Nick Krall's problems go back to Reds' disastrous 2022 trade deadline

Nick Krall has made a lot of mistakes since taking over the reins in the Cincinnati Reds front office. There was the lack of urgency at the 2026 trade deadline. There's the fact that his spending, though inefficient, has been woefully inefficient and has left young stars like Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart hanging out to dry.

But where did the issues truly begin? Trying to figure that out can be as frustrating as trying to untangle your old cellphone chargers from your junk drawer. But diving through it all, I landed on the 2022 trade deadline as the moment when things started to go awry.

Cincinnati was fully in sell mode with a 42-61 record by the August 2 deadline during the 2022 season. The Reds sold off valuable veterans like Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Tyler Naquin, Phillip Diehl, Tommy Pham, and Brandon Drury.

Their haul included Edwin Arroyo, Noelvi Marte, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Héctor Rodriguez, and several other lesser prospects. It could have been a transformative moment for the franchise. Instead, it's a big reason why the Reds are floundering.

The Reds should be enjoying the fruits of their 2022 trade deadline haul; instead, they're in a hole

That was four years ago, so these pieces should have become the foundation for the current iteration of the team. Instead, Arroyo's Triple-A dominance turned into prolonged big league struggles. Marte has had infinite opportunities, but hasn't hit and is without a true defensive home. Encarnacion-Strand couldn't get the whiffs under control and is now crushing baseballs for the Baltimore Orioles.

The early returns on Rodriguez haven't been good at the major league level, though there's still time for him to turn things around. Only Spencer Steer has risen up to become an above-average contributor.

For a cash-strapped team like the Reds, this is a real problem. They can't go out and fill most of their roster with external additions. The only way they can consistently win is with a strong, homegrown core.

Had Cincinnati been able to find that, they'd be sitting pretty right now. Along with the young pieces they've added from other avenues, such as De La Cruz, Stewart, Chase Burns, and others, they'd be looked at as an up-and-coming team. They'd also have a nucleus that was very cheap.

That would have freed up funds for other expenditures to complement what was built. Rather than being outbid for the likes of Kyle Schwarber, they'd be able to pony up for a handful of key difference makers because they wouldn't be forced to spread dollars around to guys like Ke'Bryan Hayes, Eugenio Suarez, and Brady Singer just to keep things afloat.

Many of the mistakes Krall has made since that point have been due to the 2022 failures. He had chips to cash in, and got very little for them, and then had to try to get creative to fill the void. Like a toddler learning to color, he's had trouble staying in the lines.

That brings us to the mess of today. The Reds don't have a ton of bad contracts, but they exist, and the organization can't afford any of them. More importantly, to get back to consistently playing competitive baseball in 2027 and beyond, they are going to have a lot of holes to fill, and the farm system won't be doing them any favors.

The first rule of holes is that when you're in one, stop digging. Krall dug a doozy in 2022, and he's been digging furiously ever since.

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