On Sunday the Cincinnati Reds 2026 season came to an end with a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. That loss dropped the club to 75-87 on the season. They finished in last place in the National League Central division. It was the worst record since they went 62-100 in 2022 and the second worst record (tied with the 2019 club) since the failed rebuild run from 2015-2018 when they were worse in each of those seasons.
A whole lot of things went wrong for Cincinnati in 2026. We’re not going to focus on that right now, though we will be looking back at nearly everything here at Redleg Nation during the offseason – however long that lasts with the potential for a lockout extending the offseason time. But it’s fair to say that the season was a disappointing one and that what happens before the start of the next season is going to be key.
The Reds have three players who are free agents after the World Series. Pitchers Brady Singer and Brock Burke, as well as catcher Tyler Stephenson will all become free agents unless Cincinnati makes them a qualifying offer (and it’s accepted).
The team also has three options to work with that could lead to free agency. Third baseman Eugenio Suarez has a $16,000,000 mutual option. Reliever Pierce Johnson also has a mutual option for $8,000,000 and there’s a $1,000,000 buyout if the Reds decline their side. Closer Emilio Pagan has a $10,000,000 player option for 2027.
All of that could leave Cincinnati with six players leaving to free agency. Some of those players will be tougher to find replacements for than others. It wouldn’t be surprising to see all six on another team next year.
With or without those players, though, the Reds have a lot of needed improvement from this year’s squad. Barry Larkin spoke to it during the last home game of the year. Joey Votto has spoken of it for much of September on various platforms. The comments section here at Redleg Nation has been breaking keyboards and phones and tablets typing so hard about it for months. And it appears that even some in the front office for the club know it’s needed and are pointing fingers.
The pitching on the team was bad in 2026. Take out Chase Burns and the rotation was hilariously bad. The bullpen had two sets of guys. A handful were quite good. But if you weren’t in that group you fell into the group of very, very bad relievers. And there were a lot of guys that cycled through that group throughout the season.
The offense wasn’t really any better. You had Elly De La Cruz playing like an MVP candidate and finishing with the 5th best OPS in the National League. There was Sal Stewart hitting 32 home runs and driving in 111 while being an above-average bat. And then there was one other guy who had 100 hits on the team, and he hit .217 on the year. There two guys who were all-around good to elite level hitters on the team and then a few guys who were solid, but very flawed hitters who weren’t quite every day players, and then a bunch of guys who struggled to hit the ball out of a wet paper bag.
The front office has to find a way to find starting pitchers. They need to find a way to add more hitters. There’s a need for better relievers and they may have to replace their closer on top of that. No one really knows what the league is going to look like from a financial standpoint next season. But Cincinnati has a lot of money coming off of the books. Some of that will be accounted for in some raises due to players that will be returning, but there should still be a good chunk of money to go out and spend even if payroll remains roughly the same as it was this past season.
If the plan is to compete or try to in 2027, then it’s likely going to have to happen by bringing in talent in free agency. There’s not exactly much to trade from at the big league level that would accomplish both bringing in real talent while also not trading away elite talent. It’s a tough sell to say you can compete in 2027 if you trade away a Chase Burns, an Elly De La Cruz, or a Sal Stewart. No one else is going to bring back the kind of talent infusion the team needs.
But the farm system also stinks for the most part. The team’s top prospect is Alfredo Duno, who is a catcher, which is a position that the Reds need to fill. He’s probably not going to be ready to take over the position at the start of next season – he’s only played in 32 games at the Double-A level (where he hit .322/.406/.488) and he’s 20-years-old. But it’s tough to see how trading him makes sense given the organizational need, the lack of any other catching options on the farm that look like anything more than maybe a potential backup catcher for the next several years, and how close Duno is.
Maybe you could get some solid returns for the big league team by trading away some good prospects you have that are in the lower levels. The Reds do have some of those kinds of players where they have the upside teams like, but those guys are also very far away and teams will be somewhat hesitant to give up high end talent to help a big league team for those kinds of guys. Not impossible, though, and we have seen it happen in the recent past.
All of that to say that the front office has a whole lot on their plate. They are going to need to get creative, be smart, and probably make a ton of moves between the end of the World Series and the start of the next baseball season if they want that season to be any different than the one they just suffered through.
Joey Votto will be on NBC’s playoff coverage team
On Sunday night NBC announced their playoff crews and that Joey Votto will be one of the five people, along with Matt Vasgersian, John Kruk, Ashley ShahAhmadi, and C.J. Nitkowski on NBC’s crew during the National League Wild Card series between the NL East champion Atlanta Braves and wild card Philadelphia Phillies. All three (if necessary) games will be played at 2pm ET on NBC and Peacock. The games will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – all in Atlanta.