LAS VEGAS — When asked what his goals are for the Cincinnati Reds’ offseason, president of baseball operations Nick Krall set three main objectives.
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“We’ll have to rebuild our bullpen. We’re going to have to fill some spots there.
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“We’d like to get ourselves better both offensively and defensively. Ke’Bryan Hayes will help that and moving (Noelvi) Marte to the outfield is going to help that (defense).”
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“Austin Hays, we lost. We’re going to have to figure out how to replace his production. Does that put somebody in left field? Does that give us an outfielder? (Spencer) Steer was a Gold Glove finalist at first, and he really played well defensively. It’d be nice to figure out if we can add to the outfield.”
The Reds have eight free agents, including four relievers, their No. 5 starter (Zack Littell), Hays and Miguel Andujar. Ownership determined that the 2026 Reds would have a payroll that’s around last year’s payroll, which ranked 22nd in MLB in 2025.
This winter, the Reds have about $15-to-$20 million to check off the boxes on Krall’s list.
“We’ve got to figure out how to be creative and figure out what does make sense on the free agent and trade market,” Krall said.
In other words, they’ll have to look for value and likely show some patience like they did last winter.
Steer’s versatility gives the Reds some more room to be creative.
“We’ve talked a bit about Spencer being able to move back to the outfield a little bit more. Maybe more around second base,” general manager Brad Meador said. “That’s something he likes to do. He enjoys doing it. He’s also so good at first base. How we add to our team may change some of that. We could move some guys around.”
Steer was a Gold Glove Award finalist at first base, and his defense kept getting better at that position as the season went along. The Reds are putting a big emphasis on defense (see the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade), and Krall said they’ll have to find the best balance between putting out their best defensive lineup while also having enough offense.
The 2026 Reds should have Tyler Stephenson behind the plate, Steer/Sal Stewart at first, Matt McLain at second base, Elly De La Cruz at shortstop (he’s not moving positions), Hayes at third, Noelvi Marte in right, TJ Friedl in center and TBD in left (options include Steer, DH/LF/2B Gavin Lux, Will Benson and free agent/trade candidates).
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The Reds will likely have to use a good chunk of their payroll flexibility on rebuilding their bullpen.
Closer Emilio Pagán is a free agent. So are Nick Martinez (the Swiss Army Knife on last year’s pitching staff), Scott Barlow (a durable piece who got some high-leverage chances) and long reliever Brent Suter.
Returning to the bullpen will be Tony Santillan, Graham Ashcraft and Connor Phillips.
One-or-two of the eight spots could be determined by a spring training battle that would include Lyon Richardson, Luis Mey, Zach Maxwell, Keegan Thompson, Yosver Zulueta, Sam Moll and a few others.
The biggest storyline during the offseason will likely be who closes for the Reds in 2026.
“We might give a shot to some guys in camp,” Krall said. “We’ll let it play itself out (in free agency) as we get into the offseason. The ninth inning is a different animal. You want to make sure you have a guy that can do that job.”
While Santillan hasn’t been a closer before, he was one of the more valuable relievers in baseball in 2025.
There’s a solid group of relievers on the free agent market who have closing experience, including Pagán, Kyle Finnegan, Raisel Iglesias, Seranthony Dominguez, Ryan Helsley, Kirby Yates, Kenley Jansen, Jose Leclerc, Paul Sewald, Jordan Romano, Gregory Soto, Jose Alvarado and others. Previous closing experience also isn’t a must.
Unless Moll makes a major comeback in 2026, the Reds also don’t have a matchup left-handed reliever on their roster right now.
“You always want left-handed pitchers in the bullpen,” Krall said. “It’s really important. It gives you options late in a game.”
A high-leverage reliever and a left-handed reliever look like the Reds’ two biggest needs right now.
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While Krall said that the Reds haven’t had any conversations with players yet this offseason about contract extensions, he confirmed that he has had extension conversations with a lot of players on the team and made some offers in recent years.
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The only quote you need to see from Nick Krall on Hunter Greene trade rumors: “That’s a hard one to actually say, ‘Hey, we’re actually going to do that.’ A guy who has a chance to be an ace of your staff.”
A trade isn’t very likely and wouldn’t really make sense for the Reds.
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Reds minor league hitting co-coordinator Dave Hansen, a 15-year big league veteran who had worked with the Reds since the 2022 season, is taking a baseball job outside of MLB that allows him to be closer to home, Meador said.
It’s an important role in the organization that helps oversee the day-to-day of hitting development at the minor league level.
Hitting coach Chris Valaika — who’s also the Reds’ hitting coordinator in an organizational role that’s similar to Derek Johnson’s role on the pitching side — and minor league farm director Jeremy Farrell are involved in the process of finding Hansen’s replacement, Meador said.
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Rhett Lowder’s stint pitching in the Arizona Fall League was a success.
Lowder missed the entire 2025 season with an elbow injury and an oblique injury. He was ready to pitch in a competitive setting in October, and he pitched in four games in the Arizona Fall League against Minor League competition.
“He did what we wanted him to do,” Meador said.
Meador added that Lowder will have a regular offseason to get ready for spring training and that Lowder should be full go for camp in February.
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What happens at the MLB GM meetings?
Krall said, “It’s a lot of meeting with teams. We meet with agents. We have some industry meetings. With teams, it’s easy to run into people because you’re all in meetings together. Agents, we’ve divided them up so everyone can get to who they need to get to to make sure you talk to everyone.”
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Meador said that the front office and coaching staff are constantly talking about the team’s overall style of play. It sounds like they’re going to work to build on the new identity that the group worked to establish last season.
“We talk a lot offensively that we need to keep getting better,” Meador said. “The lineup as a whole needs to continue to have better at-bats. One thing we talk a lot about it what kind of at-bats those are. A tougher at-bat. Continue to make our lineup longer and get to the next player.
“We have some players in our lineup that if we have better at-bats and do make more solid contact, more home runs will come. That doesn’t mean that we’re not trying to also add to our lineup. We are. We also need to get better with the guys we have.”
The Reds also don’t want to “run just to run” on the bases.
“We’ve talked (since last year) about being responsible,” Meador said. “We have guys who run. The more we get on base, the more opportunities we have. I wouldn’t say we’re just looking to run more. We need to be responsible. Over time, maybe another year of that, it does look like we’re running more.”
