we could have done more.
C for Cincinnati. They paid full retail for their free agents but they got some good ones and are improved.
I’m not a fan of the moves they made but it is still a promising young team.
Even after Marte’s suspension I still do not understand the Candelario’s signing over another starting pitcher. I wasn’t expecting a high caliber FA signing, but any of Wacha, Lugo or Stroman were a stone throw. The basically now relies upon Montas’ health, and his ST stats are discouraging.
Marte suspension gave them a failing grade of an off season even if it was no fault of their own. Seeing so much hope in elite prospects and one of them is gone is a big blow to future projections and how fans feel about them going forward.