1 Reds offseason deal that already looks like a mistake

The Cincinnati Reds were never going to be big spenders during the offseason. After all, the front office spent almost all of the 2022 season ridding themselves of expensive contracts.

But there's always a few holes that need to be filled through free agency. However, sometimes those

Now, we're only 50 games into the 2023 season, so it's a bit premature to judge anyone's play too harshly, but this offseason signing is already beginning to look like a swing and a miss.

1 Reds offseason deal that already looks like a mistake.

The Cincinnati Reds outfield was a giant question mark heading into the offseason. Sure, you could pencil in Jake Fraley to start every game that a left-handed pitcher wasn't on the mound, but outside of the that, David Bell didn't have many obvious options.

Nick Senzel had ended his 2022 season on the IL and his recovery proved to be rather drawn out during the winter. TJ Friedl showed flashes, but was he really going to fit in as an everyday player? The team parted ways with Aristides Aquino, and both Stuart Fairchild and Michael Siani had a lot to prove.

Enter Wil Myers. The Reds signed Myers to a one-year contract worth $7.5-million with a team-option for 2024. Myers had played the previous eight seasons with the San Diego Padres, and was coming off a season in which he posted an OPS+ of 107. Myers' previous three years in southern California saw the outfielder slash .264/.333/.462 with 39 homers and 144 RBIs.

The thought was, signing Myers would give Cincinnati a stopgap option in right field while some of the team's young outfield prospects continued to plug away in the minors. After all, with that type of production in the pitcher-friendly confines of Petco Park, Myers should be able to rack up 20-plus homers the hitter's paradise of Cincinnati, right?

So far, that couldn't be further from the truth. Myers is slashing just .189/.257/.283 and has just three home runs and 12 runs batted in on the season. That's certainly not the type of production Reds GM Nick Krall was expecting when Cincinnati signed the 32-year-old during the offseason.

But the season is still not even two months old, so there's plenty of time for Wil Myers to flip the switch. If he doesn't, there are a few hot-hitting prospects down on the farm who'd love an opportunity to get some at-bats at the major league level.