Cincinnati Reds ranked 27th most valuable team in Major League Baseball

The Cincinnati Reds may have five World Series trophies, but the franchise is among the least valuable in all of Major League Baseball.

According to Forbes, the Cincinnati Reds gained value over the past year. However, the Redlegs are still among the least valuable franchises in all of Major League Baseball. Valued at $1.075 billion, the Reds rank ahead of just the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals and Miami Marlins. To no one’s surprise, the New York Yankees are No. 1, valued at $5 billion.

Despite only ranking 27th among all other major league franchises, the Cincinnati Reds still saw an increase of 2% in value from 2019 to 2020. Cincinnati’s National League Central rival the Chicago Cubs, who was purchased by the Ricketts family in 2009, rank No. 4 with a value of $3.2 billion.

The St. Louis Cardinals saw a jump in value as well. Ranked No. 7 among all major league teams, St. Louis is valued at $2.2 billion. The Milwaukee Brewers saw the same jump in value as the Reds. Valued at 1.2 billion, the Brew Crew rank 24th among MLB squads. Pittsburgh was the only team in the division to see a decline in value, but the Pirates still rank 22nd among all MLB franchises.

Cincinnati finds themselves in the same spot as last year’s Forbes ranking. However, like all but seven franchises, the Reds increased their value from 2019 to 2020. The Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics all remained the same in value, while the Pirates and Marlins were the only franchises to lose value.

Bob Castellini, the CEO of the Reds and majority owner, purchased the franchise from Carl Lindner Jr. in 2006. The Reds had endured five consecutive losing seasons under Lindner’s ownership and Castellini led the group who purchased the franchise for an estimated $270M.

Before Castellini purchased the Reds, the team’s payroll was just shy of $62M. According to Baseball Prospectus, Cincinnati’s Opening Day payroll this season will be $136M after setting the payroll at $126M last season.

For those who’ll bemoan Cincinnati’s value as an indication of their commitment to winning, three (Brewers, Rays and Athletics) of the 10 playoff teams from 2019 were in the bottom third of the league in terms of value, while four (Yankees, Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals) were in the Top 10.