This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon's Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CINCINNATI -- Citizens around the world are opening gifts this week for Christmas or Hanukkah, but the Reds' holiday wish list has still gone mostly unanswered to this point. There are no outfielders in their stockings or big bats coming down the chimney.
At least, not yet.
All that's in front of Cincinnati at the moment is its biggest question between now and Spring Training: Can the Reds improve their offense enough to be a force in the National League Central?
"We've had a lot of conversations over the last few weeks to bolster our position player group, but right now, we haven't gotten anything. We haven't made a ton of progress at this point," president of baseball operations Nick Krall told Tommy Thrall and I on the Dec. 17 edition of The Reds Hot Stove League. "We know what the landscape looks like, and it's just trying to figure out how to make a deal, whether it's a free agent or a trade that can help this club."
Save for the Cubs, who have been active in acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Astros and trading Cody Bellinger to the Yankees to free payroll space, it's been mostly quiet all around the division -- and much of the league as well -- this month.
Krall has pulled off two trades thus far. The first was for starting pitching -- getting Brady Singer from the Royals on Nov. 22 for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer. On Dec. 20, the need for a second catcher was checked off when Jose Trevino was acquired in a trade with the Yankees for reliever Fernando Cruz and Minor League catcher Alex Jackson.
As for free agents, Cincinnati’s payroll has limited flexibility, according to Krall. The club has maintained that it will equal or exceed its 2024 payroll of around $100 million, but probably not by much. A good chunk of it ($21.05 million) was taken up when free-agent pitcher Nick Martinez accepted his qualifying offer. It's proven to be the market rate compared to other starting pitcher signings around the game.
Why has it been so tough for the Reds to swing another deal?
"A lot of teams are looking for Major League pieces for Major League pieces back," Krall replied. "When you're doing that, I can make a trade and fill a hole, but when I fill a hole, I open up another one. Do you have a way to backfill that? That's been the challenge with trying to fill those holes. With free agency, it's all about, 'Do you want to come here?’, ‘What's the money?' and ‘Do you match up?’"
Offensively, Cincinnati was ranked near the bottom of baseball in batting average and OPS. In the outfield, specifically where there are openings, the Reds ranked 26th with an wRC+ of 83. Their corner outfielders combined for only 29 home runs, five coming from debuting prospect Rece Hinds in 14 games before he struggled the rest of the season.
India was Krall's biggest moveable trade chip from the position-player side. On the pitching side, Alexis Díaz would be attractive to teams needing bullpen help. But Cincinnati would need to identify or acquire a new closer to replace him. The club also has eight starters for five spots heading into Spring Training.
Krall has been reluctant to trade from that rotation depth so far.
"You know you're going to need more than five," he said. "If you get through the season with only five starters, you're extremely lucky. When you look at that depth, is it depth, or is it, ‘Hey, you need all these guys to get through a season'?"
As for free agents, the outfield market hasn't moved that much since Juan Soto signed his $765 million blockbuster deal with the Mets during the Winter Meetings. Plenty of quality names remain but with one overriding sticking point.
"They have to fit in the budget first," Krall said. "We have to adhere to that."
Until then, there are a little more than six weeks until the start of Spring Training. Plenty of quality shopping time left.