xr:d:DAFpvL92yOs:2,j:1294056725323013970,t:23072612
The Cincinnati Reds are in the market to add an outfielder as they look to try and bolster their offense. Last month the club’s COO Doug Healy said that the team would at least match the 2024 payroll, if not be above it.
The Reds are currently at the same level they were at in 2024, so if they are not going to go above what they were at last season then they are going to have move some contracts of their own in order to sign any free agents.
They could, though, acquire pre-arbitration players in trade and only push payroll up slightly.
President of baseball operations Nick Krall spoke with Reds.com’s Mark Sheldon and told him that they were looking at both (free agent and trade) markets. He noted that it would likely be an outfielder.
On the infield the Reds still have Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Jeimer Candelario, Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Spencer Steer (who can also play plenty of outfield).
In the outfield, though, there’s potentially Steer and then a bunch of guys who had down 2024 seasons. TJ Friedl dealt with some injuries and even when he was on the field his speed was not there like it had been in the past. Will Benson’s breakout 2023 didn’t show up at all in 2024. Jake Fraley’s power completely disappeared.
The free agent market for outfielders is solid once you get beyond Juan Soto, who even in an ayahuasca-induced fever dream isn’t signing with the Reds.
But it’s possible that if the team stretched their budget that they could potentially get somewhere with guys like Teoscar Hernandez, Tyler O’Neill, Jurickson Profar, Anthony Santander, or the sort-of-kind-of-rumored return of Jesse Winker.
All of those guys would cost money to bring in. But the trade market would likely mean spending less money, but also trading away prospects.
While it’s possible that the Reds could trade away a big leaguer in a deal, it seems unlikely as their young guys are either in the untouchable grouping or in the unproven and have had poor big league performance group. That would likely utilize the farm system.
Cincinnati has a solid farm system that has some depth to it. Someone like 2024 1st round pick Chase Burns is almost assuredly untouchable except in an entirely unforeseen scenario, but it’s possible that anyone else could go in the right kind of deal.
The free agent signings, and even trades have been happening earlier this offseason than the past few years. With the winter meetings beginning on Monday, things could really start to happen quickly once the front offices from all 30 clubs are together in the same hotel.
