3 deals the Reds need to get done with 24 hours until the trade deadline

When your bullpen is ranked last in the league, you can never stop adding relief pitchers. The Major League Baseball trade deadline is just a short 24 hours away. At 4 PM ET on Friday, July 30th, all trades must be completed. So, who should the Cincinnati Reds add to their roster before time runs out?

Let’s take a moment and give Nick Krall some credit. Over the last couple of days, the Reds’ GM has added Justin Wilson, Luis Cessa, and Mychal Givens. That’s a nice haul considering all the team gave up was some low-level prospects and a player to be named later.

The additions of Wilson, Cessa, and Givens gives David Bell some major league-caliber relievers. Until now, the Cincinnati skipper had been treading water with pitchers like Josh Osich, Edgar Garcia, Jose De Leon, and Cionel Perez.

Some fans would argue that adding a shortstop at the trade deadline is imperative if the Cincinnati  Reds hope to catch the Milwaukee Brewers over the final two months of the season. However, I’d argue that Kyle Farmer’s .815 OPS since June 1st is reason enough to avoid sacrificing some young prospects for a two-month rental like Trevor Story.

Furthermore, Nick Senzel will be back in the Queen City very soon, and David Bell has already talked about getting the former first-round pick some time at shortstop. If that’s not good enough for you, how about giving Jose Barrero a chance at the big league level. The heir-apparent at the position is crushing the ball at Triple-A Louisville and is primed for a call-up.

Look, if the Reds could get a player like Story for there stretch run for little more than a low-level prospect, fine. But that is highly unlikely, and Story’s splits away from Coors Field (.185/.277/.376) are not that good. Let’s take a peak at three deals Cincinnati’s front office should make in the next 24 hours.