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

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There are three major deadlines on the horizon this week - one of which will be of no concern to the Cincinnati Reds.

Tuesday marks the deadline for players that received qualifying offers to either accept it reject it. Last season, the Reds extended a qualifying offer to outfielder Nick Castellanos. The All-Star rejected it, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati received draft pick compensation. The Reds did not extend a QO to any free agent this offseason.

The other two deadlines, however, are very important to the Reds. By 6 PM ET, teams must decide which young prospects to protect from the Rule 5 Draft. MLB's non-tender deadline is set for Friday. By that date, every team must decide whether or not to tender a contract to every player on its 40-man roster.

With all of that as a backdrop, the Cincinnati Reds have some key decisions to make. Let's look at the three biggest decisions facing the Reds ahead of this week's deadlines.

1. Will the Reds add Lyon Richardson and Ivan Johnson to the 40-man roster?

At one time, both Lyon Richardson and Ivan Johnson were top prospects within the Cincinnati Reds farm system. Fast-forward to now, and neither is ranked among the Top 25 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, and there's a good chance that both may be left off the 40-man roster ahead of Tuesday evening's deadline.

Johnson missed significant time due to injury last season. The switch-hitting middle infielder slashe .261/.325/.428 at Double-A Chattanooga, but after adding so many middle infielders via trades over the last year, Johnson's future in the Reds organization is very cloudy.

Richardson didn't step foot on a mound after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The former second-round pick has dealt with injuries throughout his entire minor league career, but his raw talent has always kept Richardson among the best prospects in the Cincinnati farm system.

The Cincinnati Reds have at least four players (Elly De La Cruz, Brandon Williamson, Noelvi Marte, and Levi Stoudt) who'll be added to the 40-man roster by Tuesday evening. Will Ivan Johnson and Lyon Richardson make it six?

2. Will the Reds release Mike Moustakas?

This has been a question for the last several months. After Mike Moustakas signed a franchise record free agent deal back in 2019, the three-time All-Star has been a shell of his former self. Whether it can be attirbuted to injuries, conditioning, age, or simply poor production, the bottom line is that Moose hasn't lived up to the four-year/$64M contract he signed prior to the 2020 season.

The Reds owe Moustakas $18M in salary next year and another $4M in order to buyout his team-option for the 2024 season. In essence, if the Reds decide to release Moose, they'll be paying him $22M to play elsewhere in 2023.

In 2022, fans saw the club do what it rarely ever does. Cincinnati paid Shogo Akiyama $8M to play elsewhere. The former Reds outfielder didn't make the club out of spring training and Cincinnati released the former Japanese star ahead of last year's Opening Day.

The Chicago Cubs just released longtime outfielder Jason Heyward despite the fact he still had one year remaining on his contract. The Cubbies will owe Heyward $22M and he'll enter the free agent market, likely looking for a one-year "prove it" deal with another team.

Keeping Mike Moustakas would mean that the Cincinnati Reds care more about money than they do about acutally developing young players. Next year's team will not be competing for the NL Central crown, and keeping Moose around will only steal playing time from young players like Spencer Steer and Alejo Lopez. Will the Reds bite the bullet and release Moustakas?

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?

Next. Predicting the Reds 40-man roster after non-tender deadline. dark

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