EXCLUSIVE: Kyle Schwarber Chase TRANSFORMS Cincinnati Reds Offseason and Could SHIFT Narratives

EXCLUSIVE: Kyle Schwarber Chase TRANSFORMS Cincinnati Reds Offseason and Could SHIFT Narratives

The excitement level around Kyle Schwarber coming to Cincinnati feels like it’s hitting a fever pitch, but it also feels like it’s for the biggest reason. And that reason isn’t even the most important one. [Music] You are Locked on Red, your daily Cincinnati Reds podcast, part of the Locked On network. Your team every day. Welcome in to the Lockdown Reds podcast. Lockdown Reds is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the country. And we are your Reds, your team every single day. And my name is Jeff Gar. I’m a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan. I’ve been podcasting about this team for seven seasons now. I bring you takes that you can’t get anywhere else about the Cincinnati Reds, even when there’s snow on the ground outside. That’s all we talk about here on Lockdown Reds is the Cincinnati Reds. On today’s show, I want to talk about why getting this deal done. Nick Crawl probably needs this more than the fans need this. We’ll talk about that in a little bit in a few minutes. The rumors around this and the drama around this and the excitement around this and all of the things around Kyle Schwarber reminds me of something from about 25 years ago. But we will begin with why the biggest thing about Kyle Schwarber probably isn’t the most important thing. And we’re going to do all of that with my friend and yours, Mo Edgar from ESPN 1530 and 700 WLW. Mo, how you doing, sir? And what you got, man? I’m doing well. Excited to be talking about the Reds. Excited that uh the Kyle Schwarber thing has kind of taken on a life of its own. And regardless of whether or not he signs here, it’s a lot of fun. It has been a lot of fun. It’s made the off season feel a little bit shorter. I I know that there’s been a lot of Red’s fans and I talked to a lot of my friends that like lead off conversations with, “So, is he signed yet?” and things like that. And so, it kind of feels like there’s a lot of folks that are really excited about this. The thing that I worry about and and it keeps nagging at me every time I really get excited about this rumor is the reason that we are the most excited about it and the reason that people are reporting so much about it, even national reporters are talking about this, is because he’s from Middletown. It has nothing to do with the most important part of a free agent and that is the dollars and cents. Speak for yourself. I couldn’t care less where Kyle Schwarber is from. Frank, he could be from Middletown, South Dakota. I I don’t care. It’s irrelevant. I I guess there’s two ways of looking at it. One, okay, whatever gets you in the door, right? So, if if what gets him in the door is the fact that he’s from here, cool. Who cares, right? If if that’s what gets him in the door, if that’s what makes it slightly more likely that he signs here, great. So, it’s not an irrelevant part of the conversation, but to me, the Reds need a guy who can hit home runs. The the guy who’s best at hitting home runs in the sport, arguably besides Cal Raleigh, is available. They should be interested. They should be interested. Now, there’s the dollars and cents. Here’s my basic take. If the Reds want to give Kyle Schwarber a blank check, they probably can’t. They have 20 owners. They never go on capital calls to him. I if if they if they were like, you know what, screw it. We’re paying the guy. We’re going to be the we’re going to be the team that that outbids everybody. We’re going to pay him. Do I think they could do that? Yeah. Now, there’s a difference between being able to afford something and having something in your budget. There’s lots of things that I cannot afford. There are some things I can afford, but I’m just not willing to pay for or I’m not willing to go outside my budget. Um, the comparison that I made on the air, and it might not be the the most uh appropriate one, I guess. I don’t know. Um, you know, we have a budget. Family should have, but we have we have a budget. We budget for food, entertainment, you know, I mean, expenses, uh, household bills, you know, whatever. We have a budget. Sometimes there are things that you find in life that you go, you know what, that’s worth going outside my budget. For me, that was a Super Bowl ticket when the Bengals played the Rams and I’m going and so yeah, it’s it’s going to be a decent chunk of dough, but this is worth this is worth it. This is a possibly once in a-lifetime thing. I want to be there with my friends. If they win the Super Bowl, I want to be in the stadium hugging them. I want that. That was worth going outside my budget. Kyle Schwarber, you have to decide. I think is he worth going outside your budget? Possibly worth going outside your budget. I think the answer is yes. Number one, he satisfies exactly what the Reds desperately need, which is a middle of the order bat who can hit the ball out of the ballpark a lot, who can provide protection to the other hitters, who you could build the offense around. Um, also, we’re not talking about a Reds team that won 64 games last year. We’re not talking about, well, go get him because he’s gonna sell a bunch of tickets to a team to see a team that might win 75 games. You know, I remember when the Reds they they’ve they’ve made like they’ve had two like somewhat splashy off seasons in somewhat recent vintage 2018 19 they went and got Yaspig. I don’t think that was a move designed to get them over the top. They lost, I think, 98 games the year before, but it was like an attraction, sell some tickets, get people talking, make the team a little bit better, you know, it was a wanted to unload Homer Bailey. They got some other parts. Kyle Farmer ended up being, you know, sort of valuable, but that that wasn’t a move where you’re like, you know what, that that could dramatically increase their chances of competing for something meaningful. this is. And so when you have that kind of player and on his own, is Kyle Schwarber enough to take the Reds from what they were last year to a team that’s going to win 98 games? Maybe not. But he could advance it. He could advance it significantly from what they were, which was a playoff team, to a team that doesn’t need to play game 162 just to scratch and claw their way in. That kind of player. I don’t care where he’s from. He could be from Norway. Doesn’t matter to me. um that is the kind of player when you are where the Reds are that’s worth going outside your budget if indeed they do have to go outside outside their budget to to go get Kaj War. I I feel like because there’s there’s definitely and and I laid this out yesterday after talking about the Ailio Pagantre or signing because that was what everybody was wondering. They weren’t wondering, oh hey, is he going to be our closer? They were wondering, does that $10 million now officially make the Reds too poor to sign Kyle Schwarber? And it’s like, well, no, they could do a couple of different things. But you’re right, and that’s the part where I get into this where it’s like, this feels like the moment. And yes, you can buy into the locality of where he’s from, but this is the moment that everything is combined. The success that you’ve enjoyed, you know, whether you’re talking about the ahead of schedule 2023 season or the playoff cameo that was last year, like now’s the time to go get it because it’s clear they got enough to get there. And then it’s clear that there are a handful of teams that if they run up against those teams, they’ve got no business beating. But Kyle Schwarber gives you that business of beating those teams. So, that’s really where they’ve got to focus on this one because I I think it’s intriguing that everyone is talking about it. Ken Rosenthal had an article that specifically addressed this rumor. Mark Sheldon had a headline that specifically addressed this rumor and they were talking about it on MLB Network. They talk about it at nauseium, but you know, Greg Amsinger had him, I think, had the Reds at like number six on their list on on the list of teams possibly could signing Kyle Schwarber. And Yonder Alonzo about threw his microphone at him. He was just like, “You’re kidding. They’re number one or number two.” Like, they’re the team that should be going and getting Kyle Schwarber even more so than the Phillies. And I think that’s the fun part about all of this is that it seems to finally be lining up with with wishes that I’ve had going into every offseason that I can remember. It’s like, okay, where’s the guy on the top of the list? And can the Reds go get him? No, obviously not. But why do we have to feel that way now? We can. So, I guess there’s a couple of different things. One for me is if the answer is not Kyle Schwarber, what is who is, right? Like that’s we go back to the quantity over quality thing and I don’t love that. Right. Like I I haven’t met many fans who aren’t in favor of this, but I know they’re out there and it’s like I don’t know. It’s a lot of money. First of all, is it your money? Like what why why do you care? I the the the greatest achievement in my lifetime as a sports fan has been how MLB owners have gotten fans to care about their finances. I don’t spend it. Like dude, I don’t care. I know it’s real money, but it doesn’t compute to me. So, like, so, okay, if if it’s either the Red’s going too rich for our blood or somebody who just doesn’t think, hey, he’s 32 years old, it’s, you know, it’s a lot of money. Cool. What’s plan B? What What else you got? What do you got that can replicate Kyle Schwarber? And what do you got that can take a lineup that at times last year had nothing that you could hang your hat on? They didn’t get on base enough. They weren’t good at manufacturing runs, and they didn’t hit the long ball enough. What do you got? What do you got that’s going to take that offense and make it dramatically better? That’s not Kyle Schwarber. So, that’s number one. Number two, if you’re just going to step back and go, uh-uh, we’re not doing this. We’re we’re just we’re we’re not we’re not ready. This What the f then have you been building toward for five years? Right? Like legitimately, what the hell have you been building toward this rebuild, this build? This started at the end of the 2020 season, right? Now, it kicked into hyperdrive a year later, but at the end of the 2020 season, COVID year when they gave away Amelio Pagan, you knew like, okay, they’re they’re going to start to hit the eject button. Kept pretty much everybody around for 2021, won 83 games. And then at the end of that season, Sunonny Gray gone, Euaneio Suarez gone, Jesse Winker gone. Bottom out, lose a 100 games. Awful season. Okay, that’s a long time ago. And so it’s been a slow build and the playoff appearance uh last year was tangible proof that the rebuild is at least kind of working. Maybe it’s not working to the degree we would all like, but there’s there’s a a payoff. There’s a step. If if now you’re like, you know what, we’re not ready to go allin with the roster and we’re a little bit too concerned about what we’d be paying the dude in four years, then then then what has been the point of all this? Then what has been the point of of of developing a core around which you build, right? That’s that’s what they’ve been doing. It’s not, hey, we’re going to start building and then when we’re good, it’s only going to be dudes who are here now that are going to come through the system, homegrown guys. It’s going to be let’s build a core. Let’s build a group of it’s 2009 through 11, right? Let’s let’s get all these guys. Let’s build a core. And then, okay, what are we going to need? Cool. In 2012, it was we need a frontline starter, Matt Letos. Give up four dudes to go get him. We need a lefty out of the bullpen, Shawn Marshall. Cool. uh give up a a future all-star closer, a all-star starter to go get him. It’s uh you know what, we need an outfield bat. Go get Ryan Lewig, right? We’ll we’ll pay to go get him. They even signed Ryan Matson that. But you you you developed that core and then it was like screw it, we’re going for it. This it’s not maybe apples to apples, but if if you’re going to go, nah, nah, you know what? Let’s let’s see if let’s let’s go find let’s go get the dude you know the the classic Red’s offseason sign guy who used to be good three years ago and then he had the one year where he got a divorce and then there was the one year he had a he had a busted hand and then he had a bad foot he had planter fasciitis but they got some new orthotics and you know if you look at the underlying metrics against left-handed pitchers who have three vows in his name go get the best guy available right go get the best I don’t I don’t need Will Myers I don’t need Tommy Fam I don’t Austin Hayes, go get the dude. Kyle Schwarber is the dude. And if you’re going to say no, then don’t tell me you’re that serious about winning. And don’t tell me that this this build, which has been for going on for 5 years, had any point to it if you’re not going to go for it now. And that’s why the pressure is so much on Nick Crawl in this moment. That’s why he needs this move even more so. We’ll talk about that in just a few minutes. But I want to get back to the the rumor side of this and how we’re feeling about this because this reminds me a lot of back when Ken Griffy Jr. was about to get traded here. There’s a one key difference though when it comes to all of this. The next time that you go to a live event, you’ve got to use game time. Steve and I use game time all the time. Whether we’re going to baseball games, if Steve’s in town to go to like a Bengals game or he likes to go to Buckeyes games, I like to go to Bearcats games. All the above. Game time’s got you covered for all of those. Plus, if it’s last minute or if it’s down the road, game time is a good option because you can even plan ahead for opening day. Maybe the first game of Kyle Schwarber’s Cincinnati Red’s tenure. Or if you want to go even further than that and look at the World Cup in June, game time is the place to go. Plus, it will help you find the perfect seat wherever it is that you go. Shows you your view from your seat and gives you the all-in pricing up front. They take the guesswork out of buying those tickets, whether it’s today or whether it’s six months from now. Check out Game Time today. Use the promo code lockdown MLB when you create your account. You’ll get $20 off your first purchase. Again, that’s game time. Download the app, create an account, and use the promo code lockdown MLB to save $20 off that first purchase. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. appreciate you making Lockdown Reds part of your everyday routine. If you’re not an everydayer, hit that subscribe button right here on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app because we’re free and available everywhere you get your podcast because we’re part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the country and we want to thank you for helping us make that happen. All right. So, Kyle Schwarber and and and the buzz around this move reminds me and I was really just getting to the point where like I understood the movements of the offseason of baseball in in 1999 and 2000 and things like that when it comes to the acquisition of Ken Griffy Jr. and I remember like on video games he would be the first guy that I’d try to get on the Reds and all this other stuff. And so, it was so much fun to see that happen in real life. And I had somebody ask me this the other day and I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now, but they’re like, “Is this just going to be another Griffy situation where they they get Griffy and then they don’t do anything else. Are they going to not build around him?” I said, “There’s a huge difference here. They’ve already built around him. They just need him.” And to your point about what you were talking about, you know, like are we, you know, the Reds went after things back in 2012 and 2011 and things like that where they acquired guys and they made the right trades and got the guys in to help them win the division, things like that. The only thing you got to give up here is money. Like, I feel like there’s a key difference here in that Griffy was a big trade that you trade away a lot of guys for. Those moves that made the team as good as it was in the early 2010s required trades. This doesn’t. A and this can make the team so good and not as everybody’s always worried about with with the Reds mortgage the future. So to me the great difference between the Griffy acquisition 20 Wow it’s been it’ll be 26 years in February. If I I mean I it feels like yesterday. I was I undercut it. It was 26 years ago. The big difference is Ken Griffy Jr. did not address that team’s biggest need. Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t acquire Ken Griffy Jr. of course you do. And you pay the money and you try to build around them and it it didn’t work out. But the 1999 Reds are a beloved team. It’s also a team that didn’t have very good starting pitching. And I was uh I was 22 years old. We would have these like knockdown dragouts over the the off seasonason. My dad loved the Reds as much as we do, but we were so stoked about Ken Griffy Jr. and I remember going like does he pitch because you know, God love Brett Tomco and Pete Harish and Ron Voluone and Steve Paris and uh Denny Nagel was on that staff in 99. And I mean they that team won 96 games largely in spite of its starting pitching. You know, they had a great year out of the bullpen from Scott Williamson and and Danny Graves. So, point being, Ken Griffy Jr., yes, you acquire him. He’s junior, right? It’s right all century player. First ballot hall of course you get him. But they didn’t address even like their other big acquisition that offseason was Dante Bashette, another guy who uh doesn’t pitch. Kyle Schwarber addresses their biggest need- with without question their their biggest need. And look, it’s not to say it’s their only need. They they need bullpen help and bringing back Emilio Pagan is fine, but is he the closer? Is he the guy you want in the highest of high leverage situations? And are you sure you have enough starting pitching depth one through five? But he represents their biggest their biggest need. That to me is the difference. Now, the junior off season, I remember like around Christmas kind of joking in 1999 like, okay, when it wasn’t if, it was when it because Junior was forcing Seattle’s hand, it was obvious what he wanted. It was obvious that I mean, it was it was painfully obvious like what how this was going to end. It was a matter of when. Is it is it going to happen before the new year flips? Is it going to happen right before spring training? it was going to be Ken Griffy Jr. This there’s no sense of inevitability, but the excitement is comparable. Um, he represents their biggest need. Had the Reds not acquired Ken Griffy Jr. for the 2000 season, I think, you know, they they did lose Greg Vaughn from the year before and so somebody had to replace that bat, but it was like still pretty good lineup. We’ll see. But you still would have had this massive, I think, issue with with starting pitching. That’s not the case, right? That’s that’s that is not the case. There’s questions, you know, can can some of these dudes who haven’t been able to get through a full season healthy stay healthy, but like they’re they’re good there. They’re they’re in a good place there and they’re a good place with some of the other younger players they have. Their biggest need is a guy who can hit the ball out of the ballpark 45 times. Kyle Schwarber can do that. This is what and it it’s getting me fired up just now thinking about it. Like these last couple of years I’ve kind of almost become a little bit more realistic than optimistic um when it comes to this team. I feel like this would push me back into the just overly optimistic realm when it comes to the Reds because like what we heard at the beginning of this off seasonason compared to what we’re hearing now is that well the Reds are going to have to trade Hunter Green because how are they going to get better unless they trade Hunter Green? You don’t have to do that. You can just sign over some money and get Kyle Schwarber and keep Hunter Green and still be really good. And you do all of those things with just the signing of a check. And I feel like that is where the importance with this lays. And it it also makes me think too like I think a lot of this and it’s my own fault because sometimes I really should just get off of Twitter. Uh but I think has has fed this. But it does make me wonder what would have happened back then if Twitter existed whenever Griffy was acquired. Like there’s some things that back that back of the time like I know Twitter is what it is now and it’s now it’s X but I know that you know a lot of folks know exactly what they’re going to get when they get on that website but there’s sometimes when it’s cool and it feels like it would have been cool around that winter with Griffy because right now it feels kind of cool right now too because you have even the most pessimistic Reds fans on X right now that are like boy oh boy if they get Schwarber I just I might be excited about them again. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it there’s what it would do to the mechanics of the club where it would give them again what they need, right, which is a a guy who has some pop, but it would also represent like a total narrative change. We’re, you know, I’ve talked about this a lot, like this is a chance for the Reds to kind of rebrand to a degree, but it’s it’s a chance to kind of rebrand because there are a lot of folks I think even watching them last season make the playoffs, there’s this hesitancy to really jump on board because it’s like, all right, this is nice, but it’s not where it needs to be. Do we trust Nick Crawl to to make the necessary moves to get this over the top? Because I think this is the most difficult step. I I you know, Kyle Schwarber is easy, right? You should sign him. Now, you can’t hold him hostage. I mean, if he doesn’t want to play here, then he doesn’t want to play here. But, right, I I think what the Reds have done is not easy. But, I think like the next step, which is go from a team that barely scrapes by to a consistent powerhouse. Nick Crawl talked about it three years ago, sustained success, right? No more peaks, no more valleys. Okay, consistent powerhouse where you’re winning 90 games almost every single year. you’re challenging for the division title almost every single year. You’re being looked at as a team that can make a deep playoff run every single year. Every single year that that’s the biggest mountain to climb. This Kyle Schwarber would help you climb that mountain. So, I think there’s been, you know, reluctance to really jump on board because okay, do we trust Nick or is ownership really going to, you know, sign off on the sort of moves that we just don’t associate with the Reds? Here’s a chance to answer those questions. the hunter green thing. Jeeoff, you have folks who watch and you have folks who listen. So, this is this is a visual, but I I do this here, okay? I have a piece of paper. I’ve drawn a line down the middle. Now, you’ll see one column. I have Hunter Green and Kyle Schwarber. Okay? Because if you if you sign Kyle Schwarber, chances are I’m guessing you’re not trading Hunter Green, which you shouldn’t. Would you rather have this column here that has Hunter Green and Kyle Schwarber or this column here that’s blank? I would rather have the one that has Hunter Green and Kyle Schwarber in it. So, okay, trade Hunter Green for what? For whom? What do you got? What? So, you know, I mean, here I’ll put a question mark. There’s a question mark and then I’ll put another question mark because then I got to figure out who’s going to be my staff ace because Hunter Green is still the staff ace. So, you tell me which which one would you rather have. Uh, I here I have the reigning National League home run champion and guy who last year helped pitch the Reds into the playoffs. Um, he didn’t pitch well in the postseason, but helped pitch the Reds into the postseason is a costcontrolled staff ace who’s going to get a $2 million raise this year. Would you rather have this column, these two guys, or this column with the two question marks? I don’t know, man. Question. playing a lot of Mario Kart Mario Kart World. But yeah, I don’t I’d rather have this column with with the the Sai Young allstar the the c the Sai Young candidate, former all-star and the reigning National League home run champion. And I’ll tell you what, I’ll take my chances and you can have the two question marks. Little visual aid for you there, Jeff. I I always think of I always think of that clip from Family Guy whenever Peter Peter’s like, you given an option. you can have a boat or here’s a box with a question mark on it. And uh his wife’s yelling at him. He’s just like obviously take the boat. She’s like, I lo I don’t know. Like this box could be anything. It could even be a boat. Like that’s what prospects are. They could be anything. They could even be Hunter Green. So you already have Hunter Green. Keep Hunter Green. A and yes, the Kyle Schwbert of it all is is so important to us as Red’s fans, but it’s even more important for Nick Crawl. We’ve been alluding at it. We’re going to tell you why it’s so important for Nick Crawl coming up next. First, want to tell you about our friends over at FanDuel because there’s no better way to get in on the action this NFL season, especially when you talk about like live bets and things like that, than with FanDuel. I know Mo, right now the line is at five and a half. I think last time I saw five and a half over on FanDuel uh for five and a half point underdogs for the Bengals as they head to Buffalo this Sunday. I don’t necessarily know that I love that, but I think I might be all over the live line. Where where are you at with that game? I am taking the points. Taking the points. Uh, I’m getting points with Joe Burrow against a team that he has had success against in a building he’s had success at, against a Buffalo team that has issues with their edge rushers. Joey Bosa isn’t going to play. There’s offensive line problems. Buffalo’s passing game has been inconsistent. Now, I’m not sure the Bengals can take away James Cook, but offensively, they’re very healthy. You’re giving me Burrow and a healthy offense with extra time to prepare. I will gladly take those points. That’s right. TE’s back. That that’s a that’s a huge factor as well. And you can get in on all of that over at FanDuel right now. The live bets will be hilarious with this one. Especially if the Bills score first. I’ve been saying all week, if the Bills score first, that live line for the Bengals is going to look even better. So probably jump in twice on that one. That’s all over at FanDuel. Download FanDuel today. I encourage you to keep the conversation going with us after the show is over. You can follow me with three on Twitter. You can also follow Steve. He’s on a boat somewhere. I think it’s in the Caribbean. I I forget. Like he went from one island and one ocean to another island and another ocean. And that’s just how things go for him uh these days. But uh he’ll be back next week. You can follow him at Steve or at Soffenbaker with two Fs. And you can follow Mo Edgar. There’s no Fs in that. Um all right, Mo. when it comes to this thing, like I feel like there’s a lot of folks and again I’ve talked with a lot of friends of mine that are just like, man, we need this. We this fan base needs this move so bad. The guy that needs it more than any of us fans is Nick Crawl because it feels like like you you you kind of laid it out there in the first segment, and this is where I’m at with this. He was the guy that that began this whole process. Like it began in 2020, but like he tore it down. He traded guys away. there were some folks that wondered what he was doing and and he he really wiped the slate clean and now he’s been bringing in all these other pieces, but up until this point he’s done the Nick Crawl thing where it’s like, “All right, we’re going to sign this guy to a oneplus one-year deal with like a club option. We’ll see if he can bounce back, and if he doesn’t, he’s a free agent next year. And then we’ll go trade for this aging veteran who, you know, like we laid out earlier, he had a divorce. He has one leg and just got off a pirate ship. somewhere and now he’s going to play baseball. Uh but I I I think that this is the moment where Nick Crock can prove that he knows how to get the right thing at the right moment. Yeah. I I I don’t know if that is so much about Nick as much as it’s about the people that he works for giving him whatever flexibility he needs. Like what I don’t know, what none of us know is they have a budget. They have an idea of what they want to spend on players this year. And I think they have a decent idea of how they want to divide the money they’re going to spend on players this year. If acquiring Kyle Schwarber requires them to blow that up, how willing are they? That to me isn’t a Nick Crawl question. Of course Nick Crawl wants Kyle Schwarber. You think Nick Crawl is like ah, you know, I don’t know, man. of course he wants Kyle Schwarber. So, as you know, yeah, there’s the mechanics of getting the dude and at the end of the day, that’s what people in his position are judged by, right? How do you build rosters? Well, um, again, if if we’re not going to build the team around a guy who hit 56 home runs last year, then what do you got, Nick? Right. But at the end of the day, folks, I I think if you asked most Reds fans, they would say the biggest question is financially, are they really willing to do it? Who knows what the market’s going to look like? Maybe there are teams who are scared by the lockout. Or maybe there are teams who are, you know, sort of put off by Kyle Schwarber’s age and think, you know what, his best years are behind him. And so maybe the market comes back a little bit and it makes him cheaper to acquire. But if if there ends up being like, you know, a little bit of a sort of a bidding war here, uh, and if Kyle Schwarber’s like, “Hometown discount, I ain’t doing that.” Like are are is is Nick Craw gonna be told, “Dude, go get our guy.” And I don’t know. Would you be surprised if the answer was no? I don’t know that I’d be stunned at the I don’t know that I’d be stunned if the answer was yes, but I don’t think anybody would just be floored if if we found out like, well, the Reds tried, but there was only so far they would go because Nick was told here’s what you can spend. So that to me is the the bigger question. look up. Nick Crawl is ultimately going to be judged by whether this process that he helped start works. Um it it has worked to a degree so far, but it only really works if they I don’t want to say win a World Series, but end up going to the playoffs on a consistent basis. And if they do, they’ll eventually advance. And I think we’ll all sort of look at it and be able to tell whether or not it was a success. And when we do, we’re going to say either Nick Crawl succeeded or he failed. this would help him succeed acquiring Kyle Schwarber in my opinion. So, u can he get it done and is he allowed to get it done? Is he allowed to go to whatever lengths he deems necessary uh to to bring Kyle Schwarber home? Cuz I think that there’s two different feelings on Nick Crow. I think we all understand and we’ve talked a lot about this this off seasonason that his expectations are all right you have a budget stick to the budget and then whatever else happens after that is also important but not as important but to fans the juryy’s still a little bit out on it like is he doing the right things is he building the right team all this other stuff this would really push the fans toward the okay yeah we got this and and I think too like even on the point of it is on ownership a little But I’m still looking at some of the projections and expectations for guys like Brady Singer as far as what they’re going to make in arbitration or or you know the deals that they signed before arbitration and Gavin Lux and guys like that. If he made two trades and if he traded Brady Singer for prospects and he traded Grab and Lux for prospects or a prospect, whatever that ends up being and gets that money off the books, then he reopens up the possibility of like, all right, if there were really was just 20 million and you spent 10 million of that on Pagan, but then you open up another 15 to 18 million with those two trades, you still got plenty of money to sign college for. Yeah, I there’s ways to make it happen. financially and I say that without having That’s where I put the onus back on him. That’s where I put the Yeah. I look I think the fact that they’re engaged in this process that that that tells you there’s at least some interest in doing what we don’t associate with the Reds, right, which is spend and spend big money and maybe go outside their budget. But you know what we don’t know is does Nick Crawl have cart blanch? Is he being given like marching orders? Dude, go get Kyle Schwarber no matter what. Or is he being given a directive? You you could try to get Kyle Schwarber, but check with us before, you know, but check check with us before. I feel like that’s that’s the like and and by the way, there’s lots of GMs, understandably so, around the sport who you could say the same thing about. But, right. Yeah. I I guess what I would want to know and and where I think Nick Crawl would be tested creatively would be okay Kyle Schwarber now what what because it’s not hey we got Kyle Schwarber we’re you know there’s the the team itself needs more depth like that that to me is the hidden part of this off season where the last couple of years we’ve seen their depth get tested and it’s failed almost immediately where it’s you know two years ago it was Mike Ford we’re going to go get We had Mike Ford couldn’t make the team out of spring training. And then last year it was, you know, the spin the wheel who uh Blake Dunn, we’ll try you. Jacob Herbeast, we’ll try. Like, so I’m to me, okay, go get Kyle Schwarber. But then, Nick, that’s where you get creative and that’s where you’re, you know, turning over stones and finding hidden gems and and guys who, you know, make a lot of sense to acquire, but you don’t have to pay them a lot of money. and their depth pieces. This team’s depth this season has to be better than it’s been the last couple of years. That is true regardless of whether or not they acquire Kyle Schwarber. So, I’m I put it more on Nick. Yes, getting Kyle Schwarber would help. But just on a macro level, how do you take what you did last year and make it How do you win the National League Central next year? Yes. How do you don’t sneak into the wild card? Win the win the How do you get a one or two seed? I mean, how do you win 95 games? How do you win 97 games? So, Nick Crawl, Kyle Schwarber could have a lot to do with that, but I’m more interested just when when pitchers and catchers report and we kind of look at, all right, here’s what they did this off season. God, you know what, Nick Crawl hit a home run, or is it like, dude, who what do we, you know, it looks the same, it feels the same, maybe it’s a little bit worse. Um, I’m I’m more interested in like I I could try to sign Kyle Schwarber. I’m a but I Yeah. Do you want Kyle Schwarber, Mo? Yeah. Give me a bunch of money. I’ll go get him. The more creative things he’s going to have to do with the roster with or without Kyle Schwarber to me will go a much longer way toward determining whether or not I think Nick Craw did a good job this off season. He is Mo Edgar. He’s got a show every day 3 to 6 except for Fridays because uh Bengals that’s why I’m doing this there’s my vid check it again if you’re watching on YouTube just one more time you tell me Hunter Green Kyle Schwarber or what’s behind what’s I can’t my left or my right what’s behind door number two it’s not not ESPN 1530 and 700 WW Mo I appreciate you sir and we buried the lead I mean I did see that Noel Vi Marte is now number four I I am curious if Santiago Espanol gave him his permission to wear that number, but you know, we’ll we’ll never know that one. Um, but thank you so much for joining me and uh we’ll definitely talk again. Hopefully, we’ll talk again after the Reds find cash go. We’ll do the the we’ll do the podcast from somewhere in Middletown. Oh, yes. I like that. I I think um I’m trying to think like Combmes Barbecue would be a good one. Is the Lakeside in still available? Is that still around? The Lakeside Inside. What about Bristol? What’s the name? There’s a Bristol. Yeah. Right on 75. start marking places on your uh on your maps. We’ll uh we’ll see if we can meet you there. Um thank you so much, Mo. And uh thanks for checking out today’s Lockdown Runs podcast. Now, make sure you check out Lockdown MLB. Sully’s got you covered every single day. Views around the league. He was there historywise whenever Kyle Schwarber made his way into the league. Of course, we all were, but he was also there whenever uh Ken Griffy Jr. made his way into the league. And he was there whenever the Reds won their first World Series as well because he’s seen it all. That’s all over at Lockdown MLB. All he’s got you covered because we’re part of the locked on Podcast Network, your team every single day in the number one sports podcast network in the country. Until tomorrow, you know that we’ll be locked on Reds every single day. All right, we do. Okay.

Cincinnati Reds fans are buzzing as the Kyle Schwarber-to-Cincinnati rumors reach a fever pitch, but does the local Middletown connection overshadow the real issues of roster construction and payroll? Jeff and Mo Egger debate whether adding Schwarber addresses the Reds’ biggest need—a power bat capable of transforming the lineup—and if ownership is finally ready to make a marquee move instead of settling for budget signings.

Key topics include comparisons to the hype around the Ken Griffey Jr. trade, the importance of roster depth, and whether Nick Krall will get the green light to spend big. The conversation explores the impact of Schwarber’s possible arrival on Hunter Greene’s future, reasons to push beyond financial comfort zones, and why this offseason is a pivotal moment for both the Reds’ front office and fan base. Can Cincinnati capitalize on this rare opportunity or will history repeat itself?

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0:00 – Kyle Schwarber Excitement & Hometown Narrative
12:27 – Comparison to Ken Griffey Jr Trade Hype
24:24 – Nick Krall’s Pressure & Reds Rebuild

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