It only took one week for Nick Krall’s deadline gamble to crush Reds' playoff chances

The Cincinnati Reds made some moves at the MLB trade deadline, but they didn't make the right ones. Though Cincinnati added Ke'Bryan Hayes, Zack Littell, and Miguel Anduhar ahead of the July 31 deadline, Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall neglected to address the elephant in the room.

All season long, the Reds have lacked a thumper in the middle of the lineup. Even before the deadline passed, every single MLB expert and pundit revealed that the Reds were seeking to bolster their lineup. But once the dust settled, all they did was grab a glove-first third baseman, a backend starter, and right-handed platoon bat. Where was the middle-of-the-order bat they were targeting?

It's not as if those types of players weren't available. Eugenio Suárez is the very definition of an impact-bat, and the Seattle Mariners acquired him for peanuts after the Reds decided to price tag was too high. Too high? The Mariners landed the best hitter available at the deadline for a prospect that's not even among MLB Pipeline's top-100.

Nick Krall’s deadline gamble may have crushed the Reds' playoff chances

What about Ryan O'Hearn of the Baltimore Orioles? Yes, he's limited defensively, but O'Hearn would've brought some pop to the middle of the Reds' lineup. The 32-year-old is having a career-year with 14 home runs and a 131 wRC+, but instead of landing in Cincinnati, he was traded to one of the teams the Reds are chasing for the NL Wild Card — the San Diego Padres.

Josh Naylor, Ramon Laureano, and Jesús Sanchez all represent the type of players who were moved at the deadline that Cincinnati should have had their eye on. Instead, the Reds improved their infield defense, lengthened their lineup against lefties, and deepened their rotation. Those three moves, in and of themselves, weren't necessarily bad. The Reds, however, needed a big-bat, and Krall failed to get one.

According to FanGraphs, after the trade deadline, the Reds had a 12.6% chance to make the playoffs. Here we are one week later, and Cincinnati's odds to make the MLB Postseason have dwindled to just 8.1%. A team that's a buyer at the trade deadline should see their playoff odds go up, not down.

The Reds have scored an average of two runs per game since the trade deadline. They're going to need a lot more than that if they hope to get back in playoff hunt, and heading into play on Friday, Cincinnati trails the New York Mets by 3½ games in the chase for the final Wild Card spot. Krall's gamble may have crushed the Reds' playoff aspirations.

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