Reds: 3 veteran free agent relievers Cincinnati should sign right away

The Reds need to add a veteran presence to their bullpen.

The Cincinnati Reds Achilles heel during the first month of season was the team’s bullpen. With little to no help available from within the farm system, the Reds front office may have to do something it didn’t do over the winter; spend money.

Reds manager David Bell, pitching coach Derek Johnson, and bullpen coach Lee Tunnell are not solely to blame for the lack of production from the Cincinnati bullpen. A fair share of blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the front office and ownership for failing to address the issue during the offseason.

That said, Amir Garrett’s early-season struggles are not the fault of the ownership failing to pay Archie Bradley. In fact, one could assume that Nick Krall and others in the front office assumed that AG was ready to supplant Raisel Iglesias as Cincinnati’s closer in 2021. That hasn’t proved to be the case, at least not yet.

The Cincinnati Reds are also minus one of their key relievers in Michael Lorenzen. The right-hander was slated to enter the rotation this season, but an injury has forced Mikey Biceps onto the 60-day IL. One has to wonder if he’ll be a starter or reliever once he returns to the active roster.

Sean Doolittle was Cincinnati’s lone major league free agent signing over the winter, and while the former Washington Nationals’ closer has been solid against left-handed bats thus far, his 4.66 ERA in 9.2 innings of work isn’t overly impressive.

The Reds need some reinforcements. I’m all for promoting the likes of Vladimir Gutierrez and Riley O’Brien to the bigs, but some more drastic measures may be in order if the Reds want to turn their biggest weakness into a strength. Which three veteran free agent relief pitchers could help solve the Reds bullpen woes?