Projecting the 2022 Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster 1.0

Baseball is back! Spring training officially opened this past weekend, and the Cincinnati Reds descended upon Goodyear, Arizona for an abbreviated warmup before the start of the 2022 regular season.

The Reds made some noise yesterday with the trade of starting pitcher Sonny Gray. The right-hander was dealt to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for pitching prospect Chase Petty. This trade will impact the Reds starting rotation, and also may influence the amount of money the front office will spend in the coming days to help fill out the 26-man roster.

What will the 2022 Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster look like?

Cincinnati has been aligning their payroll to their resources of late, and trading Gray was the latest in a series of transactions designed to lower the Reds payroll. It was also reported that the Redlegs have had no discussions with Nick Castellanos' representation, so he'll be signing elsewhere this offseason.

The Reds have also lost longtime reliever Michael Lorenzen. The flamethrower headed back home to California and will be suiting up along fellow two-way player Shohei Ohtani after signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels. The club also lost starter Wade Miley for nothing after he was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. Reliever Mychal Givens is unlikely to return as well.

But, all hope is not lost. The Cincinnati Reds are hoping that young players like Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson continue to develop in 2022. There's also Joey Votto, the aging veteran who put together quite the performance last season. Finally, there's some young hurlers (Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo) who look poised to debut during the upcoming season.

Maybe, just maybe, the Reds have the right mix of talent to make some noise in the National League Central. A bounce-back season from some of their underperforming stars could certainly help as well. Let's take a look at what the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster might look like as spring training gets underway this week.