If you\u2019re a Cincinnati Reds fan trying to talk yourself into a clean, efficient offseason, Jeimer Candelario is the annoying reminder that \u201cefficient\u201d is more of a hope than a plan.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati is essentially paying roughly $16 million for a player who isn\u2019t helping them win games in 2026 after being designated for assignment last June,<\/a> and the remaining money on his deal has been a lingering cap on flexibility ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, that kind of dead money hurts in Cincinnati. The Reds are definitely not known as a team to have \u201coops money.\u201d Every wasted dollar is a reliever they didn\u2019t sign, or a much needed bat they couldn\u2019t add. But if you want a little perspective (or just want to point and laugh), the Cardinals just cannonballed into a whole different tier of financial waste.<\/p>\n The Reds wasted money on Jeimer Candelario, but the Cardinals just reset the definition of waste<\/p>\n St. Louis traded Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, <\/a>and the numbers attached to it are mind-boggling. Arenado has $42 million remaining over the next two seasons, and multiple reports indicate the Cardinals are covering $31 million of that to move him.\u00a0So, the Cardinals are paying tens of millions of dollars so a future Hall of Famer can play somewhere else.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the gulf. The Reds\u2019 Candelario mess is painful because Cincinnati needs every ounce of payroll to produce on-field value. The Cardinals\u2019 Arenado dump is staggering because it shows what happens when a franchise decides it wants out of a direction so badly that it\u2019s willing to burn a fortune just to change the page.\u00a0<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the Reds angle here besides \u201cat least we\u2019re not that\u201d? Cincinnati can\u2019t afford many more Candelario-type mistakes if it wants to keep its window clean. The NL Central is too volatile, and the margin is too thin. When the Cardinals are comfortable lighting $31 million<\/a> on fire to reset, it means the division is going to keep shifting quickly under everyone\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n