There were consistent statements made by the Cincinnati Reds ownership group during the collapse in 2026 that the front office and baseball decision-makers were not going to be replaced this offseason. It was telling that despite their precipitous fall down the standings after a surprising (and statistically unsustainable) win streak in March they stuck with Nick Krall and Brad Meador during the MLB Draft process mid-summer.
Letting a front office on the outs make that kind of ten-figure investment
in the future of the franchise wouldn’t have made much sense, would it?
So, from a reading the tea leaves perspective today’s news conference featuring Phil Castellini endorsing the current front office for another year should have caused zero surprises; the surprise was months ago when all signs pointed directly to that being the case.
“We need baseball guys to make baseball decisions,” said Phil.
What Phil did not say, though, was “we need expert baseball guys to make expert baseball decisions.”
Charlie Goldsmith was on hand to document the presser, and to Krall’s credit he owned a number of his own mistakes. There was genuine lament that they – he – had thrown so many millions of dollars at 3B only to have it blow up in the Reds faces each and every time, and how that was an exhaustive way of using the otherwise limited resources that this team has at its disposal.
It was also made clear that Derek Johnson, who’d been the head of pitching at every single inch of the franchise since 2019, would officially depart from said duties. He’d been on a leave of absence since June anyway, and now the front office will be tasked with regrouping with another voice there – even though it’ll be the very same front office getting to make those personnel decisions despite the foibles they’ve encountered elsewhere.
Beyond that, it’s telling that the front office will remain intact at the same time that so many of their players are entering winters when their trade value could not possibly be any lower. Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott took terrible steps backwards during the 2026 season while also seeing their precious team control dwindle towards empty. Spencer Steer needed wrist surgery, while Matt McLain was one of the single worst hitters against RHP in the sport at the highest level. Even JJ Bleday, who emerged as a legitimate lineup staple against RHP, spent the final four months of the season showing why he’d been non-tendered the year prior. Hunter Greene, of course, just had his elbow replaced.
So, a front office that has hammered home how this will be a slow build and will feature them trusting the process with the guys they’d assembled now a) gets an endorsement from the owners to continue on that path and b) enters the offseason armed with almost zero shiny trade chips from which to make deals.
There will be some money available after the likes of Brady Singer, Eugenio Suarez, TJ Friedl, and Tyler Stephenson came off the books. But that’s precisely the area where this front office has collapsed in delirium for the entirety of its establishment, meaning the guys will once again have to eschew their growing reputation and hit on some gems in a winter where there aren’t a ton of perfect-fit options out there on the open market.
Terrified of what it would actually take to overhaul a franchise that has sputtered for generations, the Reds are going to take the easy route once again. We all know how well those stories usually play out.
