CINCINNATI — Five days after the Reds’ 2025 season ended in Los Angeles, the team’s president of baseball operations, Nick Krall, and general manager Brad Meador sat in the front-office suite that looks over the playing field at Great American Ball Park and outlined three priorities for the offseason — rebuilding the team’s bullpen, improving the defense and adding to the offense.
Monday, in that same suite, Krall sat in front of a laptop holding a video conference announcing the team’s signing of designated hitter Eugenio Suárez.
“I think we did a lot of things that we wanted to do, wanted to accomplish,” Krall said Tuesday. “You’re always trying to get better in no matter what you’re doing; you’re always looking for a way or an angle to figure out how to improve your club.”
The 2025 Cincinnati Reds went 83-79 and made the postseason in a full season for the first time in 12 years. The team has lost players, but the additions do appear, on paper, to be improvements.
Whether those improvements are enough to help the Reds advance in the postseason for the first time since 1995 or, at least, host their first playoff game since 2012, won’t be known until the season plays out. In the 120 days between Krall’s sitdown with local reporters and Tuesday’s Suárez signing, the Cincinnati front office can point to each of those three needs being addressed.
Rebuilding the bullpen
Bullpen additions
Player
Throws
2025 team
2025 appearances
2025 IP
2025 ERA
acquired
R
Cincinnati
70
68 2/3
2.88
Re-signed
L
PIttsburgh/Seattle
70
65 1/3
3.58
Free agent
L
Los Angeles Angels
69
61 2/3
3.36
Trade
R
Atlanta
65
59
3.05
Free agent
Bullpen losses
Player
Throws
2026 team
2025 apperances
2025 IP
2025 ERA
Transaction
R
Free agent
40
165 2/3
4.45
Free agent
R
Free agent
75
68 1/3
4.21
Club option declined
L
Free agent
48
67 2/3
4.52
Club option declined
R
Free agent
25
25 1/3
4.62
Free agent
R
Seattle
7
7 1/3
6.14
Trade
Even after the addition of Suárez, Krall noted that rebuilding the bullpen was his top priority during the offseason. While the Reds were wooing Kyle Schwarber, the front office worked on bringing back closer Emilio Pagán. His 32 saves were the second most in the National League in 2025, despite not starting the season as the closer, even with incumbent Alexis Díaz starting the season on the IL.
Reds manager Terry Francona spent most of the season with just one lefty available out of the bullpen, and Brent Suter is more of a reliever who is left-handed than a left-handed specialist. That’s good for adding innings, but not as good when a tough lefty is at the plate with the game on the line. Sam Moll spent much of the season in Triple A trying to regain the form he showed in 2023 after an injury-plagued 2024.
This season, Francona could look out and see a pair of veteran lefties in his bullpen in Caleb Ferguson and Brock Burke. Ferguson signed a one-year deal while Burke came over in the three-team trade that sent infielder Gavin Lux to the Tampa Bay Rays. Those moves were followed by the addition of right-hander Pierce Johnson, whose option was not picked up by the Atlanta Braves.
The biggest loss from the team’s bullpen may have been Nick Martinez, who started more games (26) than he entered in relief (14). Martinez’s versatility will be missed. Martinez was one of the team’s most valuable players for his ability and willingness to pitch in any situation. When the Reds couldn’t find a reliever at the trade deadline, the team instead added a starter (Zack Littell) and moved Martinez to the bullpen.
Bullpen performance has certainly been volatile from year to year. However, the additions seem to outweigh the losses, especially considering the team is returning three of its late-inning relievers in Pagán, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft. Those three, plus the three newcomers, are joined by Moll, Connor Phillips and Lyon Richardson, who cleared waivers after he was designated for assignment. The hard-throwing tandem of Zach Maxwell and Luis Mey, who both made their big-league debuts in 2025, is also returning.
Despite losing Martinez and Littell, the Reds have a deep stable of starters, including Chase Burns in his second pro season and Rhett Lowder, Julian Aguiar and Brandon Williamson returning after missing all of 2025 with injuries. Chase Petty and Jose Franco also fit into that mix.
Improve the defense
The team’s biggest defensive addition was not acquired in the offseason, but at the trade deadline with third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Reds pursued Suárez at the deadline, but pivoted to the slick-fielding Hayes after the Arizona Diamondbacks sent Suárez to Seattle. Hayes won the National League Gold Glove at third, his second career Gold Glove, and is widely considered the best defensive third baseman in baseball today.
The only real addition to the defense in the offseason was outfielder Dane Myers, acquired from the Miami Marlins. Myers, who will be 30 when the season begins, is a true centerfielder and was 3 Outs Above Average in just 518 innings in center last year.
The signing of Suárez likely means less time at first base for Spencer Steer, who was a Gold Glove finalist at the position in his first full year there in 2025. Steer will likely play some first, as will Suárez, but rookie Sal Stewart is likely to get the bulk of the playing time there. Stewart, 22, played all of 17 innings over two games in his minor-league career before making 10 starts (81 innings) at the position in the big leagues. He even had a start there in the postseason. Stewart was primarily a third baseman in the minors, but will get more time to work at the position in spring training.
Noelvi Marte had even less experience at his new position when he was moved to the outfield in July. The 24-year-old hadn’t played the outfield since he was a kid when he started the Reds’ July 20 game in right field at Citi Field. He ended up starting more games in right (48) than he did at third (34). Marte will also work in center this spring.
The team did lose utility man Santiago Espinal, who provided solid defense across the diamond. Steer will be asked to pick up Espinal’s role as a plug-and-play defender wherever the team needs him.
Bolster the offense
Position player additions
Player
Bats
2025 team
2025 PA
2025 Avg.
2025 OBP
2025 Slugging
2025 HR
Acquired
R
Arizona/Seattle
657
.228
.298
.526
49
Free agency
L
Athletics
344
.212
.294
.404
14
Free agency
R
Miami
333
.235
.291
.326
6
Trade
Position players lost
Player
Bats
2026 team
2025 PA
2025 Avg.
2025 OBP
2025 Slugging
2025 HR
Transaction
L
Tampa Bay
503
.269
.350
.374
5
Trade
R
Chicago White Sox
416
.266
.315
.453
15
Team declined mutual option
R
Free agent
328
.243
.292
.282
0
Free agent
R
Free agent
110
.359
.400
.544
4
Free agent
Before the Suárez signing, the Reds’ best-case scenario was getting healthy seasons from Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain and Steer, while hoping Marte’s move off the dirt helps him at the plate, and Hayes continuing the offensive improvement he showed after coming to the Reds (.569 OPS with Pittsburgh, .656 with Cincinnati).
The addition of Suárez, though, addresses the offense’s biggest need: power.
Suárez’s 49 home runs in 2025 were more than that of the team’s top two home-run hitters, De La Cruz (22) and Steer (21), combined. Since Suárez, Joey Votto and Nick Castellanos all clubbed more than 30 home runs in 2021, the Reds haven’t had a player hit more than 25 in a single season. The last player to hit as many as 49 home runs for the Reds? Suárez in 2019. Suárez returns to a ballpark where he’s already hit 101 home runs in his career and adds protection to the lineup, likely hitting cleanup behind De La Cruz.
The Reds also added outfielder JJ Bleday, a former top prospect who put up a .762 OPS with 20 home runs in 2024, but followed with a .698 OPS with 14 homers in 2025, even as the Athletics moved to a more hitter-friendly park in Sacramento.
The Reds weren’t going to completely overhaul their offense, but Suárez is certainly the big bat needed and a bow on top of what was eventually a successful offseason.