Reds news: No trades until after the All-Star break is sound strategy

For those Cincinnati Reds fans hoping the front office would be at the forefront of the trade market, don’t hold your breath. According to MLB.com, Nick Krall seems more interested in getting the organization’s core players back from injury, not making trades in June.

We here at Blog Red Machine are as guilty as anyone throughout Reds Country when it comes to speculation about which players may or may not be available, who is an early-June trade candidate, and whether or not Cincinnati will be buyers or sellers at the July 30th trade deadline.

Waiting may prove to be the Reds best strategy, for now.

Ultimately, we don’t yet know what this year’s Cincinnati Reds ball club really is. Is this the team that swept both the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals on the road, or the squad that’s dropped several heartbreaking losses in a row to the San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins.

No one can deny that injures have played an enormous role in Cincinnati’s current 35-36 record. Michael Lorenzen hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Reds this season, both Nick Senzel and Mike Moustakas have missed significant time and won’t be back until after the All-Star break, Joey Votto missed over a month with a broken thumb, and Sonny Gray is on the IL for the second time.

From the sound of things, Cincinnati’s general manager Nick Krall believes the team will have a better idea of where they stand once those injured players return. In addition to the aforementioned four players, Wade Miley, Aristides Aquino, Alex Blandino, Max Schrock, and Tejay Antone have all been on the IL at some point in time this season.

"“Right now, we’ve got a lot of guys who are injured, both in Triple-A and the big leagues. We’re trying to get healthy first. Once we get healthy, we’ll figure out how to best go from there.”"

Waiting until mid-July or later to make a move may not be what Reds fans want to hear, but given where this team is in the standings, it’s the best possible strategy right now. I’d love to see Cincinnati add a bullpen arm or two myself, but what if the team continues to lose multiple series in a row and fall out of contention before the All-Star break?

Then the Reds will be sitting there with a plethora of new players they may have to turn around and trade a month from now. The Cincinnati Reds have a ton of players (Wade Miley, Michael Lorenzen, Tucker Barnhart, Tyler Naquin, and others) who could help other teams after the July 30th deadline. However, those same players could help the Reds make a run at the postseason too.

It’s a tough tightrope act that Krall is trying to perform, and patience is the key. Other high-profile players such as Nick Castellanos and Luis Castillo may draw some trade interest as well, but Cincinnati would be foolish to move on from those two until closer to the trade deadline.