Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Reds

The Reds swung a few notable trades to bring some new talent onto the roster, as manager Terry Francona will try to lead the team back into contention.

Major League Signings

• Nick Martinez, SP: One year, $21.05MM (accepted qualifying offer)
• Austin Hays, OF: One year, $5MM (includes $1MM buyout of $12MM mutual option for 2026)
• Scott Barlow, RP: One year, $2.5MM (includes $1MM buyout of $6.5MM club option for 2026)

2025 spending: $28.55MM
Total spending: $28.55MM

Option Decisions

• Nick Martinez, SP: Declined $12M player option for 2025 (prior to being issued qualifying offer)
• Emilio Pagan, RP: Exercised $8MM player option for 2025
• Jakob Junis, RHP: Declined his end of $8MM mutual option for 2025, received $3MM buyout
• Luke Maile, C: Reds declined $3.5MM club option for 2025 (Maile received $500K buyout)

Trades & Claims

• Acquired SP Brady Singer from Royals for 2B Jonathan India, OF Joey Wiemer
• Acquired IF Gavin Lux from Dodgers for minor league OF Mike Sirota, and Competitive Balance Round A selection in 2025 draft (41st overall)
• Acquired RP Taylor Rogers and $6MM from Giants for minor league RHP Braxton Roxby
• Acquired C Jose Trevino from Yankees for RP Fernando Cruz and C Alex Jackson
• Acquired cash considerations from Mariners for RP Casey Legumina
• Acquired minor league OF Arnaldo Lantigua from Dodgers for $1.5MM in international bonus pool space
• Claimed IF/CF Cooper Bowman in Rule 5 Draft, but later returned Bowman to Athletics

Notable Minor League Signings

• Wade Miley, Austin Wynns, Bryan Shaw, Alex Young, Josh Staumont, Albert Abreu, Ian Gibaut, Reiver Sanmartin, Joe La Sorsa, Levi Jordan, Aaron Wilkerson

Extensions

• Jose Trevino, C: Two years, $11.5MM ($6.5MM club option for 2028 with $1MM buyout)
• Brent Suter, RP: One year, $2.25MM ($3MM club option for 2026 with $250K buyout)

Notable Losses

• India, Junis, Cruz, Legumina, Maile, Jackson, Wiemer, Justin Wilson, Buck Farmer, Ty France, Roansy Contreras, Amed Rosario, Nick Martini, Casey Kelly, Brandon Leibrandt

Starting with some bigger-picture news from the Reds’ winter, the club gained some slight stability on the broadcasting front when it signed a one-year contract with the FanDuel Sports Network, a.k.a. the rebranded Bally Sports Network.  The Reds’ broadcasts were previously handed by Bally and parent company Diamond Sports Group, but Cincinnati was one of many teams whose TV future was thrown into question when DSG went into bankruptcy proceedings in March 2023.  DSG and Bally re-emerged under the Main Street Sports and FanDuel Sports Network banners, and several MLB teams chose to re-engage with their old partners under short-term agreements.

The Reds had reached a deal with Major League Baseball itself to handle broadcasts for the 2025 season, but in choosing to re-up with Main Street Sports, the Reds may be giving themselves some flexibility for future deals if all goes well this year.  It is also fair to assume that the Reds are getting at least a bit more money off this new deal than they were getting from MLB, even if terms of the new contract (or the terms of the MLB broadcast deal) weren’t made public.

Here’s the bottom line as it relates to the club’s on-field endeavors — the Reds had a bit more cash to invest in payroll, as president of baseball operations Nick Krall said in January.  Given the timing, it could be that the Reds might not have been able to trade for Taylor Rogers or sign Austin Hays without those extra funds coming into the team’s revenue stream.

Team COO/CFO Doug Healy said in November that the Reds’ payroll would either remain stable or go up in the aftermath of the broadcast deal with MLB, and that proved to be the case even with the change in broadcast partners.  The Reds finished last season with an approximate payroll of $100MM (as per RosterResource) and the club now has roughly $115.3MM committed to its 2025 roster as we approach Opening Day.