As starting pitchers continue to fly off the shelves, Nick Pivetta is one of the more established starters remaining on the open market. He’s already been linked to the Mets, and today the Reds have emerged as another suitor. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported earlier today that the Reds have checked in on Pivetta, implying their interest might have heightened after they missed out on trade target Garrett Crochet.
The Reds have already been active on the starting pitching market this offseason. They extended a qualifying offer to Nick Martinez in November, which he accepted. Not long after, they acquired Brady Singer from the Royals in exchange for Jonathan India. Along with young arms Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott, that gives the Reds five capable big league starters, in addition to top prospect Rhett Lowder. Nonetheless, it’s not hard to understand why president of baseball operations Nick Krall is still pursuing starting pitching.
Abbott and Lodolo both finished the 2024 season on the injured list. Greene came off the IL in time to make two short starts at the end of the year, but he was out from mid-August to late September. All three have shown promise when healthy, but none has pitched a full MLB season. The same is true of the veteran Martinez, who has played a hybrid starter-reliever role for most of his MLB career. If the Reds sign Pivetta, they’d be much better equipped to weather an injury to one of their starters. In a best-case scenario in which everyone is healthy on Opening Day, Martinez can pitch out of the bullpen while Lowder starts the year in the minors. If Lowder forces his way onto the Opening Day roster with a strong spring, new manager Terry Francona could be facing a logjam, but that would be a pretty good problem to have.
That said, it would be slightly surprising to see Cincinnati sign Pivetta given the numerous other areas of need for Krall to address. The Reds finished among the bottom half of teams in runs scored this past season. They ranked 21st in OPS and 26th in wRC+. They recently traded India, one of their better offensive players in 2024, and have not made any additions to the starting lineup. Considering they already have six contenders for five spots in next year’s rotation, one might think the Reds would put most of their remaining resources toward improving the offense. To that end, they have been linked to trade candidates such as Luis Robert Jr., Josh Naylor, and Lane Thomas.
Earlier this offseason, Reds chief operating officer and chief financial officer Doug Healy told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that his team would “maintain payroll levels at or above 2024.” That’s a vague and noncommittal statement, but it does seem to imply that a major increase in payroll is unlikely. So, it’s fair to wonder if Reds ownership would be willing to spend what it takes to sign Pivetta and bolster the offense. After all, RosterResource estimates that their payroll for 2025 ($101MM) is already slightly higher than their final payroll from 2024 ($100MM).
Pivetta is most likely seeking a multi-year deal similar to those Luis Severino signed with the A’s (three years, $67MM) and Yusei Kikuchi signed with the Angels (three years, $63MM). Meanwhile, Thomas is projected to earn $8.3MM and Naylor $12MM in 2025. Robert will earn $15MM in the final guaranteed year of his contract. All three of those salaries are team-friendly figures; a similarly impactful position player would cost significantly more in free agency. Will Krall have the financial flexibility to offer Pivetta an AAV above $20MM and still acquire an impact bat?
They are replete with starting pitching right now. I don’t get this. Plus, they would lose a draft pick signing 4 ERA Pivetta. They need a bat.
It Strengthens your bullpen and adds depth. He would definitely be top 4 in that rotation.
I love Nick for his durability but man, that’s a lot of balls flying over the fence in Cincinnati should be sign there. This smells more of the agent looking to drum up more interest
Right. And no one is believing it
At first, I wondered if he played for Tito, but I don’t think so.
No. Sox got him from Philly in 2020. Tito was stupidly let go after 2011.
Dewey – Agent smoke! Pivetta would NOT be a good fit there. He has great strikeout numbers and low walks, but he give up a lot of HRs, and yhat is the easiest park to hit HRs in in the MLB.
Perhaps besides the old adage you can not have too much pitching they might have a deal in mind to send another SP in a trade i.e. Lodolo to some other team for an OF or 3B and they want to replace him before they trade him? Maybe they are not sold on his health/finger to be able to continue to be a dominant SP? Only reasons I can think of. I am pretty sure they are acutely aware they need a bat.
I still think Lodolo and Ashcraft will end up as part of the back end of the bullpen. I also think they would be solid there.
Pivetta only makes sense if they’re trading a starter
Sounds like something is brewing we’re not seeing.
Chase Burns, hopefully, will also be available some time this summer.
I’d love to see White Sox get creative and solve multiple problems for the Reds in a Robert deal to get their top prospect. That would include taking on Candelerio’s full contract and sending back a youn cannon-armed, developing power catcher and young high upside RH reliever. SOX would also receive a Reds IF prospect with the standard Getz targeted OBP.
OF Robert, C Korey Lee, & RHP Jordan Leasure
for
1B Candelerio, RHP Chase Burns, & IF Sal Stewart
Who says no?
Me. Stewart straight up maybe. Robert is off the field more than he is on it. 1 year control at $10M, declining numbers for Burns? Try again.
Nope
Reds aren’t dealing Burns.
And that deal is lopsided.
Candelerio, Stewart & Phillips sounds closer to right, but if the White Sox want to unload Robert, why would they Candelerio’s deal?
Pivetta is a good 3rd or 4th starter. It be a good signing if he gets 2-3 years at 15 million a year.
He’s def getting way more than that
@ 1999
He’s getting Eovaldi money, at least. He’d get 15 mill if it was 2013.
paxson, o’neill, pivetta
red sox are hemorrhaging canadians
The exodus was on the wall once BIG MAPLE decided to retire rather than continue pitching for them.
Yeah but do they “like-like” him?
I don’t follow the Reds. Would they be interested in Nathaniel Lowe with his price tag?
Probably not.
Don’t need any on the downside of there career infielders.
I hope Pivetta wouldn’t choose to go play half his games in that bandbox of a park. He needs to go to a team with deep fences
I can actually see a Sox-Mariner trade with Castillo going to Boston. The M’s then replace Castillo with Pivetta whose ERA playing 50% of the time in THAT ballpark will finally be under 4.00 at season’s end.
Mets, maybe.
Several articles about who the Reds are interested in. Still no articles about them doing anything. They’ll get cold feet when they realize they actually have to pay for good players.
Typical under this managent. Lots of talk, permanent hand prints on the posterior.
Actually we have been more active than usual at this time. FO spent $21m on Martinez and about $5M more on Singer vs India contract. I’m sure Tito as manager commands more than Bell. And Tito would have never came to Cincy without a promise by management to spend enough to make a run.
I hope they don’t get him, especially with losing a pick. He doesn’t look that great honestly. I think he’s the worst of the mid-tier guys. I’d rather spend more for Manaea (and a pick) or spend less for Quintana or Buehler.
Agree on buehler, but not really on them signing a pitcher as things stand
I’ve been banging the drum for Buehler for a while now, glad to see someone else saying it. Regional roots, Vanderbilt ties, worked out pretty nicely for Sonny Gray
@DockEllisDee Mentions of Pivetta and now Buehler have me wondering wth the Mets and Stearns are planning on. It’s hard to think you lunge after Soto if your rotation if only going to be Senga-Peterson-Holmes-Montas followed by the likes of Megill, Blackburn and other pitchers of the latter two’s ilk.
With an aging offense and no one likely to come up from the farm in 2025 and provide a bat of note, how do you win without adding a significant starting pitcher—and how do you plan on advancing in the postseason with that rotation?
The fans show when they put a winner on the field and rightfully so. I follow the reds and baseball daily but I don’t support the ownership. If they sold and moved to Nashville- I’m all for it. If this ownership group took the reds to Nashville that would be extremely disappointing for all of baseball
You keep saying to get rid of baseball in Ohio and keep spam posting this in every article the Reds are mentioned in. We’ve heard you but it’s not going to happen. The Reds will always be in Cincinnati. That whole first professional team thing will always keep them there and Cincinnati isn’t the lowly place you seem to think it is. In fact it’s quickly rising as becoming one of the better mid size cities.
He is a troll. He has one opinion and posts it on every article.
Brain dead take look at FC Cincinnati and the bengals revenue when competitive. The reds problem is poor ownership and a lack of winning teams. No one in Nashville would show up to watch this team the past couple of years either. They screwed themselves on the Bally Sports deal taking a backloaded contract and ultimately never seeing the money because of the bankruptcy. In addition when your majority owner only has a net worth of 400 million it’s also hard to bankroll winning teams in the modern day
The Reds are showing interest in everyone. Hell, I’m interested in a new 2024 Jeep Wrangler but we all know damn well I’m not buying it.
I would pass. I could see a guy like Crochet with them but not this guy.
Get what you really need first.
Pivetta would get hammered in that park to be honest. Dude would give up so many bombs, his ERA would be above 5.
100% disagree. Cincinnati is 100% in for the Reds.
The issue is, the ownership has not been willing (financially) or capable (operationally), not sure which, to put a complete and competitive team together. There is always a glaring weakness.
The city will support the team, when the organization does. If you don’t believe me, go check out opening day in the queen city.
The city supports the Reds now. Per capita, they drew better than the Yankees in 2024. They drew more than 2, 000,000 fans last year. See how many fans the Dodgers would draw if they hadn’t won a playoff-off series in 32 years. Cincinnati is a great baseball town. One of the best baseball cities in the country, perhaps the best.
This is the time of year for silly reporting as well as meaningful commentary. Yes, I’m sure Krall was interested in Crochet depending on the cost in prospect capital. It’s also entirely possible Krall checked in on Pivetta. That said, I’m sure he’s checked in on other pitchers as well. Sherman implying heightened interest in Pivetta since they didn’t get Crochet is a big stretch. Now I do accept it’s possible they may need to trade from the rotation if they want to get Naylor and/or Thomas from the Guardians or for other potential trades. So it helps to get as much information as possible on free agents to consider next steps.
I was very surprised at how little (IMO) the RS had to give up to get him. It did not seem like very much esp since the WS GM has always been holding out for an overpay as I think he did last year when there was trade discussions. I think if the Reds really wanted Crochet they could have matched or beat that offer.
Anyone trading a useful SP for Josh Naylor is an imbecile.
Carry on.
Small market teams will never survive these billionaire contracts. Can the reds sign de la cruz when he reaches free agency ? You simply can’t compete , something has to be done to fix this
Very unlikely they’ll be able to sign De La Cruz if he reaches free agency in 2030. It’s also going to be challenging even as he hits arbitration in 2027. When he hits arbitration (if not sooner), better to try and negotiate a contract to keep him on board at a price they can afford. I would recommend enjoy watching him play for the Reds the next few years and then hope they can get a haul of prospects before he reaches free agency if they don’t negotiate something before then. If the TV contracts aren’t much help to mid and small market teams in the future, we’ll have about eight teams who can pay for the best players and everyone else hoping they can draft and develop a la Tampa to compete.
Can you imagine if Elly continues his upward trend what salary he will command in five years? I am guessing the letter B will start a particular word in the amount.
They should have extended him last year like KC did with Witt. Now it’s too late.
Players of that caliber will only go to one of four teams going forward, six at the outside if they dump people.
But a lot of people don’t see that as a problem. Of course, they have an agenda.
I completely agree with your last two sentences but the first one I don’t think it would have mattered when the Reds might have offered Elly an extension. He chose Scott Boras for a reason and as we all know Boras is loathe to have any of his superstars sign an extension and always advises them to test free agency. One can only hope the Reds don’t stubbornly wait too long to trade him and be sure to trade him when his value is the highest and get a great return.
It’s more the case that if you, the player, don’t want to sign an extension, THAT is when you contract with Boras to be your agent.
Need to split tv revenue amongst all teams.
Or the game will be a joke
If reds sign Pivetta, then it means that a package deal involving Lodolo and/or Abbott is on the table to get power hitting rh of
Exactly. Unfortunately people on here can’t see that.
This Reds management only reacts, usually very badly out of desperation.
They are not that proactive and there is no plan.
If it’s a trade, it will happen before the signing so eyes open.
JEEPRW Agreed!
Hey Slim, I see you are still spouting non-sense. The Reds per capita, draws better than the Yankees. New York has a population of 9 million people. The Yankees only drew 3.8 million fans in 2024. Cincinnati has a population of 300,000 people and drew more than 2 million fans last year. So, the Reds drew nearly 650% of their population. The Yankees, on the other hand, drew less than 75% of their population. Perhaps, the Yankees should move to Nashville.
Wow very interesting stat. I had no idea. Reds fans are starved for a seriously competitive team. They had one maybe once or twice since 1990. That’s some seriously bad ownerships and great (or foolish) fans.
@Bobcastelliniiscat The ‘per capita’ argument isn’t anywhere near as compelling as you think it is.
Past a certain point, the larger a city’s population, the smaller the percentage of that population will attend a stadium of necessarily limited size.
Take a megalopolis of 50,000,000 people. A team in that city will always draw ‘less well’ by that erroneous standard than a poorly attended team in a city of 300k even if the former draws 5,000,000 fans a year. Say the team in the smaller city draws 300,000 fans, ie Oakland in a bad year. That’s 100% of population whereas the megalopolis’s team is drawing a comparatively pathetic 10% of its population.
Even so, the idea that the smaller city’s fans are somehow much more supportive is absurd on its face.
Why not Spencer Turnbull? Affordable. His April 2024 was incredible (including twice against the Reds), then Philly messed with a good thing when their projected starters got healthy. Could provide great value, though he has an injury history.
Or Dodgers starters returning from injuries? Especially if Kershaw comes back, they won’t have enough starts available for all of the guys like Gonsolin, May, Miller. Somebody there has to be available.
@Bdonnell On the contrary–the Dodgers know full well they need their aces plus all the names you mention. They’ll make room in the pen or in the minors as needed. The chances they’ll give up even one starter unless blown away by an offer are vanishingly small.
The Reds paid Votto 25 million plus the rest of the team.
They can afford to pay a middle of the lineup power hitter 30 million (inflation on 25) & go get T Hernandez at 3 years!
We can get by with almost anything except we don’t have a power hitting cleanup, hitter to knock in, runs and put the ball over the wall. Go get it done and stop being so cheap. The Reds fans proved that if you put a winner on the field, they will come !
Guess who is no Joey Votto?
That’s right, 32 yo Teoscar coming off a career year.