CINCINNATI (WXIX) – President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall didn’t have a big speech, a PowerPoint or a scheduled in-person meeting on the calendar with Bob and Phil Castellini. Looking for the Cincinnati Reds’ path to afford the power bat that everyone knew the team badly needed, Krall simply gave the owners a call in late January.
“We talked about where we were and what the options were,” Krall told me. “It’s good conversations back and forth. They ask a lot of questions. You try to give as many answers as you can. When you can’t, you figure it out and find out.”
Krall said that he has a consistent, “open” communication with ownership, so he didn’t feel the need to make a huge pitch. He was wondering if the Reds could sign Eugenio Suárez. That meant Krall was wondering if the Castellinis would extend the Reds’ payroll budget that the front office was given for 2026.
Krall gave the owners a call to ask. He didn’t have to introduce Suárez to ownership because they’ve all already seen him play hundreds of games.
Krall said, “Let’s figure out what we can do and where we can go and what we could do.”
“Here it is. What are your thoughts?”
The answer led to the Reds bringing Suárez back to Cincinnati and making him the highest-paid player on the team.
At the start of the offseason, Krall was informed that payroll for 2026 would be about what it was last year. In the middle of January, after a few bullpen moves, that left the Reds with about $5 million left to spend — not enough to afford Suárez.
So in the middle of January, the Reds were talking to a handful of other free agent hitters who’d fit the payroll that the front office was working with. None of those hitters is a 40 home run guy or a proven middle of the order threat like Suárez is, but they were what the Reds could afford with the original budget.
Meanwhile, Suárez’s free agent market wasn’t really materializing in the way that many around the league expected. With many teams putting Suárez’s flaws — his declining defense and his strikeout rate — in the spotlight, Suárez was more affordable this winter than many expected him to be.
The Reds and Suárez had to meet in the middle.
Reds’ ownership had to agree to extend payroll. And Suárez would have to pick the Reds’ best one-year offer over the chance to sign a two-year deal elsewhere.
The Reds really didn’t negotiate and go down this road with Suárez until about 10 days ago. Even though the front office has been in touch with Suárez all offseason and even though Suárez knew the Reds would love to have him back, both sides needed the payroll green light from Reds’ ownership to really go forward.
“It’s really been something we weren’t sure we were able to do,” Krall said. “This was above and beyond.”
While Suárez had bigger deals on the table, he picked a team that he believes is an NL Central contender, and the city that he calls his “home.” On Tuesday, Suárez officially signed a one-year contract for $15 million with a mutual option for 2027.
“It wasn’t about years, it’s about where you want to be,” Suárez said. “This is a gift.”
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The Reds’ decision to trade Gavin Lux on Jan. 16 was a leap of faith. The Reds dealt one of their most consistent hitters without a set plan to replace him. The Reds were willing to take the chance on what was “behind door No. 2.” The Reds’ decision to trade Lux freed up a few million dollars of payroll. But it was not meant to be a precursor to signing Suárez. Trading Lux was supposed to set the stage for the Reds to sign a first baseman or a left fielder. The Reds were having conversations with a few free agent hitters — guys who fit their price range. Trading Lux gave the Reds about $5 million to spend on the best hitter they could manage to add.
Meanwhile, the Reds hadn’t done nearly enough to fill the biggest weakness on the roster.
“From the start, an impact bat was on the list,” general manager Brad Meador said. “You go into the offseason and have a list of things you’re trying to do to improve the club. Impact bat was at the top of that list with rebuilding the bullpen and trying to improve our defense. But it has to make sense. And it has to be close enough (financially) to where we can do it.”
During the second half of the month of January, there effectively was a freeze in the middle and lower tiers of the MLB free agent market. Every free agent hitter outside of the top tier was having a tough time finding what they were looking for. While ESPN projected Suárez was going to sign a two-year deal for $45 million and The Athletic predicted that Suárez would receive three years and $69 million, the market for Suárez in free agency never took off to that level.
The Reds were getting the sense that Suárez might not end up landing a huge multi-year deal. They actually had a chance here.
Meador said, “Nick and I talked about (the possibility of signing him) off and on and if we got into that position, what could it look like.”
All offseason, Reds VP and assistant GM Jeff Graupe stayed in touch with Suárez and his camp. On Tuesday, Suárez said that he really felt the love. This was the same front office that Suárez and his agent negotiated a long-term extension with back in 2018. The relationships remain strong.
The Reds knew that Suárez and his family loved Cincinnati. Suárez was impressed with the Reds’ roster and with Terry Francona. The contract just had to work for both sides.
Krall gave the Castellinis a call.
“Once we got to where everyone felt that was (possible), it was great for them to give us the OK and to make it happen,” Meador said. “The biggest piece of it was Nick’s conversation with Bob and Phil.”
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For budgetary reasons, to acquire Ke’Bryan Hayes last summer, the Reds had to essentially match salaries by including Taylor Rogers (later flipped by the Pirates to the Cubs for a prospect) in the Reds’ deal with Pittsburgh.
Last winter, the Reds had to settle for prove-it guys, bounce back candidates and buy-low opportunities on the free agent market.
Heading into the 2023 season, the Reds flipped Kyle Farmer for Kevin Newman in order to fit the salary of a backup catcher (Curt Casali) onto the roster.
Heading into 2021, the Reds only signed one player to a big league contract in free agency — Sean Doolittle.
There are plenty of examples in recent memory where “financial flexibility” limited the opportunities to improve the team in a meaningful way. And as a result, the Reds fell short in 2021, started a rebuild in 2022, missed the playoffs in 2023, took a step backward in 2024 and felt a bat short even when they made the playoffs in 2025.
Then in December, the Reds made an offer to Kyle Schwarber that signaled an ability for the Reds to be more aggressive. But then when Schwarber returned to Philadelphia, the Reds were going back to their status quo. It looked like their flirtation with Schwarber was going to be an all-or-nothing pursuit. In the middle of December, after Schwarber was off the market, Krall reiterated that 2026 payroll was still going to be “about the same” as it was in 2025.
The sense around the league was that the Reds wouldn’t be landing a real, reliable and proven bat this winter. It looked like the Reds would be banking on bounceback years from JJ Bleday and Dane Myers, and trying to find another hopeful diamond in the rough in free agency.
While the Reds still have a below average payroll and while there’s still work to be done in the long run in that area, ownership’s decision to increase payroll for 2026 in a meaningful way for Suárez landed the Reds their likely cleanup hitter. Instead of just putting what they had earned back into the team, ownership made its most aggressive move since 2020 and signed off on increasing payroll for 2026 to do what it would take to sign Suárez.
“We went to ownership last week and talked to Bob and Phil (about Suárez),” Krall said. “We said this is probably where it’s going to go and what we’re going to need that would be above and beyond our budget. They approved it. We’re excited to be able to do that and go get it.”
Krall said that the team’s familiarity with Suárez, who played for the Reds from 2015 through 2021, wasn’t a huge talking point in his conversations with ownership. But the Castellini’s appreciation of Suárez — Bob has called Suárez a “top-notch person” who gives 100% — certainly didn’t hurt. (The Castellinis declined to comment on Tuesday).
Suárez’s relationship to the Reds’ organization was even more important. Even though he recognized that he wasn’t going to land a big long-term deal this winter, the Pirates wanted him and were prepared to be pretty aggressive. Suárez was also linked to the Red Sox and Mariners, and he could have signed a two-year deal somewhere else this winter.
“He had a market,” Meador said. “It became clear this is where he wanted to be.”
Suárez agreed to a one-year deal with the Reds because he wanted to return “home” to a city and an organization that he’s very comfortable with and because he believes in the direction that the Reds are heading.
“Both sides made a really good deal,” Suárez said. “I’m happy that it worked out. Ownership and Nick Krall, everybody, did a really good job to put everything together and make this deal happen.”
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Reds bench coach Freddie Benavides reached out shortly after the deal was done. He told Suárez, “I’m glad you’re coming home.”
Benavides is in his 13th year on the Reds’ big league coaching staff, and he was on the top step of the dugout for Suárez’s entire first tenure with the Reds.
“He’s a proven commodity,” Benavides said. “He’s explosive. He’s one pitch away from changing the game and changing the outcome. Last year, we did struggle with the power game in general. This guy gives us legitimate — we can score at any time. He gives us legitimate punch right off the bat.”
When you look back at the negative qualities of the 2025 Reds, what stands out the most is how often they failed to get the big hit. They were awful in the ninth inning, and they were the worst team in the league in extras. The Reds could put together nice six, seven and eight-run games on occasion when everything was clicking. But because of their lack of power, they scored 0 or 1 run in 34 games — the sixth-most often in the league.
“An impact hitter in the middle of the order who slots everyone else where they’re supposed to be is a huge deal,” Meador said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the lineup or the rotation. If you’re missing that top guy, everyone else has to get slotted in a position they don’t necessarily fit. That has a big impact.”
Last year, the role in the lineup that Terry Francona publicly discussed the most was the cleanup spot. He was always trying to move the hottest hitter into the No. 4 spot — behind Elly De La Cruz — as a way to protect De La Cruz in the lineup and get the All-Star more pitches to hit.
“(Suárez) is a big bat in the middle of our lineup with a lot of power,” Benavides said. “It’s going to lengthen and strengthen our lineup big time. You’re able to put guys down in the seven-or-eight hole who are legitimate hitters that can hit anywhere in our lineup. Spring training will play out and we’ll see who’s swinging the bat and what’s happening. He does give a lot of protection to different hitters whoever he hits behind.”
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A lot has changed about the Reds since they traded Suárez in 2022.
While he has close friends in the organization like Tomas Vera and Benavides and former teammates like Tyler Stephenson, TJ Friedl and Tony Santillan, there’s a new manager and 23 different players on the 26-man roster.
The opportunity he sees to win in Cincinnati was a big part of the draw for Suárez to sign with the Reds.
“When I see the lineup, (the Reds) look very good,” Suárez said. “I’ve faced these guys. I see how good they’ve been. The pitching staff is great. The offense has been there. I know they’re fast on the bases. They have a good defense. We’re looking for someone like I am. I’m here now to help the team. Not to be a superhero. Be my best version.”
He’ll also step in as a knowledgeable veteran presence in a young clubhouse. Along with Joey Votto, Suárez helped get the Reds through a long rebuild and get back into the playoffs in 2020. In Seattle, Suárez was an important part of the Mariners’ turnaround in 2022. He has proven to be a clutch playoff performer, and Suárez has the same number of postseason RBI (11) as the rest of the Reds’ 40-man roster has combined postseason hits (11).
“I don’t want to be the guy who they have to listen to me because I’m the older guy,” Suárez said. “For me, it doesn’t work like that. I want to be a good example. A good model. Whatever they need from me, I want to be there.”
The reaction to this move from his teammates has already been a strong, positive one.
“I started getting texts right away from players,” Meador said. “Everyone was fired up. One, we got the bat that everyone knew we needed. Two, because of (the person) Suárez is. I hope that getting Geno is what sends the message that we feel like we have a good group.”
The Reds started a rebuild in 2022 when they traded Suárez. He’s back now, and the Reds are looking for him to help take them to the next level.
“It’s perfect,” Suárez said. “That’s why I’m here. Everything right now is perfect. Beautiful. Happy.”
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