MLB Rankings: These Five Teams had the Worst 2021 Offseasons

Worst 2021 MLB Offseasons: #4 Cincinnati Reds

Notable Additions: LHP Sean Doolittle, 2B Dee Strange-Gordon, OF Tyler Naquin

After going for it in 2020, the Reds seem uninterested in making the postseason ahead of the 2021 MLB campaign.

They traded standout reliever Rasiel Iglesias in early December and pondered swapping their top two starting pitchers, Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray. As Spring Training gears up, the Reds’ most proven add-on is 34-year-old reliever Sean Doolittle.

The optics indicate they don’t think they can win without Trevor Bauer.

With a good mix of veteran and young talent, the Reds have chosen to stand pat. Their passive approach is questionable, especially considering their number-one starter and number-one reliever are in their prime. Additionally, Cincinnati’s all-time first baseman has only so many impact seasons left in him, and they’re committed long-term to Mike Moustakas, Nick Castellanos, and Eugenio Suarez.

Castellanos has an opt-out clause post-2021, so if the Reds aren’t trending in the right direction, they may forfeit one of their best bats.

They had buying and selling power this offseason. The Reds could have jumped to front-runners in the so-so NL Central with a few clever moves. They could have taken the opposite approach as well by trading certain commodities for prospects. Castillo and Gray prompted significant trade interest, as did Suarez.

For whatever reasons, the Cincinnati Reds laid back. Perhaps they’ll reveal a strategy at some point this year, but they failed to do so this winter.