Krall Discusses Reds’ Position Player Needs

The Reds enter the offseason looking to rebound from a last place finish in the NL Central. They have deficiencies in virtually every of the roster but will certainly need to improve an offense that ranked at the bottom of the National League in scoring. President of baseball operations Nick Krall and general manager Brad Meador met with reporters (including Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now) to address the priorities on the position player side. Krall noted the team’s deficiencies at the bottom of the roster, where the Reds gave 100+ plate appearances to seven players who had an OPS below .650: Ke’Bryan Hayes, TJ Friedl, Edwin Arroyo, Noelvi Marte, Jose Trevino, Matt McLain and Will Benson. Friedl and Benson have been dropped from the roster. Trevino and Hayes are signed for next season. McLain is into his arbitration window. Marte and Arroyo are both pre-arbitration and have minor league options remaining. They both finished the season in Triple-A. Krall didn’t pull any punches on Marte’s performance, in particular. “Noelvi Marte was bad. We should have sent him down earlier than we did,” he said. The former top prospect batted .189/.229/.321 in 63 big league contests and was optioned for the second time in the middle of August. [Related: Reds Offseason Outlook] Marte and Friedl were part of an outfield that had an MLB-worst .660 OPS this year. Cincinnati could get a solid platoon of JJ Bleday and Spencer Steer in one outfield spot. Héctor Rodríguez and Carlos Jorge made late-season debuts but struggled offensively. Jorge does at least bring top-of-the-scale speed that the Reds lacked in the outfield. Krall said the Reds “need to bring in more guys who are like that (who) can play defense and run the ball down.” It’s again a weak free agent center field class, but a rebound target like Daulton Varsho or Luis Robert Jr. would add some athleticism. Dane Myers and Blake Dunn were the main right-handed complements to Friedl in center this year. Dunn is coming off two surgeries, an internal brace repair and an ulnar nerve transposition. Myers will also be working back from an operation, as Meador said he underwent a cleanup procedure on the AC joint on his left shoulder (link via Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer). Myers hurt his shoulder at the end of June when he crashed into the wall while taking away an extra-base hit from Andrew Vaughn. He returned to action two weeks later and had a solid second half. Cincinnati also figures to add at least one infielder who can contribute at second or third base. They’re also going to need a catcher, as Tyler Stephenson is hitting free agency for the first time. Trevino doesn’t hit enough to step into the #1 catcher role. Top prospect Alfredo Duno hit his way to Double-A but won’t be ready until the back half of the ’27 season at the earliest. Stephenson’s strong second half could put him in position for a multi-year contract. The Reds have enough other needs that they could look for a more affordable stopgap until Duno’s arrival, but Krall indicated they’d keep in touch with Stephenson. “We need to take a step back and figure out what’s it going to take, does it help us moving forward and do we need to use that money to improve something else,” Krall rhetorically asked about re-signing Stephenson. “We have a lot of questions that need to be answered over the next month as we approach free agency. He’s a great guy, and we’d love to have him back.” View Comments (1)