3 offseason misses that really hurt any chance the Reds had to compete in 2022

2. The Reds failed to secure a reliable veteran catcher.

No, the Cincinnati Reds should not have retained Tucker Barnhart for the 2022 season. Yes, they should have waited until the spring to trade him and certainly acquired more than utility infield prospect in return, but it was time for Tyler Stephenson to take over behind the plate on a full-time basis.

Barnhart was owed $7.5M in 2022. As good as the two-time Gold Glove Award-winner has been behind the plate, Barnhart's OPS over the past four-plus seasons is .682. That type of production is not worth $7.5M.

But, the Reds probably wish they had a veteran backstop like Barnhart on the team right now. Stephenson will be out of action for the next four-to-six weeks after suffering a broken thumb. Aramís García has now been thrust into action as the team's everyday catcher and Chris Okey was just called up to be García's backup.

There were not a great deal of free agent catchers available this offseason, but Cincinnati's lack of depth in the farm system should have forced the front office's hand. Stephenson has All-Star ability, but the Reds should have put a bigger emphasis on who his backup would be in 2022.

Top catching prospects Daniel Vellojin and Jackson Miller are years away from making it to the big leagues, so this will be a problem again in 2023. Stephenson has hit the IL twice this season, and seeing as how he's one of the best players on the Reds' roster, a position change may be in order to keep him in the lineup.

3. The Reds added Tommy Pham instead of keeping Jesse Winker.

I'm well aware of Jesse Winker's struggles this season. The former Cincinnati Reds left fielder is off to a horrible start. Winker is hitting just .208/.319/.303 and has just four round trippers on the season. But Winker was an integral part of the Reds clubhouse.

Winker, along with Eugenio Suárez, was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for two pitching prospects, Justin Dunn, and Jake Fraley. It remains to be seen who "won" the trade, as both Brandon Williamson and Connor Phillips have the potential to be starters for the Reds in the near future.

But Winker and Suárez were both leaders in the clubhouse. Those two along with Sonny Gray, Joey Votto, and Kyle Farmer seemed to be key to keeping the team loose and having fun in 2021. While Cincinnati failed to reach the postseason, they had a winning record and felt like they were just a few pieces away from contending in 2022.

But management pulled the rug out from underneath Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, and the fanbase. Trading Tucker Barnhart and Sonny Gray was expected, and while questionable, moving on from Wade Miley was necessary with Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, and Nick Lodolo knocking on the door of the major leagues.

But once that trade with Seattle was executed, it felt as though the winds were taken out of the sails of both the Reds players and fans. Then in a shoddy attempt to prove that the team wasn't just going to mail it in this season, Tommy Pham was signed to a one-year deal.

Pham immediately rubbed Reds Country the wrong way with his "revenge tour" comments and his antics on the field with Joc Pederson just further notion that he's not the type of player that the fanbase is going to rally behind.

The trade itself may not be as bad as Reds fans think it was, but the fallout from it has been brutal. Any momentum that the Cincinnati Reds had from 2021 was shattered on March 14th when the front office said goodbye to Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez.