3 big questions the Reds must answer ahead of the upcoming deadlines

3. Will the Reds make any significant trades?

The Cincinnati Reds roster is currently sitting at 40. As was mentioned earlier, at least four prospects will need to be added to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. There are several ways for the front office to clear the deck for the incoming talent - one of which is making a trade.

First, one has to look at who the Reds would be willing to trade. Players like Kyle Farmer, Nick Senzel, Lucas Sims, and Luis Cessa come to mind. All four are due an increase in pay via arbitration and Cincinnati has a lot of young talent in the minor leagues who could supplement the contributions of those four players in 2023.

But there's another list of players that Cincinnati may look to trade from, and that includes a couple players who were mentioned earlier. If the Reds don't want to add Lyon Richardson or Ivan Johnson to the 40-man roster, but don't want to lose them for nothing in the Rule 5 Draft, Cincinnati could choose to include them in a trade package.

The Reds may also look to add rather than subtract. It was rumored earlier this week that Cincinnati was interested in adding pitching and had been in advanced conversations with the Tampa Bay Rays about a potential trade.

The Cincinnati Reds were one of the most active teams at last year's trade deadline, and Nick Krall did a nice job of restocking the farm system with talent. Will the Reds GM use that acquired talent to snag a few major league caliber arms, or will Krall will looking to continue adding depth to the Cincinnati pipeline?