Firing David Bell Was Step One in Crucial Reds Offseason

One year after the Reds inked manager David Bell to a contract extension the team has decided to go in a different direction. The Reds announced late Sunday night that David Bell has been fired just before the end of his sixth season.

A 409-456 record with a lone playoff berth during the 2020 Covid season was not enough to convince the front off Bell was the answer.

In a sport where just about everything is measured by six different, and complex, statistics, this move has more to do with feel than a number telling us what to think.

Do you feel like David Bell had some special ability or attribute that could not be replaced?

Did he do anything in his tenure that makes you believe he was special and the Reds will regret moving on? Because I don’t.

A new voice and perspective is needed, especially after a disappointing season. Before you say the line, I’ll make myself clear. I do not think a manager has a huge impact on the teams record.

The players performing is most important, but the leader of those players often has to take the fall when things go wrong. Right or wrong, that’s sports. Which is exactly why this particular move is just the beginning of an important offseason for the Reds.

Moving on from the manager is the easiest part of the offseason. The ultimate fall guy of blame and underperformance. However, if the Reds do not address the more difficult offseason changes, we’ll be writing this same article with a different name soon enough.

The Importance of This Offseason

Every winter is a fresh slate and new opportunity. The past couple of off-seasons have been about building towards a completive team and surrounding your young core with complementary pieces to push you into October baseball.

In what we will call year one of a completive window, the Reds fell flat. Injuries and suspensions played a major role, but underperformance does not get a pass due to those factors. Underperformance from players who Nick Krall ultimately targeted, traded for and signed.

With Bell now gone, the target shifts to Krall. While I do not think his track record of moves is bad, it could be better. The Jeimer Candelario signing has been a dud, although it’s just year one of his contract. Previous iterations of the Reds have also struggled and the pressure is now heightened.

Before we get ahead of our skis, several of the players Krall traded for are far from a finished product. But, sports are not usually an ecosystem surrounded by patience.

Another offseason of meh moves and minor impact heats Krall’s seat. As we know, a move like that often leads to even more roster shake up and a change of timelines.

At least for now, I think Krall is still in a good position. But like I said, the next to go after a manager is usually the guy constructing the rosters. Because of this, the Reds will need to make some moves in order to right the ship and steer the team back towards playoff contention.

Offseason Moves

I still believe the Reds have enough young players under team control who impact winning.

Not just utility guys, but players who can be part of the nucleus of a winning team. However, they need more. Whether that comes from trades or free agent signings, the Reds have shown the need for one, more likely two, impact bats and better plan B’s.

In Nick Krall’s post firing David Bell press conference he said “We’re always going to be a small market club. That’s not going to change. We’re going to bring younger players up here, draft and develop” (via Charlie Goldsmith).

Well, if you only operate in that manner you are playing with one hand behind your back.

Right now the Reds have their best players on team friendly contracts or pre-arbitration.

Right now is the time to spend some money before those players become more expensive. If you are not going to sign free agents that are the level you need, you have to be willing to make a trade.

Trading for a player with team control is going to cost you a few of those “draft and develop” type guys, but at the end of the day, you can’t keep them all.

If your philosophy is draft and develop, and you are willing to bank that much importance on the draft, then you must been good enough at drafting to not have to add via trade/free agency.

And if you are, trading some away will not be too big of a deal because your talent pipeline of the draft happens once a year.

Conclusion

Although the Reds are still a young team and far from void of talent, they need some help. Every single team does, at some point. While the team is still several seasons away from a Blue Jays esque crossroad, there’s no doubt this upcoming offseason has more pressure.

The easiest move of the offseason is finished. Soon, a new manager will be announced taking a small slice of the pie towards optimism. But, this needs to be the first move, and not the biggest move, before I can comfortably say the Reds have a playoff chance in 2025.