NL Wild Card standings make Reds' trade deadline misfire look even worse

The Cincinnati Reds dropped another series over the weekend, and have now lost seven of their last 10 games. That post All-Star break surge that led Cincinnati's leadership to punt at the trade deadline is a distant memory, but the front office's inaction cannot be ignored.

One look at the Reds (62-69) spot among the NL Wild Card contenders heading into play on Monday, August 24 reveals just how poorly things have gone since the August 3 deadline passed. The team's lack of success only makes the Reds' passivity all the more egregious.

The Reds lost 2-of-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend, and their nine-game road trip now heads to the Bay Area. Cincinnati will begin a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants before Thursday's off-day, and then wrap up their 10-day trek with a trip to Wrigley Field to play the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies currently own the top two spots in the NL Wild Card, and the San Diego Padres occupy the final spot. The D-backs are in hot pursuit, but are still two games back of their NL West nemesis. The Miami Marlins trail the Friars by four games, while the NL Central of grouping of the Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals are more than five games back.

NL Wild Card standings reveal how foolish Reds' trade deadline really was

The Reds playoff chances were hanging by a thread prior to the August 3 trade deadline, but for all intents and purposes, Cincinnati decided to stand pat. Outside of dealing Nathaniel Lowe and Caleb Ferguson for a minor league pitcher and international bonus pool money, the Reds did nothing despite having several others slated to become free agents after the season.

The Reds had an abundance of rentals — Tyler Stephenson, Pierce Johnson, Brady Singer, Brock Burke, and Eugenio Suárez — but decided not to sell. Though Cincinnati would've likely received little more than a few lower-level prospects in return, the decision to hang onto those five players seems incredibly flawed given where the Reds now stand in the chase for the final Wild Card spot.

Not only have the Reds playoff odds dipped to less than 1%, but the organization's farm system has tumbled down the rankings as well. Had Cincinnati offloaded some of their expiring contracts at the deadline, perhaps they could've reshaped the pipeline in some sort of meaningful way. Instead, their playoff dreams have all but evaporated and their future assets look highly questionable.

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