Cincinnati Reds: 3 signs Curt Casali will be gone next season

Curt Casali may not be playing for the Reds in 2021.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Imagine the sound of a fastball smacking into a catcher’s mitt. Can you hear it? We’ll hear that beautiful sound again before you know it. But until then, there’s a question of who will be catching that fastball for the Cincinnati Reds? Is Curt Casali on his way out of town?

There’s three players that are plenty capable of getting in the dish for Cincinnati. You have last year’s platoon of Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali, as well as the young Tyler Stephenson who showcased, in limited action, why Reds Country is so excited to see the young prospect become a mainstay in the Cincinnati lineup.

While the Cincinnati Reds could certainly keep three catchers on the roster, it would go against the analytically-driven logic that David Bell and the front office have used in recent years. Bell loves platooning players and while some fans might not like it, it’s proven effective.

The organization is also expected to begin cashing in on some of their developments in the farm system. This includes right-handed-hitting Stephenson building off of the chances he got in the 2020 season. This leaves 31-year-old, right-handed-hitting Curt Casali the odd man out in his second year of arbitration eligibility. Let’s take a look as to why.