Reds quiet on Deadline day after busy week

NEW YORK – As the Trade Deadline expired on Friday afternoon, the Reds had no additional deals after being quite active earlier this week.

Cincinnati addressed its biggest need for bullpen help and added three relievers, picking up Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson from the Yankees on Monday and less than 24 hours later, acquired reliever Mychal Givens from the Rockies.

“I think we tried to make our club better to see what was out there,” Reds general manager Nick Krall said. “We didn't find something that matched up. We were excited to get our deals done earlier this week and add the three relievers to the club. A lot of phone calls today. We knew we had to add some bullpen help, we did it. Then everything else was trying to be as opportunistic as possible. We didn't, obviously, find the opportunity. So, I was excited with the players that we ended up with. With keeping our best prospects, I'm excited to work and see where this team can go.”

Krall gave up two Top 30 Prospects in the organization to get Givens from Colorado and a player to be named later to make the deal with the Yankees. The Reds did not part with anybody in their Top 20 and Krall wasn’t looking to move any of those prospects to make more trades.

“Some teams -- they wanted more of our system than we were willing to give up,” he said. “Or they wanted guys off our Major League team that I just wasn't comfortable giving up. I think that we've got a really good clubhouse, really good chemistry and culture. You want to see that keep going. We're excited to have the guys we have.”

The most rumored shortstop to be on the trade block -- Trevor Story -- was linked to the Reds at times but he ended up remaining with the Rockies. The Reds liked what they’ve gotten from Kyle Farmer, who has come on lately with strong production. They also have prospect José Barrero at Triple-A Louisville.

There are several reasons for the Reds to feel good about their roster after the three acquisitions.

First, the club has several key position players currently on the injured list who could be back in August to boost the lineup. Center fielder Nick Senzel (left knee) and third baseman Mike Moustakas (right foot) began rehab assignments on Friday with Louisville. Right fielder Nick Castellanos -- out since last week with a right wrist microfracture -- resumed throwing this week.

In the bullpen, reliever Lucas Sims (right elbow) began his rehab assignment with Louisville on Tuesday. The Reds’ best reliever, Tejay Antone (right forearm) has started throwing off a mound this week.

“I'm excited to see where we play the last two months,” Krall said. “I think this team is a solid team. I think we've got a chance to make a run at this.”

The Reds have one of the easiest schedules left in the Major Leagues. Of the 20 games they play following the series vs. the Mets, 19 will be against clubs currently with a sub-.500 record. For the rest of 2021, they have 13 games vs. the Pirates and six more vs. a Cubs team that just completed a fire sale.

The bad news is there are only three games left vs. the National League Central-leading Brewers and no games left with the Padres, who currently hold the second NL Wild Card spot. Both of those clubs were very active this week in making deals.

“We knew clubs were going to add,” Krall said. “They obviously filled their needs. We liked the players we got to fill our needs.”

Cincinnati entered the night seven games behind Milwaukee for the division and five games behind San Diego for the second Wild Card.

“I love our team. I didn’t want anyone to leave our team,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I know we lost a couple of guys earlier in the week and made some great additions to our bullpen. I’m very comfortable, very confident with the group moving forward. A big part of where we are is the way everyone plays together, the way everyone gets along. What we have as a team, to me, it’s really important to our success. We’ll be able to continue that. And that’s really important.”