Will the Cincinnati Reds taxi squad be based in Louisville or Dayton?

The Reds have minor-league affiliates in both Louisville, Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio.

The 2020 baseball season is going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. One of the biggest differences will be roster size. It’s expected that teams will carry 30 players, at least in the early going. Baseball America is reporting that the Cincinnati Reds, and every other major league team, will have to find a location for 20-plus man taxi squad within 100 miles of their home stadium.

This may be one of the first things Major League Baseball has gotten right since the sport was shutdown. Why in the world would you want your taxi squad located exceedingly far away? Two logical sites for the Reds would be the Dayton Dragons home ballpark, about 50 miles north or Louisville Slugger Field, about 100 miles southwest.

There’s also the possibility that the Cincinnati Reds and the University of Cincinnati are able to workout an agreement to where the team’s taxi squad makes use of Marge Schott Stadium, which has been home to the Bearcats baseball team since 2004.

Both Slugger Field and Day Air Ballpark are sufficient minor-league stadiums and could be familiar territory for several players likely to make the Reds taxi squad. Names like Aristides Aquino, Alex Blandino and Lucas Sims spent a lot of time at Triple-A Louisville last season.

However, I tend to lean toward Dayton as being selected as the place for the Reds taxi squad to set up shop. In light of the coronavirus pandemic, it would seem to reason that another Ohio city, with similar restrictions and safety measures to Cincinnati, may be more preferable for the players than Louisville, Kentucky. It’s also closer than Cincinnati’s neighboring river city to the south.

With a minor league season all but off the table for 2020, my best guess for the location of the Reds taxi squad would be Day Air Ballpark in Dayton. There’s still a lot of logistics to work out, and as of right now, the players and owners haven’t agreed on a start date for the season.