New projections were released over at Fangraphs and the 2026 Cincinnati Reds have some work to do if they look to return to the playoffs. The BAT projections like the Cincinnati Reds rotation quite a bit and overall the pitching is a solid group. But just like nearly everyone reading the pages here at Redleg Nation, The BAT looks at the offense and turns green.
The average every day player in Major League Baseball is about a 2.0 WAR player for a full season. Your typical All-Star is in that 4.0 WAR range. While your MVP/Cy Young contender is 6+ WAR. The BAT projections look at the Reds position players and only has one guy above 1.8 WAR – Elly De La Cruz. They project him to put up 3.8 WAR and be an All-Star caliber player. The next most valuable every day player in their projections? Matt McLain at 1.8 WAR.
Aside from De La Cruz, only Sal Stewart is projected to be an above-average hitter, though four others are at least within shouting distance of league average. There are some things that are worth noting when looking at the overall value (WAR) for some of the players. WAR is a counting stat in the sense that the more you play the more you can accumulate (or lose). New outfielder JJ Bleday is only projected to play in 70 games for Cincinnati in these projections, so his WAR of 0.5 needs to be understood with that context.
The biggest thing for me when I looked at the numbers, though, was with regards to Ke’Bryan Hayes. The projection for his hitting is atrocious. Not known for his bat it’s fair to say that no one likely thinks he’s a reliable hitter. But when you move your eyes over to the defensive value column is where you might reach for your glasses. While he does project to be an above-average defender, his 2.2 defensive value is lower than that of Jose Trevino (who as a catcher does get a lot of additional value, but also plays in 73 fewer games in these projections), Elly De La Cruz, Tyler Stephenson, and Matt McLain.
To put into perspective what a 2.2 defensive value would represent for Ke’Bryan Hayes, let’s not that in 2020 he played in 24 games had had a plus 3.2 value. The only other time he wasn’t in double digits in his career was in 2024 when he was at +6.5. Last year he was at a career best +19.2.
The projections do have Cincinnati scoring 19 more runs than they did in the 2025 season. Technically that would be an improvement. But it’s a minimal improvement at best to an offense that ranked 26th in OPS+ last year.
Hopefully, McLain does bounce back but that is a big question mark. The Reds need offense as they have for several years. If they don’t make a significant move in that direction, it’s time to stop taking this organization serioiusly.
Yes – MM needs to spend well into May hitting in the 7, 8 or 9 spots; if and when his OPS gets above, say .725, he can return to the top of the order. Which of course means they still need 2 OFers, or an OFer and DH, that can hit.
I think he’ll be fine, but, prove it.
With Reds depth in starting pitch and lack of it in power hitters, the obvious move is to trade one of our starters for a young power hitter with MLB bona fides. ELC needs a wingman batting 4th.
No chance for this team to exceed 2025 team unless they do it.
Agree. Reds would take offense fm any player, but IMO, this team needs more LEFT Handed Hitters!
Consider 70 – 75% of ML Pitchers are RIGHT HANDED. Cincy needs LHHs to better matchup. I advocated for Josh Naylor at the Deadline last season. He would be a very solid LHH w/ power, a very good Defensive 1B and with a surprisingly good ability to steal bases when needed….IF……TF would allow it again?
With Naylor in tow, it would have been much easier to persuade someone like Schwarber to sign w/ the Reds which was/is sorely needed!
If serious about winning in the playoffs, adding another LHH OF like Bellinger or perhaps trading for Boston’s RF Abreu would make Cincy a serious contender.
Until Cincy does something like this, they’re nothing more than Pretenders
Crazy, I would have thought adding two AAAA OFers would have shifted those projections a lot more. – Nick Krall probably
“The biggest thing for me when I looked at the numbers, though, was with regards to Ke’Bryan Hayes. The projection for his hitting is atrocious.”
Unfortunately KBH may already be untradeable. As I’ve said in my mind only teams like the Dodgers would pay his contract and use him as a late inning defensive replacement probably only at 3B as that’s the only position that he’s played in the majors. Krall did not do the Reds and favors in helping them win now or in the future when making that trade. No doubt the Pirates knew it and probably every other team.
I could see a strong hitting team with a hole at 3B having interest. The Reds had a hole at 3B, but we didn’t and don’t have the hitters to afford us the luxury of bringing in a defensive web-gem machine at 3B. The fit remains poor for us, but I don’t think the rest of the league perceives a lack of value in Hayes.
“but I don’t think the rest of the league perceives a lack of value in Hayes.”
I hope you’re right. Personally I haven’t seen or heard any evidence of any other team desiring to have him. Talking about him is one thing. Wanting him on your team is another.
The other teams aren’t calling you, Melvin: they already know what you think about him.
The absence of public discussion about a player under contract for multiple years who was recently acquired is expected. It’s hardly evidence that other teams don’t value Hayes.
As you know, I did not/do not like the Hayes acquisition for a number of reasons. However, his defense is spectacular, and just because I didn’t like his trade, I would feel dishonest if I failed to acknowledge the value he brings.
“The absence of public discussion about a player under contract for multiple years who was recently acquired is expected.”
We didn’t exactly pay a premium price to get him. Did you hear of any other teams trying to outbid us?
Melvin, did we hear about the Red’s interest in Hayes before they traded for him? I can’t find Hayes’ name connected with the Reds before the trade. So, did the Reds trade for a player they weren’t interested in?
What are you getting at anyway? What’s discussion-worthy about this?
“Melvin, did we hear about the Red’s interest in Hayes before they traded for him?”
Yes as a matter of fact. The rumors were there. I thought, “No. They would never do that”….but they did.
We are most likely stuck with him.
Alright, have a good night.
Well of course the Reds still need to add offense, because as of yet they have only added below average contributors to what was already a below average group of position players. As mentioned in the article 26th in OPS+ but also 29th in position player bWAR. At this point all the Reds have done is move backwards, you’ve replaced Hays’ 105 OPS+ 0.8 bWAR and Andujar’s 153 OPS+ and 0.6 bWAR (with the Reds) with Myers’ 71 OPS+ -0.1 bWAR and Bleday’s 92 OPS+ -0.3 bWAR. Not to mention carrying Hayes’ 78 OPS+ (with Reds) all season.
We need to add a well above bat and another above average bat to the lineup to go along with Elly, TJ, Stewart and hopefully Marte. LF and 1B/DH are obvious areas to upgrade. Stop trying to put two below average players together and hope for an above average player. It’s an inane strategy but the Reds seem to try it every offseason and hope for the best.
The Reds are a lot worse right now than last year. Not sure why people thought they were going to do something this winter. Right now they will be fighting it out with the Cardinals for last. Krall has built this team on “Well if this guy……”
With a clever rotation strategy 1+1 = 2.5WAR. Yep, that seems to be their strategy. Its also hard to dispute as some have already noted that the offense, if anything, has taken a backwards step thus far. I believe Matty will largely recover and Sal will keep hitting as the projections show but that is hardly enough to lift this team over .500. Careful now, the Pirates seem primed to pass us.
Steer and Matty have to rebound from the shoulder injuries and Sal has to process to his next level for this team to have a shot offensively. There’s no other way this team can compete. Those three have to play their best baseball all season.
@Hotto
From a full season perspective, Hays, Andujar, and Stewart played 155 games combined. They were basically one player, and that one player will be a full season of Stewart in 2026. Bleday and Myers are upgrades on Fraley, Connor Joe, Blake Dunn, and others that played as 4th and 5th OFs in 2025.
Marte will be on the team for a full year. The team will not be starting the year with CES whose production was futile. And waiting in the wings could be a dynamic player, Hector Rodriguez.
From a full season perspective I think we are on par, as worst, with last year.
I do agree we need an above average bat. That would be great, if possible, and would put the offense ahead of last year. I don’t agree we “need” two.
The K.Hayes trade is inexcusable. Not even a primier defensive position. Krall HAD to know that. He will hurt us a LOT more than he helps us. Once again they suckered me into believing they would get us a GOOD outfield bat. Tired of making excuses for the FO.
Be careful 70, within the hour there will be people here declaring the Hayes’ trade was a master struck and why he is slated to be the next Mike
Schmidt. They will produce a boat load of stats to convince you that Nick Krall is the greatest thing since Branch Rickey. The only stat they won’t mention is the number of World Series championships the Reds have won or the number of times they have won the National League Pennant or the number of times they have won the NL Central. Silly me I thought those were the goal.
V4L: I don’t know if I made it within the hour, and I didn’t mention Krall, but I will note that, with Hayes, they made the playoffs for the first time in a while.
@V4L, no one on this site has claimed that Hayes is going to turn into a legendary, HoF hitter.
Acquiring Ke’Bryan Hayes was a bad move on several levels.
Financially, we have taken on his contract from the Pirates; they might still be laughing at the Reds over this.
Ke’Bryan Hayes is far from 100% healthy (bad back), and may miss a lot of games…this could be a blessing in disguise, though.
Ke’Bryan Hayes now blocks any other player from playing 3rd base. With his salary, Francona is going to have to play him every day. Think not? If he is “on the interstate”, batting > .200 by Memorial Day, they actually MIGHT sit him down. Actually, I would like to see Sal Stewart get a chance to play 3rd now, that he has worked so hard on his fitness in the offseason. He might be more agile and move better.
Hayes takes up a roster spot.
Takes up financial resources that could be spent on a truly valuable free agent or to begin extending a key player. Instead, we have this guy who can’t hit and will be injured part of the time. Count on it.
Mauired made a really good post the other night about the cost the Reds have paid for “WAR” the last few years under the Nick Krall regime. Truly, the Reds do not know how to evaluate personnel they either have or are going to acquire.
Ke’Bryan Hayes is going to be an albatross around the neck of the Reds for several years to come. At least Jeimer Candalario had some reputation for offensive talent, and he turned out to be a disaster. Hayes has never been much of a hitter, and could be worse at this stage of his career than he ever was before.
“but I will note that, with Hayes, they made the playoffs for the first time in a while.”
They also lost in the first round without winning a series…AGAIN with 31 years and counting. The Reds are NOT going to win when settling for players like Hayes. Even the Pirates realized that.
David, I’m sorry but you’re claim that KBH “is far from 100% healthy (bad back), and may miss a lot of games” isn’t backed up by the facts, particularly recent data. He played in 152 games last year, having played in 52 out of a possible 53 since he was acquired. How many games would he’d have played if he was “100% healthy”? Is he coming back from off season surgery? The answer is no. You would think that a bad back would hinder him in the field yet he won another Gold Glove this past season.
However, according to you he will be injured part of the time and that we “can count on it”. It sounds like a huge problem, how many games will he miss? Is it a problem when other players miss games?
If third is not a premier position, it makes it all the more remarkable that he was the third most valuable fielder, any position, in the game. Third base was a problem position: Marte was terrible and Espinal couldn’t hit, either, and was not as good a fielder as Hayes. The Reds were not and are not a particularly strong defensive team. I do get that a preponderance of commenters consider defense–at best–a poor cousin, but a team like the Reds that relies on pitching–run prevention- to be competitive needs decent fielding to effectively prevent runs which, after all, count as much as runs the offense scores. Of course the Reds need more hitting, but they gave away winnable games last year due to defensive lapses, so it’s worth considering that baseball cannot be reduced to any one element. Good teams generally pitch, hit and field well.
Yep, very good summation.
And how many did they give away by NOT SCORING or by scoring 3 or fewer runs?
Same thought I had when they acquired him, and I still think it now. The Reds are a pitching and defensive team, with some young hitters capable of performing better than they did in 2025. I believe they need to do more, but KBH at 3rd is not the glaring hole people claim.
If healthy, KBH prevents bunt hits, starts double plays, keeps doubles in the infield, etc…and these are all the pitcher’s best friend. We have pitchers, other than Hunter and Chase, that keep the ball down on the ground. This is pitching at GABP…this is what KBH is the best at, to the point that the entirety of MLB knows it. Pat Murphy sure knows it,
If his bat is serviceable, and if he stays healthy, he knows what his job is on this team.
Of course Sal deserves a shot at 3rd, but what if it doesn’t take and KBH is not on this team?? That hole at 3rd just gets deeper.
We all know the Reds aren’t going to invest the millions we want, and they’ve spent worst money in the past few years than a proven defensive wizard at the hot corner.
KBH is a pitcher’s best friend. And if I’m on the mound, I’m pitching more confidently when I know he’s there. Period.
I don’t know, LDS, but it’s a two sided coin, isn’t it? In games in which they scored 3 or fewer runs, they could have won by scoring more or they could have won by allowing fewer runs. As always, reactions to comments here often try to reduce the original comment to one element. I specifically said that the Reds need more hitting, and they do. My point was that hitting alone won’t make them a WS contender. The game is great in large part because it resists over-simplification. If it were changed to home run derby, you could build a successful team of sluggers with poor on-base skills and no defensive ability and your pitching staff could be batting practice pitchers or a pitching machine. Thankfully, that is not yet the case. The reality is that the Reds will not spend the enormous amount of money it would take to put a formidable power hitter at every position, assuming that enough of those guys would even be available. Few teams have such a lineup. What they might be able to do is add some pop at several positions and DH and improve defense where they can. If they continue to give up runs and games by botching routine and nearly routine plays, they’ll still lose winnable games.
Not many games were lost because our third basemen’s defense was bad. I can tell you about 50 games were lost due to not having offense. Hayes made no sense at the break and makes less now. Noone watched this team besides Krall and critically thought the team needed a light hitting 30 year old who you will have to commit to for 3 years. They care so much about defense yet roll the league leader in errors out to SS (a true premium position) everyday. Everything is backwards.
Before you tell me Ozzie Smith led the league in errors before, I’ll tell you he improved defensively-drastically every year as a young player and became the greatest ever. The list of great SS who made alot of errors early in their careers usually shows them actually improving year in and year out as they matured. We havent seen that out of EDC yet. The Pirates made the move w Cruz after they couldn’t watch a throw sail into the stands anymore. The Reds just said lets give you a 5’8 first basemen and try it again. Never thought the Pirates would be an organization we will now envy in Cincinnati. Going out and getting their guy instead of telling everyone they are trying and kicking tires.
Fifty games, Justin? Certainly possible. But, again, a team loses a game because the other team scores more runs. There are two ways to prevent that: Score more yourself, or prevent more. Ideally, you do both things well, but that doesn’t mean that every player is good at both. A balance can work.
There’s another point to be made about home run hitters: on average, they hit one every three or four games, and far from all of those determine the outcome of the game. Are they valuable? Of course, but power hitting is but one element in baseball, a sport which remains–despite narratives that attempt to reduce it to “true outcomes”–admirably complex.
The offseason isn’t over yet, but not securing a middle of the order power bat for this team should be a fireable offense. Trade prospects if you have to, our pitching might not be this good again for a long while.
“not securing a middle of the order power bat for this team should be a fireable offense.”
Krall – “I think we still have room for improvement”. 😀
Ke’Bryan Hayes has a .253 career batting average and played 152 games last year. Hardly a disaster. He also made plays at third that looked routine but would have been doubles or errors with our other third basemen.
He hit .235 last year. Rough, but Steer hit .238 and I don’t see anyone calling him a disaster.
TJ’s career BA is .257. Is he, too, a disaster then?
Steer hit 21 HRs, drove in 75, and had an OPS+ of 94. Hayes hit 5, drove in 49, and had an OPS+ of 65. They had nearly the same number of PAs – 568 vs 570. So, comparing the two, is like comparing apples and oranges. That said, I’d love to see Stewart beat out Steer for the 1B job.
KBH has a grand total of 42 HR in 2338 official ABs. That might be okay if you’re a high average/high on base percentage hitter but he certainly is not. He’s played six years and had one year with 15 HR and the rest with seven or less. Since his 15 HR year in 2023 he had four in 2024 and five in 2025.
On the other hand Spencer Steer has 66 HR in 1760 official ABs. His career line is .243/.329/.750. In terms of HR the last three years he’s had 23, 20 and 21. Steer is supposed to be a gold glove caliber defender at 1B too.
I do agree with LDS. if the Reds are bent on keeping EDLC at SS then they need a first baseman who is taller with a longer reach because having Steer there is NOT helping EDLC with his throwing errors.
Sal Stewart WILL PLAY most every day somewhere. You can just about take it to the bank.
Only TWO Reds had more hits than KBH last season. Is he really the problem here?
Lots of if’s
The Cincinnati Ifs..
If a frog had wings … That is Krall in a nutshell.
The work IF is used A LOT by a certain POBO. 🙂
The word IF *
I’m a little more optimistic about the Reds to have a bounce-back offensive year than others… I anticipate that ELDC / McClain / Marte / Steer / Stewart / Friedl / Bleday / Lux / Stephenson all add more WAR than projected.
I would still like to see Krall go get another OF Bat or 2…I really want to see 2 moves made…I want to see the FO go get Lou-Bob from Whitesox and Duran from the Redsox…Either move would raise the 2026 floor & ceiling, but the combo would make CIN a legit NLC & Post-season contender….As the everyday line-up would have the quality & depth to compete with anyone.
Duran would certainly raise the floor and ceiling. Roberts does not raise the floor imo.
None of these stats is any real surprise. There is talk of adding another outfielder. I don’t see that happening. They seem to have enough underwhelming, platooning OF’s and possibly Rodriguez on the cusp. All other positions seem set as it is except for DH. I am guessing Steer would be a super utility guy. After taking a quick peruse through what’s left of the FA’s the best fit I can find is Eugenio Suarez. He would fit into the DH spot and may even thrive there since he would not have to play a position. He is scheduled to make 2yrs at about 15M per year something the Reds should be able to afford. Oh yeah bringing a fan favorite back should also sell more seats.
Looks like the ‘news’ around the league is that the Mariners are offering him 3 years/ 72 million to beat the 3 yr/ 70 million offer from Arizona. Do you really think the Reds will spend $25 million a year on Suarez? Unless the pressure is somehow on Krall to do something, I doubt it.
Hey Jason. I did not see that offer. If that is indeed real then pass on Suarez big time. That’s a big overpay IMO. Not sure who we can get/afford in free agency that would move the needle. Does not sound like Krall will move SP so not sure what’s left.
The KBH trade may end up being bad, but it may not. The 2 worst outcomes will be if he breaks down physically and simply doesn’t last the length of the deal (I understand the “passing physcial” issue, but the back issues . . .), or if Stafura ends up as a star/very good MLB player.
Meanwhile, so long as he hits 8th or 9th, and improves just slightly; AND he continues with GG defense, that will be good enough. They’ll just need to be better than that in 2 of the OF spots.
The contract length and $$$ are at the outer edge of the Reds budget, but still just an excuse if they don’t do anything else.
KBH won’t be the problem.
Hayes is a building block that most playoff teams have. I think you are correct in this. Even money-wise, he is more of a late arbitration or low-end post arbitration player, which good teams need and have. The problem is the Reds’ dependence on this tier of players being their best players.
So the contrast with other teams and playoff teams in particular is at the top and middle of the order. We have some nice players but we don’t have the numbers of elite players that the more successful teams do. And it doesn’t require advanced metrics to figure that out. You only have to look at the lineups in the box score. How many of our 1-7 hitters would be bottom third hitters on good teams?
Hayes defensive projections defy logic. I can’t even pretend to understand them. Seems to me there might be a disconnect between watching Gold Glove defense and measuring it.
WRT statistical projection models in general, they struggle with extreme outliers, and Hayes is certainly an outlier and probably an extreme one. For example, I don’t think there is another non-shortstop that comes close to bringing similar defensive value as measured by multiple sources and over several seasons.
Models tend to “regress” outlier data back into the more normative data. The remedy is to ignore the model WRT Hayes–it’s not designed to predict extreme outliers, and measuring defense in MLB is very hard.
That (shortcomings of defensive metrics) seems to be pretty well agreed upon. It’s got to be really hard.
One thought I’ve had is that, as well designed focus groups can carry very good validity, the impact of highly skilled defense may be just as well considered by the ‘inangibles.’
I thought a lot about double plays after the 2024 season, when we ranked near the bottom and at the initiation of the EDLC/McLain middle infield in 2025. It just seemed very solid to me that it’s a significant positive when the defense gets a DP after a pitcher very skillfully produces a DP ground ball. I would just think, Imagine being Brady Singer, a sinker/slider guy (my fave, by the way), being at 85 pitches, one out, up by a run, guys on 1st and 2nd, pitching his butt off to get a GB, then watching the play not get turned. There’s an impact to that, right?
It’s similar to catching/not catching foul tip third strikes — this was one of the abilities i noticed first about Jose Trevino, that he is very good catching foul tip third strikes (whereas Tyler isn’t as much; not knocking Tyler, I think his defense has become pretty darn good). But think about being on the mound in a high leverage situation, working his arse off getting that swing and foul tip, then having the catcher hold onto them time and again. There’s validity in that, as there is with Trevino’s quickness around the plate and framing.
In short, making plays is an ability enhanced by skill, and it carries a lot of value that has got to be hard to measure, via metrics or otherwise, focus group.
Thoughts for the new year …
With one more thought (and editorial comment) — a minor leaguer who has a very good ability to ‘just make plays’ IMO is Leo Balcazar. You heard it here first.
The Reds won the 1970 NL pennant with Tommy Helms batting .237 and only 1 hr at 2nd base. They led the league in runs scored.
However, they also had Johnny Bench (MVP), Tony Perez, Lee May, Bobby Tolan, Pete Rose, etc.
The present Reds don’t have anybody near the stature of these offensive players; maybe EDLC comes close. Nobody hit 30 HR for the Reds last year, or the year before. Or had anyone anywhere close to 100 rbi’s.
Can this team win with a player at third base hitting .230 with virtually no power?
Time will tell.
The 2026 Reds are more like the 1971 Reds.
The latter had C Bench, 1B May, 2B Helms, SS Concepcion Woodward 3B Perez LF Carbo McRae CF Foster RF Rose SP Gullett Nolan McGlothlin Grimsley Simpson RP Carroll Granger Cloninger Gibbon as regular players.
Many of those 1971 Reds had talent but produced subpar results. Most were key players on the 1970 Reds. Only Foster in CF instead of Tolan was different.
The key difference between 1970 Reds and 1971 was Jim Merritt. He was 20-12 in 1970 but only 1-11 in 1971. That’s 19 fewer W for him.
And Hal McRae?
Interesting that you bring up the 1971 George Foster, who was traded to the Reds after the season began because of the Bobby Tolan injury. Hit 234, with 10 HRs and 50 RBIs in 71 as a Left Fielder covering CF. He was no Bobby Tolan in CF.
1972 plays 59 games with -0.6 war. 73 plays 17 games. 106 games with 1.0 war in 1974. 2.7 war over a 4 year period before he breaks out in 1975. Ken Griffey also breaks ou in 1975.
I could see the Reds have some break out outfielders this year. Rece Hinds screams George in 1973 when he hit 262 with 15 HRs.
I am not saying Hinds will be Foster, but the numbers and progression are interesting.
If players at other positions hit well enough they can. For his career, by the way, Hayes hits a bit over .250.
I was not saying Foster was equal to Tolan, just that he was the different CF than Tolan (who was Reds CF in 1970).
Got it Oldtimer. Defensively, Rece would be between Bobby and George.
Now, to just get his batters eye between those 2
You made my day ReagansPad. Made me laugh. I agree the defensively Hinds is between Tolan and Foster. The gap there is so large it made me laugh.
Thanks
With the Reds inability so far to sign a real cleanup hitter, I see the Pirates, with their recently acquired offense, passing the Reds in the NLC. If that happens, it could be the impetus for needed change in the Reds front office.
inability = unwilingness
They’ve added Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn. Lowe is 31 and had an OPS of .548 v. LH pitching last year. He is a free agent after 2026, so he is a 1-year rental.
O’Hearn rode two hot months through May last year to make himself a hot commodity, but at age 32 he has a total bWAR of 3.1. After his hot start, from June 1 through the end of the season, he slashed .252/.336/.379. (In that same span, playing the same position, Spencer Steer slashed .246/.323/.457, while playing better D than O’Hearn.)
The Pirates also picked up Jake Mangum in the Lowe trade, but they had to give up a sound 25-year-old starting pitcher, Jake Burrow, who is pretty much a wash for Mangum.
The two are decent pieces, but the Reds finished 12 games ahead of the Pirates last year, with about 4 regulars either hurt or recovering from shoulder surgeries. The Pirate’s acquisition of Lowe and O’Hearn do not make up 12 games on the Reds.
Don’t forget Garcia, top 100 prospect. He will likely be viewed internally as one of their best acquisitions.
Hunter greene has video up on his instagram throwing a bullpen
Hes adding a 2 seam FB to his arsenal to get more weak contact and more pitch efficiency
This could be a big development in his next step to becoming a perennial elite dominant pitcher and allows more innings and lower pitch counts .
Love it — He is serving notice.
Off topic, but I was wondering if the Reds played 2 or 3 series a season in Louisville what the effect it would have on growing the fan base.
Sure the stadium is undersized for a MLB stadium, but it’s not like we sell out every series.
I would think more people in KY would adopt the Reds, and start watching on tv, and those people once they become fans will attend more games in Cincinnati.
We can’t make Cincinnati bigger, but maybe we could do a better job incorporating our “Reds Country “ fans.
Louisville works since they are our affiliate, and they have a reasonable sized stadium to be used in this manor. Dayton is both smaller in population and stadium size but maybe a series there would work.
I would suggest Nashville or Indianapolis would be even better options than Louisville, given their larger populations. Nashville, in particular, is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in America. The main problem is having a large enough venue–I don’t know if their football stadiums would be viable for an MLB baseball field. MLB shot down the Tampa/Montreal plan, but perhaps would be more supportive of a Cincinnati/Nashville partnership.
I don’t disagree, but those cities have a MILB affiliation with the Pirates and Brewers. That’s what kept me from Columbus as well.
If a deal could be worked out with those MILB owners it would be great, 2 series Indianapolis, 2 in Louisville, and 2 in Columbus. All are within 2 hours of Cincinnati, therefore it should create more traffic from those cities to Cincinnati.
I asked Chat GPT to give me a rough population of these cities including Cincinnati and the surrounding areas.
“If you treated Cincinnati as the “center city” and folded in greater Louisville, Columbus, and Indianapolis plus the in-between counties, you’d be looking at a region of roughly 8.4–8.5 million people.”
It would likely take a while to find a significant increase in viewership, but a RSN that cover a fan base of 8.5M people could get big.
Nashville may be in line for their own franchise with its growth rate
All good points. As a Reds fan, I really hope Nashville doesn’t get a franchise. As I see it, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Columbus are all well within the reach of Cincinnati today. Nashville is a bit more on the periphery.
My counter to the notion that the Reds should take better advantage of their region is that other franchises have regions to reach as well. For example, there are some sizable cities within 2 hours of New York, too. So, I agree it would help to play a series or two in any of the above cities; it might work better to find one that is a little further away, yet close enough to have a connection. Hence, Nashville, which is within the Reds’ current TV footprint, but not close enough to drive to a game and return the same day in most cases.
As for Columbus, Nashville, and Indianapolis having MiLB franchises, I’m not sure if MLB provides any limitations to “protect” an MiLB team’s local turf–I just don’t know if that would be a problem or not. Obviously, the MiLB franchise wouldn’t like it if there were competing major and minor league games on the same day, but that’s a scheduling problem that should be fairly easy to overcome.
Another option would be to establish a relationship in a foreign city and maybe play two series there each year. There may be more potential revenue growth in getting Mexico (or the UK) to adopt the Reds than in one of the neighboring or nearby American metro areas.
Anyway… I’ve had the same thought and think it’s a great idea.
I like the idea of a foreign city, and I get your point on why you like Nashville.
I feel like the local cities so to speak already have a fan base that could be cultivated by having the Reds playing in their cities. Those fans might start saying “our team” instead of Cincinnati’s team. It might be more of a generational project, but we could become a mega market if we could truly incorporate those areas into our franchise.
Yep! I was thinking. One way to do this would be to make a deal with the Brewers and Pirates. We’d play a series each year in Indy (Pirates AAA) and another in Nashville (Brewers AAA). Each year, we swap being the home team, so no team ever loses more than one home series per season. Also, since they are divisional rivals, we still play them home/away every season. The key would be having dramatically larger crowds than any of the three teams would expect to draw at home. Side benefit: each team builds its local fanbase/TV revenue. I suppose subbing the Guardians in and playing in Columbus would work, too.
Reds fan base historically is linked to the power of Cincinnati radio in the early days, and the affiliate stations broadcasting the games in Ohio, Ky, Ind, W Va. So, a lot of Reds fans from the “hinterlands” probably never once visited Crosley Field or Riverfront.
Of course, radio will never return to exert that much influence, but at one time the Reds had an enormous following. And, Crosley was more than happy to sell them a radio!
As an aside, the Dodgers used to play several games a year in Jersey City at a place called Roosevelt Field. It was a AAA ballpark that eventually was taken over by the Havana team amid the revolution there in 1959.
Years ago, teams played their minor league affiliates in annual exhibition games. That has not been done in 50 years.
Hayes is a great glove at 3rd, no doubt. But he plays a position where they rarely hit you the ball. MLB average 3b chances is 2.5 per game, and majority of those are routine. But he’ll still get to average 4 outs per game at the plate. No thanks.
And yet, Hayes generated the 6th most value defensively across all of MLB regardless of position. So, while what you are saying is true, Hayes is so good at 3B, he’s generating defensive value on par with that of a gold-glove shortstop.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/fielding-run-value
I’m not anti-Hayes, purely because of the glove.
The Reds do have to manage his bat. He needs some days off because of his back, and last year he had strongly reverse platoon splits. So, rest him against some tough lefties (and play Sal or Steer or whoever the utility infielder is), on a plan to give him 500 PAs.
Hayes did post a .800 OPS in GABP last season over 84 PAs, versus only .631 in 226 PAs in righty-averse PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
If the Reds have plus (and perhaps this season plus-plus) offensive production from shortstop, I can live with sub-par offense from 3B if it comes with Ke’Bryan’s glove. If the Reds got very good offensive production from 3B, and had a very strong glove at short with little offense, nobody would be complaining. So, I don’t see why it’s a big deal to have the reverse situation. Sure, I’d rather have Alex Bregman at 3B, but …
Inexplicably fangraph’s BAT projections have Hayes 5th on his own team, after being 6th in baseball last year.
SMH at “BAT” projections, or any projections for that matter.
As I said above, he was third–a close third–in all of baseball, regardless of position, in defensive runs saved.
I will bow to BK’s stats above. Can’t remember where I saw mine, but BK’s still make the point nicely.
Hayes was tied for third in DRS.
I’m actually kind of bullish on this offense. They should be middle of the pack, imo. A lot of question marks and not many sure things, but risk cuts both ways and the Reds’ bats have way more upside than downside. They don’t need all these gambles to work out. They just need a couple.
It would be interesting to know why those guys are projecting KBH for a 2.2 defensive value…The only good thing we can be sure to say Hayes has is a golden glove caliber defense….
The models are only as good as the programmers that program them as well as the assumptions that are made in the design.
It’s useless information for the most part.
Lets turn some positive. EDLC and McLain will both be better than projected here. No way EDLC has a lower OPS than in 2025.
Based upon the bashing many people provide to Hayes, it appears some people on here may not understand the importance of defense in baseball. Per Fangraphs, Hayes was the 101st best player in baseball after his trade to the Reds. But I believe that over the course of the season good defense helps the pitching staff more than one thinks about by reducing innings and giving pitchers confidence to let the ball be put in play.
I agree, as noted above.
If they get very strong offense from Elly at short, they can live with an elite defender at 3B who doesn’t hit a lot.
The Reds have multiple position player bounceback candidates. I remind myself that two offseasons ago, we thought we were set with position players and needed to focus on pitching. Injuries set the position player roster back. If our position players can hit close to what we’ve seen them do in the past, Hayes’ defense-only profile will work fine, and I will gleefully recant my skepticism.
Elly needs to be forced to play OF .
Solves several problems. Scott Boras doesn’t run this team , or does he?
Reds have zero chance of keeping him and should follow the path the Nats took with Soto. CJ Abram, James Wood , McKenzie Gore , Robert hassell and a guy in the minors who throws triple digits
Unfortunately we would probably mess that up ala Cotham Jagielo et al.
Boras made sure Elly played every game last season in hopes of reaching super two. He apparently didn’t allow MM to be sent down . They hid Ellys injury and MM is about to get paid , super two style!
I know this an over reach, but MM and Arroyo are better defensive SS . The OF is weak. Errors kill pitch counts and more. End of rant. Happy New Year Doug and RLN!
If the Reds wanted him to move to the outfield, they would move him there. They don’t want to and they believe he’s the best option at shortstop. I have no idea why you think Scott Boras is able to tell Nick Krall and Brad Meador how to do their jobs. He can’t. And they’d tell him where he could go if he tried. No one hid Elly’s injury. We heard about his leg issues for 3/4 of the season off and on.
Arroyo made errors at a higher rate the Elly did in 2025.
I, for one, think Elly will have an absolute monster year. He adjusts his game so well year to year. Every year has seen some incremental improvement. In 2025, despite playing through a significant injury, he decreased his K rate while not sacrificing BBs. I would not be surprised by a .900 OPS year.
And McLain will be better too.
I agree 100% Hype. EDLC works harder than most and improves consistently year after year.
Elly is a bit of an unknown going into 2026. I feel like we don’t know what to really expect from him. If he plays like he did the first half of last year the whole year, it’d do a lot for the whole Offense around him. I just wish they has one or 2 big time hitters around him. I think it’d take lot of pressure off him, and he’d be even more dangerous of course if playing up to his normal standards.
More reason for optimism: JJ Bleday
I know that he sucked in the first half of the seaons last year. A .205 BABIP vs. RHP can do that. It just destroys a season.
Over the last two season Bleday has an OPS of .739. What Reds did better? EDLC and Stephenson. That is it.
People say he is a strong side platoon bat only. Over the last two seasons his OPS vs. LHP is .772. Does that sound like a player you want to bench vs. LHP?
His ISO in 2025 was .192. How many Reds regulars topped that? NONE.
But lets ignoe 2024 where everyone admits he was better than most Reds players. Lets focu on 2025 where he sucked. His OPS was .698, .650 vs. RHP and .870 vs. LHP. His BABIP vs RHP was .206. Normalize that to a .300 BABIP and his OPS would have been .760 which while not great would have been just behind EDLC on this team.
He was sent to the minors in June and after his return his OPS was .801. His ISO after his return was .243.
Frank Furter calls. him a AAAA player. Even if that is what he turns out to be, This is a great pickup.
Hotto4Votto points to his 2025 OPS+ and ignores the facts to what brought him to that place.
Does he have flaws? Yes. His K% soared to 26.5% in 2025. But along with a 10.5% BB% this is acceptable in today’s game.
I am not saying that he will turn into an all star. I am not even saying that he will play vs. LHP. But I will say he is not a AAAA player. I will say he may end 2026 with an OPS north of .800.
Feel what you want about Krall but with the exception of the Lux disaster he has been pretty good.
Why would we normalize his BABIP to .300 when for his career it’s .251 vs RHP and .266 vs LHP?
Normalizing BABIP to about .300 is a way to separate skill from noise when evaluating how good a baseball player really is—especially hitters.
Historically, league-average BABIP is about .300, and it’s remarkably stable across seasons. So, when you normalize a player’s BABIP to .300, you’re essentially asking:
“What would this player’s line look like if the batted-ball luck were neutral?”
This gives you a cleaner estimate of underlying ability.
Other things to consider:
1. For an extreme fly ball pull hitter, the shift destroyed their BABIP prior to 2023. If you eliminate this time frame Bleday’s BABIP going into 2025 vs. RHP was .275
2. Playing in Oakland with his expansive foul ground had to hurt a Fly Ball hitters BABIP.
But to account for 1 and to ignore 2, I recalculated his OPS considering a BABIP of .275. I am also ignoring the bump that comes with playing in GABP.
2025 OPS RHP: .757
2025 OPS LHP: .699
2025 OPS Total: .745
2025 OPS After the All-Star break: .768
Normalizing a players BABIP to a level that he’s shown he can’t do isn’t normalizing it, though. GABP suppresses BABIP – likely due to the smaller gaps which leave less room for balls to fall in. Bleday’s BABIP, even post “shift banning” has been .226, .279, and .251. You’re still giving him a BABIP that is well below what he’s done over the last three seasons and 1250 plate appearances. Even in the minor leagues he was a low BABIP guy with the exception of two small stints in Triple-A with Oakland in Las Vegas where the 3-year park factor has it as the 2nd best BABIP ballpark in Triple-A.
I just don’t feel like there’s much reason to give him so much benefit of the doubt on his BABIP when he’s always been a low BABIP guy except when he got to hit in Las Vegas.
One additional thing. I prefer to use Adj. BABIP over BABIP because I believe that most of the luck from hits are on singles and not doubles or triples. I did not use it here because Bleday’s Adj. BABIP was .145 for his career and normalizing this to .250 would make Bleday’s OPS .900. But I notice after the adjustments I made to bring BABIP to .275 increased his Adj. BABIP to .143 which is right at his career norm.
You can’t use 2025 stats to give an estimate of 2025 productivity because the stats are not independent of what you are projecting. You can use them to project 2026 stats.
Even if his BABIP next year is lower his production should be up for the simple reason that he plays half his games in GABP.
To get the .275 BABIP I just used the data you provided me but I removed 2022 from the data because the shift has an impact on BABIP for extreme pull hitters.
I think he is a lock for a .200+ ISO next year.
I think he is a lock for a 10%+ BB% next year which should place his OBP about 0.060 points higher than his BA.
So his OPS will be 2 x BA + .200 + .060 = .700 in the worst case scenario
Best case scenario he hits .250 has an ISO of .225 and a BB% of about 13%. This would give him an OPS of about .835. This would also make him the Reds 2nd best hitter and prove Krall’s analysis correct.
I actually like rolling the dice on Bleday, i’ve been a big fan of his talent since he was at Vanderbilt. I’d feel a lot better about it if we had secured a middle of the order bat to DH as well.
Me too. I’m a fan of the incremental improvements in the OF.
Bleday/Myers > Hays/Connor Joe/Blake Dunn and whatever else we used last year that they are replacing.
These statistics lol. Can he play or not? His CIHTB% (can i hit the baseball?) is .231 last year in day and night games combined against lefties and righties. If you have to dig that deep, it’s not good. I have a feeling Krall subscribes to these arbitrary statistical theories.
In other news, water is wet.
Until the team ponies up the $$ or prospects to acquire a legitimate run producer, they will always be unserious about winning.
Put on the big boy pants or let someone else try.
This team is on the cusp of doing some damage in the playoffs with its starting pitching and young promising players, but ownership needs do sign an accomplished hitter like Kyle Tucker to help propel this squad to the next level.
Will the Castellini method break a trend?
McClain will be one of the best 2nd basebase men in baseball in 2026. Injururies hurt. Health takes care of everything.
Injuries can heal but still leave someone at less than they were before the injury. We see it all of the time with shoulder injuries in all kinds of sports. I am still haunted by the ghost of Austin Kearns shoulder.
And Devin Mesoraco.
I am going to beg to differ on McClain. His pitch selection last year was atrocious and unless he learns to lay off the down and away slider his career is toast. I will grant that if due to his injury he could not hit high fastballs and perhaps the lower pitches were more enticing and that this could explain the regression and the chases. If he shows no signs of a turnaround, he would make a good trade candidate at the trade deadline. Especially since I think he is not signed long-term.
I agree TennTom. What I saw from Matt McLain was due to poor strike zone understanding – not injury. He can’t lay off something that starts at the outer half. I’m not convinced he will bounce back.
On the positive side, second base is one of the easiest position in baseball to find an mlb average player.
I think if this roster gets into something of a “groove,” the offense will be a little better. But they can’t be shuffling their 3-4-5 hitters around, having a boatload of matchup gyrations. At least this year, 2 regulars aren’t coming out of camp with some kind of shoulder repair issue.
But being a little better is probably going to get them a couple of wins if the pitching is solid. This team isn’t going to have many losing streaks but they aren’t going to run off 11 wins in a row either.
As for the roster additions, depth at the top level is more important than ever as the game changes, seeing pitchers almost never facing a lineup 3 times now.
“At least this year, 2 regulars aren’t coming out of camp with some kind of shoulder repair issue.” -JCU
Well, not yet, anyways.
And you know what, BK and Stock are just absolutely right. Why, Hayes is going to save so many runs for the pitching staff, that he can bat .150 all year long and it will be a plus.
Yes, it is TRUE. I have no way of understanding how important defense is to a team.
Good night, and good luck.
David, I didn’t come close to saying that and you have also mischaracterized what Stock said. If you have to dishonestly twist someone else’s words, maybe you don’t have a point worth posting.
Post the community guidelines again. That’ll show him.
@V4L, I follow the community posting guidelines out of respect for Doug and the fellow posters. We shouldn’t need the site owner to police our posts as he has had to do more and more frequently. I didn’t mean to get under your skin.
And Devin Mesoraco.
The BAT projections are totally rediculous as they have Espinal on the team collecting 196 PA!
Free agents are simply listed for the last team they played for.
The two outfielders the reds picked up will be used depending on if a righty or lefty is pitching. It will give Tito a few more options. Neither player is the everyday player many wanted probably including the Reds. Their first option was Schwarber. Robert might still be obtained but he is far from a sure thing and will cost prospects. Not getting Schwarber was a huge miss. A kid from Middletown who publicly commented that he wanted to come to Cincinnati.
My hope is Tito is able to get good production out of the platooning and Stewart is rookie of the year good. If those two things happen and last year’s injured players return healthy and produce we should be improved offensively. I’m also hoping Rodriquez will mash in AAA and will be an option as the year progresses.
I know there is a bunch of people rightfully disappointed that the reds missed on the Schwarber signing but folks MLB is set up so small markets have a very small opportunity to improve in free agency. A cap that exists in Football and Basketball is imperative to help get a somewhat even playing field. If this doesn’t happen next year in the labor agreement we will be looking at the big markets using our franchise as a glorified minor league team.
Been a fan since 1960. Very painful to see how uneven the playing field is for the small market teams. They have even taken the tradition of opening day away from the home of baseball.
It’d be worth two lockout years to get an NFL style Cap/Floor tied to league revenue and funded by Media/Revenue sharing. Then when the Reds lose, it will just be because of incompetence and not incompetence plus a $250 million payroll deficit.
Worth it for who? Not for me, who will be living in my vehicle.
Doug, you know that most of us will continue to visit RLN, lockout notwithstanding.
Without games and actual news to report on there is zero chance I would get enough traffic to cover bills for 24+ months. And then just like what happened in 1995+ there’d be a decent swath of “never going to watch a game again” that might eventually return but not for years and years and yeah.
A 2-year lockout would be a PR disaster for the whole sport, decimate the market value of the franchises, cause players to lose out on $10 billion in salary, and cook the goose that laid the golden egg.
Which is why it won’t happen.
What will happen is what always happens: both sides moan and complain in the media about how bad the other side is, get close to the brink or even lose some regular season games, and then reach an agreement that they could have reached before the lockout even began.
Don’t ask me why they just don’t get to that point this November, instead of waiting until mid-March 2026 to get an agreement.
The sport, I follow the minors more than I do the majors anymore. Definitely go to waaaay more minor league games than Reds games.
” And then just like what happened in 1995+ there’d be a decent swath of “never going to watch a game again” that might eventually return but not for years and years and yeah.”
This time there wouldn’t be a steroid HR derby to save baseball.
A two-year labor/work stoppage would be truly extraordinary. The National Relations Labor Board offers mediation and binding arbitration to help the sides settle disputes. One side can ask for help and put the monkey on the other side’s back.
I expect the Owners to kick things off with another lockout. That makes not playing games a PR nightmare for them, which puts things like their anti-trust exemption at risk. Neither side benefits from a work stoppage, and neither side is maximizing its opportunities under the current agreement. The 2029 TV deal should provide tons of incentives for both sides to actually address competitive balance and to find a path that better aligns their interests. From where I sit, it’s the latter problem that fundamentally needs to be addressed. Bottom line, highly unlikely that multiple seasons are lost.
“Bottom line, highly unlikely that multiple seasons are lost.”
Bottom line for me is both sides had better humble themselves and realize they have a lot more to lose than to gain because fans in general are just about fed up. Baseball interest has been on the decline for years.
@Melvin, I agree 100 percent. There are way more entertainment alternatives to MLB that existed in the 1990s–a prolonged work stoppage will result in fans finding them and will have a bigger negative impact than prior ones.
My advice to owners: skip the lockout and come to the table with a plan for increased revenue sharing to help balance the competition. It may take a few years to adjust to better revenue sharing, but it’s the fundamental problem hurting competition and MLB growth in the sports entertainment industry.
My advice to the MLBPA: study the NBA CBA and figure out a way to emulate it. Have an honest internal discussion about whether their anti-cap/floor/revenue-sharing model is helping or hurting players. If they believe it’s bad for players, they need to articulate why to the public while recognizing that many of their current reasons don’t pass the smell test, given how well the model works in other leagues.
BK – Put your application in now for arbitrator. MLB desperately needs one. 🙂
noone wins with a lockout. not the owners, the players, the fans, the employees of teams or businesses and employees of those businesses near the ballparks.
@BK
The classification of Baseball and non-Baseball revenue is hard to distinguish, as well as the unlikelihood of team agreeing to open their books entirely. I think one viable solution may be to expand and increase the CBT tax. Invoke it at say 175M or 200M and increase the percentage. Make teams REALLY pay for those expensive free agents. Then redistribute the excess (over what thy get today) directly to less competitive market teams.
@ATH, first, the CBA already requires each team to report its finances in accordance with GAAP standards and with specificity. The CBA is legally binding. Teams failing to comply are subject to having to pay damages to the union for non-compliance. I haven’t read a report of the union complaining about teams complying with this provision. Moreover, why can multiple other leagues and their unions find a way to satisfactorily measure revenue in a way that MLB cannot? This notion doesn’t really pass the logic test, does it?
Similarly, the accounting for non-baseball revenue problem is overstated. There are almost certainly revenue streams that the Owners and MLBPA will have differing opinions on whether it should be considered in the pot that is to be shared. For example, if the Reds host a concert after a ballgame and the game ticket is the entry fee for the game and concert, then most would likely agree that the ticket revenue and concert expenses were baseball-related. However, what if the Reds host a concert at GABP when the team is out of town or one that it outside of the MLB season? In these scenarios, sharing of the revenue becomes murkier. However, this happens in every sport and it has a solution: CBA negotiation. We could run down this rabbit trail in a number of areas: stadium events, team-owned TV/radio networks, mixed-use real estate, etc. These types of revenue sources create accounting gray areas for whether the revenue “should” be baseball (and shared) or non-baseball (not shared). Accountants have no problem separating these revenue sources. However, they are subject to negotiation in a CBA.
Once again, other leagues deal with these same issues, so there are precedents for MLB to use. If other leagues can resolve these gray areas, why is MLB uniquely unable to? For example, the union could just negotiate for a higher percentage of what is clearly baseball-related revenue and not worry about other sources. They can also go line-by-line or negotiate to have some gray area sources included while ignoring others. That’s all well within the possible in a CBA.
I do think there are other solutions aside from a cap/floor/revenue-sharing model. For example, just increasing revenue-sharing would help. Labor relations are complex and difficult, but I don’t think many executives who have dealt with unions or CPAs would agree that either issue is a legitimate reason to not follow the model that is used across the sports industry.
I agree with most you said, except teams don’t want to share all of their local, proprietary revenue, nor should they. Sharing all local revenue disincentivizes strategic planning and execution of local revenue capture. To use your example. what incentive does the Reds org have to plan joint or separate concerts in a baseball stadium, if that revenue is ultimately shared with the league?
In other leagues this type revenue might be used as input to calculate cap ranges and pools, but is not shared. I think that model would be a non-starter, and has been a non-starter in previous CBA negotiations as well.
Maybe you are not proposing sharing all local revenue, but even so, sharing a high percentage of local revenue such disincentivizes its capture. It would also have to be net of expenses, which introduces the likelihood of shady accounting that reduces the net.
Local revenue sharing on that level is not something that occurs in other sports, to my knowledge, and I don’t see it being agreed to in MLB due to the complexities and disincentives.
@ATH, I agree that you don’t want to share all local revenue. However, one of the largest revenue streams in baseball is local TV revenue. Inclusion of local TV revenue should be part of the equation. If revenue disparity is not addressed, MLB will continue to decline compared to its industry peers.
The proprietary nature of local revenue should not be problematic in determining league-wide baseball revenue. Each team operates as a “franchise” with little overlap in its customer base. Overlap only occurs in the largest local markets. Again, this issue is not unique to MLB.
It’s unique to MLB in that in other sports, local revenues are used essentially for data purposes. If MLB institutes local revenue sharing, it’s much more than data, it’s a check back to MLB for some portion of local revenue.
That in itself changes the dynamic entirely and it’s likely a non-starter for reasons I described above. Large market teams won’t agree to give back their local revenue.
Local revenue, aside from TV revenue, is already shared across MLB. MLB differs from the NFL in that all NFL TV revenue is centrally managed. Both the NHL and NBA broadcast most of their games locally, just like MLB does.
The NBA deal that just kicked in this season gave the national NBA TV contractors first dibs on all NBA games. The NY Knicks protested that it would cost the larger market franchises more since it would cut into their larger local TV market. The other 29 teams voted for the change. Most games are still televised locally, but national vendors have more choice on which game they televise and a slightly larger number of opportunities to broadcast NBA games. The NBA tripled the value of its national TV contracts by doing three things: (1) improving parity across the league, (2) slightly increasing national broadcast opportunities, (3) allowing national broadcasters to pick the games they expect to get the highest ratings. I can assure you, all 30 MLB ownership groups took notice of what has happened in the NBA. MLB now trails the NBA in terms of league revenue, and the gap will be quite large before MLB has its next crack at adjusting its national TV contract.
Keep in mind, the NBA had similar competitive issues 10-15 years ago that MLB has. Tanking was a huge problem for them, making a lot of their TV inventory unattractive. While tanking remains an issue, their CBA does many things to promote parity by ensuring all of their franchises can obtain star players. Even without their enormous new TV deal, the NBA was already on track to surpass MLB in terms of league revenue.
In summary, I am suggesting the path forward is to redesign the CBA to better spread the talent across the league, which will raise the appeal of MLB’s very large inventory of games. A league that is more appealing to fans will earn larger TV contracts and make it easier for the league’s small-market franchises to close the revenue gap with the larger market franchises as local revenue becomes a smaller percentage of the overall pie.
My first sentence should have said that a portion (48 percent) of local revenue, aside from local TV revenue, is shared across MLB.
There’s a ton of local revenue that is exempt from sharing, Regional sports network profits, media rights associated with it, stadium related real estate, certain promotions, and significantly, sponsorships. And there are other sources of business income that are exempt For a market like Los Angeles, this would be more than significant. I don’t think you’re ever going to get the large markets, which have a huge sway in negotiations, to pay 48% on these sources.
I think it would be a far better strategy to increase the excess tax on payroll and also significantly lower the threshold, with the excess amounts over current being distributed directly to smaller markets using some formula that makes sense.
The Dodgers CBT payroll was $417M and they paid $169M CBT tax on the excess. Lower the threshold and increase the rate make them pay $350M (arbitrary amount) and distribute the extra $181M to small markets. At the same time, implement some sort of anti-tanking measures like a penalty for not reaching a salary floor. I think it will bring the Dodgers payroll down over time, and some small market payrolls up. It wouldn’t exactly be a hard cap and floor but it make the competitive landscape somewhat better, anyway.
@ATH, what you are suggesting is part of what the NBA does. They have a soft cap, and the revenue generated by their luxury tax goes to the non-taxpaying teams. Last season, it generated $12M per receiving team. In 2025, MLB collected $403M. The first $3.5M funds player benefits, and half of the remaining amount goes to the players’ retirement fund. So, it would take a significant increase in the tax collected and/or a change in distribution protocol to start closing the gap. Right now, it’s just not enough money to come anywhere close to leveling the playing field, although it could be part of the solution. As the money wouldn’t go far enough to bridge the gap, the league would need to consider some draconian measures, such as top spenders forfeiting more picks, perhaps ineligible to sign IFA who are over 18 years old, etc.
Again, I see the opportunity to fund change in the next TV deal. I think it will be something incremental until then. I will reiterate that the large market teams in the NBA realized that having a third or more of the teams being non-competitive was killing their league. NBA owners voted 29-1 to give the league more control of TV revenue. Even the Knicks have to be happy with the results.
Look at the 5-year change in their franchise values–their owners are giddy. Notice how many more NBA players are in the $40M+ AAV club than are in MLB–their players are giddy. I’ve always tried to find the “win-win” solution when negotiating. I’m not sure fans are willing to give them another five years if they come out with a “tweaked” CBA that doesn’t make things a lot better, or at least set a path to a much more level playing field.
At any rate, good discussion. I learned a lot and appreciate your time and outstanding engagement. Have a great evening!
You as well sir, always enjoy the respectful discussion. I suspect we will pick this up again this fall, and if things go right we won’t be discussing it much in 2027.
Disappointed on Schwarber…maybe. As to him being a “home town boy” who wanted to play in Cincinnati….I actually doubt it. I think this was all a ploy by Kyle and his agent to get more money out of Philadelphia, who is a contender and has proven that they want to be contenders, by making trades and spending money on players.
The Reds are only “contenders” if all the stars align, and certain players have really big or “career” years. And it could happen, but it is not that likely. I want it to happen, but my logical mind says it probably won’t.
The Reds got into the playoffs as a WC team because the Mets utterly collapsed (pitching, mostly). Their owner spent big bucks (no guarantee) and came up craps. My guess is that by the end of their year, their clubhouse was like a tomb, which is why (I think) Pete Alonso went elsewhere, when he had the opportunity, as he caught a lot of blame in the New York media.
Spending money, relying on advanced statistics and metrics is no guarantee. The games still have to be played.
If I was insulting to anyone (especially Stock and BK, who is a very brilliant commenter), in my last comment last night, I am sorry. I just get a little tired of people either being terribly gloomy or trying to put the best shine on what the Reds do. Nick Krall is not incompetent, but he runs the team as the ownership group directs him…he is their employee. Oh yes, for “integrity’s sake” he should quit. Sure, walk away from a million dollar a year job. Happens all the time.
There is not going to be a spending cap or spending floor in MLB. I think the players would like a spending floor, but not a spending cap. A lot of franchises would like a spending cap, but no floor.
If baseball had a season or a two season hiatus from a labor dispute, it would literally kill the game, and a lot of people would go hungry….Looking at you, Doug Gray.
As long as I’ve been a Reds fan (mid 1940’s), the Reds and other less wealthy franchises have always been used as possible farm teams to the bigger cities. It’s just that Cincinnati has and has always had a lot of pride to stand up to that. Cincinnati is the home of professional (paid) baseball players. The fanbase has had a big shock in losing the Schwarber sweepstakes. It looked good, but enough money was not there. Consistent offense in the cleanup spot is needed before Opening Day.
I look forward to a bounce-back from McLain more than any offseason acquisition. Obviously nothing’s guaranteed, but that looks like the biggest bump in the order. Likewise another step forward from EDLC, hopefully without a nagging quad. I think it’s also exciting to think about what a full season of a more prepared and fit Stewart could look like.
Ultimately I think this team is a little better than last year’s, but certainly there will be unforeseen speed bumps. As long as the pitching holds, there’s a decent chance for a good season.
How can we play in one of the most home-run-friendly ballparks in the league, yet our front office refuses to invest in power hitters?
As to how, power hitters are costly and ownership is cheap,
It’s more than that I think. Krall said he wanted better athletes. He’s been building a team to play small ball. That maybe a fine approach, but as @Angelo said we have a ballpark setup for power hitters.
Krall has been building the wrong team for this stadium.
You’re certainly right, MBS, about the stadium. To be fair, it did look like EDLC was going to be a significant power hitter, with McLain and Steer providing reasonable pop and CES as a work in progress who might become a monster power hitter. Some or all of those things could still happen, and Stewart could realize his early promise and be a middle of the order thumper, too. Many of us insist that the owners could afford to spend more–enough more to get a good hitter. That may well be true, but it’s irrelevant: all that matters is what they’re willing to spend.
“It’s more than that, I think. Krall said he wanted better athletes…..”
The guy I often advocate for, Rece Hinds, is a prototype of a “better athlete”, which is one of the reasons I advocate for him. His sprint speed is in the top 5% of MLB players, per Baseball Savant. He has an outstanding arm.
Despite spending about a month at MLB in 2025, he was a 20/20 (HR/SB) guy at AAA. He lowered his K rate at AAA by 11 percentage points to 26%. His OBP was .359, with a slugging % of .573.
At the MLB level in 95PAs, his extra-base hit % (of PAs) is ~13% with HR% accounting for half of that.
Yet it seems like the Reds organization couldn’t care less. That they don’t is another reason I advocate for guys like Hinds to be at least given an honest look.
@Jim, I think Hinds has earned a legitimate opportunity to get a spot on the roster this spring. I’m not overly impressed with the OF we signed. I think LF is still wide open for someone to grab it.
If Ke’Bryan can hit like he did with the Reds (79 OPS+) and be an elite defender, it’ll be fine. If you look at his fielding stats, his (bref) dWAR was 1.9 in 861.2 innings with PIT, but 0.4 in 421.1 innings with CIN. His Rdrs/yr was lower with the Reds, as was his RF/9. Is it a small sample size problem? I hope so. I believe he can be an overall positive for the Reds, especially if he is a good clubhouse guy. I think he needs to be on a relatively short leash, and that is somewhere the Reds have struggled with.
Robert jr is the outfield version of keybryan in the infield Big contract Injury prone Several consecutive down years…. Big name Ho has lost his game I pass Id rather have Austin Hayes at 7mil / year Than either of them
Schwarber was only going to work if he wanted to play here. Phillies were always going to outbid us. I believe I saw hinds played center in Louisville. Does anyone know how he looked? I think friedl needs to move to left. Hope out of the multitude we get a productive outfield
Pretty sobering assessment from Fangraphs on the Reds’ chances in 2026. I’d be curious to know how accurate their projections usually are, but I think there seems to be a growing thought that at least right now the Reds are headed towards a slight regression as a team compared to 2025.
Some of the projections I found interesting…they basically think Friedl’s best years are behind him and feel he won’t produce as he did in 2025. Steer, they feel has probably already hit his ceiling as an MLB player, and his headed for below mediocrity. Marte is going to not live up to the hype, and potentially be somewhat of a bust. Stephenson will probably be injured often, and only play in a little over 100 games.
Pagan and Santillan won’t be as effective, and neither will Abbott and Lodolo are other projections it appears.
I could see all those happening, but of course who knows. I especially think Pagan, Santillan, Abbott, may not be as good as 2025. Not that they’ll be bad though. But, I also could see Lodolo if healthy being better, and even Greene if he could stay healthy for a whole season, could make up for potentially Abbott not being quite as good.
The projections seem to think De La Cruz, Mclain, and Stewart are the main hope for Offensive talent, improvement, etc.
I think one kind of sleeper candidate to help the Offense is Stephenson with it being a Free Agent year for him. Sometimes that brings out the best in a player when they are trying to play for a big contract. It’d be nice to see Stephenson have a career year.
As uninspiring as this collective Offense looks on paper, 2 players, say Stephenson having a career Free Agent year, and Marte blossoming into an All Star Hitter, could make the Offense a lot different.
But it still seems like more of wishful thinking overall, rather than making a few moves that’d really boost the Offense, and then also having those hopes with Stephenson, Marte, etc. having great years as well.
I don’t think Fangraphs lives up to their hype
Just going to jump in here to say that these are not Fangraphs projections. They are just projections that Fangraphs shares as a part of their overall statistics pages.
Give it up Jake. It’s Fangraphs town.
Hinds’ progress in AAA in 2025 has been shot down on this chat board every year including this preseason. Yet he has never had the regular AB’s yet in the majors to show what he can do. Most of his mlb AB’s have been against LH pitchers even though Hinds is a RH hitter who hits righties better. So will he get an actual chance to show if he is an MLB hitter? Only the Reds’ brain trust (lol) knows…and a few know it all’s on this board apparently. I guess I am one of a select few on here who wonder if he will get his chance, and also if he is capable at the mlb level.
It is interesting that so many on here and in the Reds’ FO and field management think MM will be able to repeat the promise he showed in 2023 before he was injured in 2024. MM has received and likely will receive plenty of chances at the mlb level to show he belongs. I hope he can show that but I have a lot of doubt about that.
We all hope Hector can show he belongs but until he does it for a while at the top level his AAA success is just as relevant as Hinds’ is.
Where does CES stand in 2026? I don’t think we know anymore about CES than we do Hinds.
Sal Stewart has hit all minor levels, much like Hector has. Sal looked good in September in the bigs so I hope what he showed is real.
Benson has had his chances. I think he is what he has shown himself to be.
Steer is the Reds’ top power hitter and run producer, and a really good fielder at 1B, despite his lack of length. I hope the Reds keep him.
I like Friedl in left more than CF and playing less games so he holds up.
I really don’t see what Lux adds except a professional hitter off the bench, and I guess some kind of back up plan if MM can’t hack it.
Marte is the wild card for me. He has the talent to be a difference maker and to justify the trade with Seattle but we will just have to see what he does this year. I hope he breaks out big.
A lot of ifs and buts and hopes for the offense this year, like most years for this regime.
I hope it all works out, even though hope is not much of a plan.
Vegas I agree with most of your assessments here. I feel like the Reds really don’t believe in Hinds as an every day player. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but that’s kind of my feeling that they really don’t believe in him being a part of the plan overall. I’m not saying I necessarily believe that.
Now it’s kind of a tougher spot for Hinds, CES, and others as the expectations are rising for more proven starters, MLB players with the Reds hoping to contend again for the playoffs.
If the Reds were completely rebuilding, no expectations to win, it’d be intriguing to just give a Outfield job to Hinds, maybe even give CES the DH job for 100 games or so and see what they can do.
I think Hinds will get a shot at some point either with the Reds, or some other team to see if he can handle an every day type of job. It doesn’t seem fair for some players, as they don’t seem to get the same opportunities as others. But I think eventually he’ll get a extended chance somewhere.
I think Dunn and Hinds are in almost identical positions. 1 – discount Dunn’s age due to the freak injury history and Covid year – he has fewer MiLB PAs than Hinds. 2 – Each had flat years in 2024 in AAA, and each improved noticeably in 2025. 3 – The FO made one comment about looking forward to Dunn in the spring, and I expect they feel similarly about Hinds.
With all that, this may be their final big chance to breakout. With Benson as a baseline they have to exceed that soon, since HRod and Cam are looking at 2027 for debuts, if not sooner.
Finally, Bleday and Myers at least provide a robust spring competition, and get until June to see if either or both falters seriously.
They still need at least one MLB OFer, and/or DH.
@VR
Excellent analysis. Very well done
I too have my doubts about Marte. Steer is a solid contributor and baring a significant upgrade at the position he should be the Reds starting first baseman. I would also like to see Hinds given at least 250 ML at bats this season, but for what ever reason the Reds FO would rather give those ABs to someone like Benson. I would not be surprise if Bleday is DFA’d by June. Like a lot of rookies, CES couldn’t make the adjustments needed. He continues to wail at pitches outside the strike zone. I was not optimistic about Matt McLain last year. I felt it was going to take some time for him to bounce back from shoulder surgery. However, I was expecting him to show some improvement by the end of the year and it didn’t happen. Maybe he needs more time or maybe he is not a major league hitter. I mean 2023 was 3 years ago. If MM struggles again this season he will be in the CES category. I hope Friedl stays healthy because to me he is one of the best lead off men in the league.
Right now, I think this is probably a 76-78 win team. The good news is the off season isn’t over yet. I like what the Reds have done with the bullpen so far. But, they absolutely must address the offense. If they don’t address in a significant way, they will battling the Pirates for third place.
Yeah I’m agree. It would be so Reds-like if he turns out to be the power hitting 4-5 tool (power, running, strong arm, above average defense, high OPS) guy they needed and could actually afford all along under their noses.
But I agree, the Reds don’t believe in him.
There are plenty of teams (White Sox, Rockies, Nats, Twins, etc.) who would have been interested in Hinds, but they didn’t trade him. Obviously, they still can; he’d bring back at least a decent relief prospect.
The fact that they’ve kept him tells me that they still have an open mind on him. His progress in AAA last year, particularly cutting down his strikeouts, was a very good sign.
FWIW, which may not be much, but here are 2 players in their age 24 seasons:
Player A @AAA: .270/.366/.489, with a 23.9 SO% in 410 PAs.
Player A @MLB: .179/.263/.345, with a 44.2 SO% in 92 PAs.
Player B @AAA: .302/.359/.563, with a 25.9 SO% in 436 PAs.
Player B@MLB: .116/.136/.279, with a 48.8 SO% in 42 PAs.
Player A is Aaron Judge. Player B is Rece Hinds. One of the MLB differences is that Hinds started games on consecutive games just 4 times last year; Judge was brought up on August 13 and played regularly through September 13. The Yankees then shut Judge down, either because of injury or because he had gone 5-31 with 16 strikeouts in September, or perhaps both. I think it’s a good practice not to surrender up on players who are making progress.
It could well be that the Reds like what they saw from Hinds last season and this off-season, and intend to give him a chance to play regularly.
Another good post Mr. Ed (I say that respectfully).
If the Reds ARE planning on giving him a legitimate shot they sure are keeping it hush hush.
The question I ask most about Rece Hinds these days is what would qualify as success for him, ML success in particular?
He just hit .302/.359/.563 (OPS .921), with 26 doubles and 24 HR’s (26 total), 21 stolen bases, 83 RBIs, and 33 BB’s in 426 plate appearances.
He did this after being instructed to reduce his K’s, which he did, from 160 to 113 and from 37.9% to 25.9%, in 14 more PAs.
He was also instructed to make better contact, which he did as well, raising his contact % in the strike zone from 75.5% to 81.2%. Further, he made better contact outside of the strike zone, increasing from 41.5% to 47.2%.
Other: His exit velocity increased from 89.0 to 90.4, his launch angle increased from 12.3 to 13.5, his ground ball % dropped from 44.3 to 37.7, his fly ball % increased 31.5 to 37.4, and he pulled the ball 7% less, hit it up the middle 7% more and hit it opposite way at the same rate as in 2024.
So, he hit the ball harder, in the air more, made better contact both in the zone and out, struck out less and spread his batted balls around the field better. Rece Hinds did about as much as he could be asked to do given who he is and what his abilities are and are not. Plus, while learning to play CF.
What’s not to like? A few items, to be fair. His contact rates at AAA and the MLs were far apart. His contact % in the zone dropped from 81.2 to 61.3. His contact rate out of the zone (slider away?) fell from 47.2 to 23.3%. His line drives dried up to 4.5% with the Reds while his ground balls spiked to 63.3%. His K% went up 47.7%.
So, pretty much all of Ed’s comments above still stick for me, particularly that Hinds only started consecutive games in the ML’s on four occasions. That is not a ML audition. His appearances amount to cameos. While his 2025 promotions were thankfully not hyped as his big chance to seize an open job, they were in all honesty just temporary fill ins given short term need. I think it is very, very fair to state Hinds was not in the club’s major league plans last year, and that is both fine as well as an appropriate bit of that thing called player development. As stated above, he was sent to AAA for the year to make certain improvements.
Another question is, What next for Rece Hinds? Yes he made great strides (and in the era of the no-stride swing lol). But were they good enough? Is Rece Hinds capable of hitting major league pitching well enough to be a starting ML outfielder? For all of the great stories of kids ‘seizing the moment’ when they get an opportunity, there are scores of kids who need more time.
I think it is a solid conclusion Hinds had a successful season. His cameos stung a bit but when he played every day, he excelled. Having watched him a bunch the last 3-plus years, i can attest that he plays hard and right now can play ML defense.
If Hinds were given 450 ML plate appearances, hit something like .240/.325/.450, with his 20-25 HRs, played very good defense with his arm to boot, wouldn’t that be success? At less than one million a season, it sure could be a value.
It may be he isn’t the type of hitter Francona and Valaika value. That’s fair. Sure seems like a decision should be made.
Lots of great comments that I have enjoyed reading. Francona spoke about the progress Hinds made last year, but said it would be unfair to throw him into the fray in the middle of the playoff chase. I think he’ll get a shot at some point in 2026. It will be important for him to continue to have success to keep his name in the mix with the Reds.
I wonder if other teams ask about him in trade discussions. I also wonder what scouts think about the progress he made in 2025. Unfortunately, he’s no longer a “prospect,” so we don’t get a lot of outside perspective on Hinds.
are: “ If Hinds were given 450 ML plate appearances, hit something like .240/.325/.450, with his 20-25 HRs, played very good defense with his arm to boot, wouldn’t that be success?”
In my eyes that would be an incredible success. I’d consider a .240/.300/.440 a great success. Think 2025 Christian Walker playing OF with more doubles and 20 SB.
I’ll admit that I am conflicted on giving 300-400 at bats to players like Hinds and Dunn on a 2026 Reds team. I follow our minor leaguers pretty closely via Doug’s site. So I am partial to the young guys getting an opportunity. However, when a team is really in contention, I can see why a coaching staff would prefer a Dane myers or Bleday.
I’ve watched Dunn and Hinds play live in Chattanooga and Louisville. There are certain things you see when watching a game in person. When I watched them during a Wade Miley start, I was very disappointed in the jumps they got on fly balls. 3 balls fell for singles that I felt agoukd have been caught.
As far as offense. Hinds has real swing and miss concern. It might improve with major league experience. Dunn just seems like a player very easy to replace – plays very hard but doesn’t have much power and defense is not great.
However, when I watched hector Rodrigues play in Chattanooga last year, I felt like there is a sure fire major leaguer in there.
I’d love to see Rece get April and May to establish himself. The power potential is exactly what we need. But he’s going to have to play very good defense and keep the strikeouts manageable.
Rece may simply be a victim of poor timing. The 2022 and 2023 teams could afford to give a young guy 400 at bats to let him figure it out. The 2025/2026 Reds, not so much.
Redsvol, I am with you on Rodriguez. He just hits and hits and hits. I find him somewhat unflappable, too. Cracks me up and reminds me of so many kids I worked with over the years. I think Reds fans will like him quite a bit.
One question i have in your several interesting points is whether the Reds are a bonafide playoff team. I think the answer is maybe, and thus also maybe not.
Where this leads me, on one hand, is they may not be above taking the risk to start Hinds in LF, with Bleday as the 4th guy spelling him and Marte in the corners, with Myers spelling Friedl. And I think both young and upcoming teams as well as serious playoff teams can take appropriate risks with young players.
Where I get conflicted is more of an attempt to just be honest with myself about whether Hinds is more than a 4th/5th OF, which given his defense he might be and his profile as a hitter, possibly not. Or, more specifically, whether Hinds is the type of hitter the Reds want right now. Last year, I began to think it could possibly take 2 or more seasons for Reds’ players to adjust to what Francona and Valaika wanted, as well as whether the players we had were the right kind of hitters for this approach. My hunch was we didn’t have enough hitters making the kind of contact being sought. And Hinds might be one. As for his swing and miss, teams do live with guys striking out at 27% if they are hitting with power. If he can do that vs. ML pitching is the question of the day.
One last take applies to Dunn as well as Hinds, and that is how their careers are trending. Dunn’s second half was quite impressive. Given his numbers, he was making lots of contact (an improvement) and lots of hard contact (that his month of July included zero extra base hits amused me to no end — I couldn’t wait til August 1st to see the box score). I questioned what was he trying to accomplish, and had this thought: After seeing him struggle over the spring, he was sent down with the task of becoming more like a Tj Friedl and less like a Austin Hayes. In other words, go become a leadoff guy playing CF. I can’t certify this as fact but it sure fits with both Francona and Valaika. So, if Dunn is trending up, he provides some nice depth in the now Dane Myers role. If Myers fails, or gets hurt, be it spring, summer or fall, Dunn can step in. If Myers were not acquired, I’d say Dunn may have had a decent chance to carve out a ML role.
With the manager we have now I believe every player invited to spring training will get a chance. With his experience he has the best chance of determining whose spring training will carry over in the regular season. Part of that is stats but much of it is other factors we are not aware of. We have to trust Tito has the best chance of successfully making those predictions and with the competition we have between so many high ceiling talented players that could make all the difference.We have 8 players who hit 12 or more home runs last year and 7 are still with us with only 4 of them getting more than 350 at bats, so these players all have the potential to hit 20 to 30 home runs given a full season. Of course they all will not hit that mark but several will and a few players not on this list will as well, so power wise we are going to be a surprise. No one is going to hit as many as Schwarber would but paying so much for one player dooms you if he gets hurt or regresses as he ages and we are stuck with him for the duration of his contract. Signing him right after his career year is a bad idea and the likelihood of him excelling for the rest of his Phillie contract is pretty slim. A great player running out of time as all sluggers start to decline at his age. Even so I would have been excited to have him because some risks have to be taken but not the best option on a 5 year deal.
+1000000, 50th.
@ATH, what you are suggesting is part of what the NBA does. They have a soft cap, and the revenue generated by their luxury tax goes to the non-taxpaying teams. Last season, it generated $12M per receiving team. In 2025, MLB collected $403M. The first $3.5M funds player benefits, and half of the remaining amount goes to the players’ retirement fund. So, it would take a significant increase in the tax collected and/or a change in distribution protocol to start closing the gap. Right now, it’s just not enough money to come anywhere close to leveling the playing field, although it could be part of the solution. As the money wouldn’t go far enough to bridge the gap, the league would need to consider some draconian measures, such as top spenders forfeiting more picks, perhaps ineligible to sign IFA who are over 18 years old, etc.
Again, I see the opportunity to fund change in the next TV deal. I think it will be something incremental until then. I will reiterate that the large market teams in the NBA realized that having a third or more of the teams being non-competitive was killing their league. NBA owners voted 29-1 to give the league more control of TV revenue. Even the Knicks have to be happy with the results.
Look at the 5-year change in their franchise values–their owners are giddy. Notice how many more NBA players are in the $40M+ AAV club than are in MLB–their players are giddy. I’ve always tried to find the “win-win” solution when negotiating. I’m not sure fans are willing to give them another five years if they come out with a “tweaked” CBA that doesn’t make things a lot better, or at least set a path to a much more level playing field.
At any rate, good discussion. I learned a lot and appreciate your time and outstanding engagement. Have a great evening!
Weird, not sure why this showed up twice.
With the bengals season coming to an end and UC and XU having subpar basketball seasons. I wanted to put a plug in for my alma mater Miami University.
Travis Steelw has the Redhawks flying high as they are 15-0. Best start in school history. They play an exciting brand of basketball and rely heavilly on returning upper classmen…
. not the portal system.
Oxford is about a 45 min drive from gabp. Tickets are 18 bucks and parking is free. Miami now has a weird schedule so the students are out most of December and January so the crowds are way too small for such a fun team! Come to Millet hall to pass the time before our reds start!
You make a good comment about Miami U. I’m also a graduate. The Red Hawks have a long sports tradition, especially in football that goes back to the “Turkey Day’ game (Thanksgiving) with U.C. which was always a big part of the sports year. I’m glad Miami has stayed in the MAC, although the conference has expanded.
First time I was ever at a Miami game was when I was in high school and they were playing in a little gym where we sat up in the balcony. Playing Dayton that night. I have no idea how my step-dad managed to get tickets but it was the first college game I ever saw. I know Dayton won and that’s about all I remember.
Also went to a football game against Marshall that ended in a tie. One warm amazing Saturday. I almost went to Miami but out-of-state tuition was outside my finances at the time.
Wonderful memories! the basketball gym was Withrow court . It was the varsity gym when I was there, the intramural basletball court when my son went and most recently they turned it into a dorm when my grandaughter attemded. You are right iitwas small but it seemed like they were able to fit anyone who wamted to ayttend.
The football.field was Miami field… right on the corner of rt27 amd high street. I have so many fond memories of the field. There was a great view of the campus on the south endzone.
Tuition for me if i remeber was 50 bucks a semester but I was in state. Room and board was expensive so I could only live on campus one year.
Thank you for sharimg those memories!
I was at Miami when Ara Parseghian was the football coach and Johnny Pont, I believe, was an outstanding halfback. Those were the days when Miami Field was packed with 10,000 plus fans for exciting games with Miami’s big rivals, the Bobcats of Athens, Marshall University, and of course the Victory Bell with U.C. (first game was in 1888). I’m sure the golf course, which was nearby, is gone. That’s where I struggled to be a half-way decent golfer. A lot of great memories of Oxford.
Less than 40 days until pitchers report (2/12). Nero Krall needs to get the roster in place soon and not drag it into the next month. Give the team a chance. Though I won’t be surprised to hear his annual we tried speech.
And if things go to plan, I may be within spittin’ distance of where Nero fiddled about then.
“Nero” Krall.
An apt new sobriquet.
I love it.
“Bull” is most certainly out.
Somebody should take whatever speech he gives once the roster is set and use AI video to have it be Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh giving the speech.
And my electric bill just went up another percent.