Reds Should Take Drastic Steps

By Hal McCoy

It was false hope.

It was hope, but it was false hope, a cruel April Fool’s joke.

The Cincinnati Reds began the season in April, 20-11, and they resembled legitimate contenders.

Now they are mindful of Marlon Brando in the movie On The Waterfront when he said:

“I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead I’m a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.”

Yep, let’s face it. It is harsh to call the Reds bums, but when you fall hard, all the way to last place, fans stoop to call the team bums.

Since May 1, when the Reds were 20-11 and 7-0 in one-run games, they have fallen like one of former heavyweight champion Joe Louis’s Bum of the Month boxing opponents.

Since May 1, the Reds have constructed a 23-41 record, worst in all of MLB. After the 7-0 one-run start, they have gone 5-11 and are 14-21 in blowout games decided by five or more runs.

And they staggered into the All-Star break 15 games behind division-leading Milwaukee and five games behind fourth-place Pittsburgh.

What to do, what to do? Drastic measures are needed, moves for the future because the present is a mess.

The Reds should plant a ‘Players For Sale’ sign in front of Great American Ball Park. They are going nowhere and a complete re-tooling is needed.

There should be five untouchables and only five — Sal Stewart, Chase Burns, Elly De La Cruz, Edwin Arroyo and Hunter Greene.

Every other player on the current roster should be available to the highest bidder or the best offer.

Eugenio Suarez was brought in to provide right-handed power and is either injured or at the end of his rope.

Sure, he hit a couple of home runs recently. But he is hitting .208 and has struck out 13 times in his last 18 at bats, mostly with runners in scoring position.

Some contending team might take a gamble on him.

Pitcher Brady Singer is 3-8 with a 4.72 earned run average, certainly not come-fetch-me numbers. But his last start, 7 1/3 innings, one run, three hits against the potent Phillies, might have drawn some intention.

Contending teams always look for starting pitching and Singer might lure a couple of prospects away from some team.

It’s the same for Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott. Both are young arms with youthful inconsistencies with lofty upsides. And Lodolo can’t seem to find a way to prevent blisters on his pitching fingers.

But the Reds are going nowhere with them and as Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Branch Rickey told Ralph Kiner when he asked for a raise, “We finished last with you and we can finish last without you.”

Raise denied.

As one American League executive told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, “Every team needs starting pitchers. They’re the easier players to move at the trade deadline (August 3) and often they’re the ones that bring back the best returns.”

Both Abbott and Lodolo could land the Reds a room full of prospects and leave the team with a strong rotation led by Chase Burns, Hunter Greene, Rhett Lowder, Chase Petty and a couple of top prospects at Class AAA Louisville inJulian Aguiar and Jose Franco.

Catcher Tyler Stephenson can become a free agent after the season and most surely will test the market. Before he does that, the Reds should trade him.

Jose Trevino is a better receiver and the young pitchers, Burns and Greene, prefer him to be behind the plate when they are on the mound.

Trevino may not hit to Stephenson’s level as low as it is (.238), but Trevino has his moments and his days. And he would be a stop-gap for a couple of years until catcher Alfredo Duno advances quickly through the system.

Contenders also search for bullpen help and the Reds have a slew of pieces on expiring contracts that they might want to move — closer Emilio Pagan, Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson, Brock Burke, Tony Santillan, Graham Ashcraft, Sam Moll and Tejay Antone.

On the field, the versatile Spencer Steer might be a keeper. But two of the team’s biggest busts, Matt McLain and TJ Friedl, should be traded for whatever the club can scounge up.

It isn’t likely the Reds can dump third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on anybody, not with his contract that runs through 2030 at nearly $9 million a year.

But two players the Reds brought in through free agency this spring and signed to one-year deals, helped the team during its April surge.

But JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe have plummeted as fast as the team has fallen and although expendable, would be hard to move. Bleday went on a late first-half homer binge, three in the last five games.

That just means some contending team needs a left-handed bat and might take Bleday.

Elly De La Cruz, ever the optimist, believes in the current configuration of the team and expects bigger and better things for the second half.

Not all these suggested moves can be made or the Reds couldn’t field a team for the second half. But a few should be made to give it a new look, maybe a shot of optimism for the future.

“I’d like to keep the guys together,” he said. “We need to stay together. We’re gonna come back stronger the second half..”

It is nice to be optimistic and show loyalty to your teammates, but nothing indicates that the currently configured team can have a strong second half.