Jeimer Candelario's contentious tenure only fuels Reds' longstanding practice

Few players in the Cincinnati Reds lineup have been as bad as Jeimer Candelario. The Reds' third baseman was hitting a meager .132/.217/.208 after Cincinnati's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon and has struck out 18 times already this season. Only Elly De La Cruz has struck out more often.

Candelario signed a three-year, $45 million contract before last season and was considered to be Cincinnati's prized free agent acquisition. But the veteran has failed to live up to the billing, and has definitely fallen short of the type of expectations that come with a $15 million AAV.

Candelario's failures since signing his lucrative free agent contract are eerily similar to the downturn Reds fans saw from former free-agent pickup Mike Moustakas. After signing a four-year, $64 million deal with Cincinnati ahead of the 2020 season, Moose went on to hit just .216/.300/.383 over three seasons and only appeared in 184 of a possible 384 games (47.9%).

Jeimer Candelario following in Mike Moustakas' footsteps & will only fuel Reds' longstanding practice

Moustakas is considered one of the worst free agent signings in Reds history. Things got so bad that Cincinnati released Moustakas during the 2022-23 offseason and ate the remainder of his salary, which amounted to $20 million. If Candelario doesn't turn things around this season, it's quite possible that the Reds could decide to do the same heading into 2026.

But beyond that, Candelario's atrocious performance is only going to fuel Cincinnati's desire to remain dormant during free agency — something Reds fans have become accustomed to in recent years. This past offseason, after shelling out $21 million in order to keep Nick Martinez, the Reds became rather thrifty and only added a handful of free agents on inexpensive, one-year deals.

Adding an outfielder should've been Cincinnati's top priority this past winter, and the Reds could've had their pick of Anthony Santander, Tyler O'Neill, or Teoscar Hernandez — all of whom received deals of at least $17 million per season. Instead, the Reds added Austin Hays on a one-year pact following a down-year split between the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies.

This is, and will continue to be, the Reds' modus operandi. And why shouldn't it be? Every time the Reds attempt to land a so-called "big fish", it blows up in their face. The last impact free agent the Reds signed to a multi-year deal was Nick Castellnos in 2020. But after a breakout campaign in 2021, he opted out of his four-year deal and signed a five-year, $100 million deal with the Phillies.

Bob Castellini and the Reds ownership group are notoriously frugal. But while going after big-name free agents may not be in the cards, the Reds do need to turn their attention to locking up their own, homegrown talent. Players like Tyler Stephenson, Matt McLain, and Nick Lodolo should be on Nick Krall's shortlist.

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