New Year, Same Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds’ lack of moves, questioned by many, will be the right decision for the team in the long-term.
It is officially 2017 and the Cincinnati Reds have yet to make any moves in free agency. The decision, questioned by a lot of people, will be the right one for the team in the long-term. The Reds, no matter who they sign, will not be a contender in the National League in 2017. The time to improve their roster through free agency is not right now.
In the 2015 offseason, the Reds signed one player to a major league contract, reliever Blake Wood. Wood pitched most of the season in Triple-A. The Reds went on to finish the season with the second-worst record in the major leagues.
In 2016, the Reds finished with the second-worst record in the major leagues once again. The lack of offseason moves has given the Reds the worst record in baseball over the past two seasons. It appears that the Reds are looking to rebuild their roster with high draft picks. The second-worst record in the majors in back-to-back seasons gets them back-to-back top three picks in the MLB draft. This will help the Reds rebuild for the future by drafting the best players available every year.
This is a page out of the Philadelphia Phillies’ book. They have not signed a huge free agent in years and have been rebuilding through the draft. That has propelled the Phillies to a top-five farm system in baseball. The Reds are looking to do the same thing. They were ranked 12th among farm systems by MiLB.com prior to last season, and should move up the ladder this year. That’s a great place to be at this point in their rebuild. A couple more bad seasons, paired with some high draft picks, and the Reds could be a contender once again in the National League.
At some point, the Reds will need to sign some veterans to help mentor the younger players. You can’t do a rebuild without veteran players to help out. While the Reds are essentially tanking again this season, they might want to think about signing some veterans to the roster for next season.
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By making zero major league signings this offseason, the Reds are doing the right thing for the long-term success of their organization. The timeline for the rebuild is most likely another two-to-three years. While the lack of moves is concerning for Reds fans, the future is bright in Cincinnati and the Reds will be competing for a National League pennant in no time.