Yesterday, January 13th, the Cincinnati Reds made a very surprising announcement that they had reached terms with FanDuel Sports Network to take control of the Reds’ broadcast rights for 2025. If you remember correctly, FanDuel took over for Bally Sports, who the Reds used last season, and we had learned that the Reds were supposed to be broadcasted by MLB this season. What a development, what a change. So are we going to be able to expect more payroll additions?
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Krall Media’s Session
Last night Nick Krall told reporters that he felt he could now begin looking into acquiring additional talent that he would have the financial flexibility from the new TV deal. He mentioned the savings from arbitration, which Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmeyer estimated an additional $5,000,000, and now we know that they have this new TV deal.
Nick Krall specifically mentioned being able to target free agents, but interestingly even mentioned trades. Does this put us back in the running for players like Luis Robert Jr? What about Taylor Ward? We’re still unsure, but what we do have, is Nick Krall (and Doug Healy’s) word, and those read as we’re going to have more flexibility on the payroll than we had with MLB’s arrangements.
Those exact comments, might you ask? They read as this, pulled from an MLBTR article: “Just getting a little bit more money is great,” Krall stated (link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer). “We can work a little bit more in both the free agency and the trade market.”
What do we still need to be competitive?
If Nati Sports had the say here, and in this article we do, then we need a whole lot of things. One and the BIG one we need, is a right handed power bat that can play the outfield every day. Randal Grichuk? He’d fit. He’d fit real good. He’s also a free agent, still available, and at latest rumor, the Pittsburgh Pirates were the ones in on him. Come on, Reds ownership group, don’t let your basement dwelling foe you share blood with get him over you.
Another piece I feel we need is another good setup man. Losing Ian Gibaut and Buck Farmer isn’t really delightful to me. We’re going to need another PROVEN arm that can handle some innings and potentially even toss some setup innings for the baseball club.
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