Reds fans cheering David Bell's firing have lost sight of Cincy's real problem

For all the Reds fans who wanted to see David Bell fired, you finally got your wish. On Sunday night, the Cincinnati Reds terminated Bell's contract, officially ending his tenure as the team's manager.

The writing was on the wall, and the decision to move on from Bell isn't necessarily the wrong one. After coming within a couple games of making it to the playoffs in 2023, the Reds have grossly underachieved in 2024. Though injuries certainly played a role in Cincinnati' struggles, there were other factors that caused Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall to make the decision.

Krall cited philosophical differences as one of the main reasons that Bell is no longer going to be in Cincinnati's dugout. Though the Reds' top decision-maker did not elaborate as to what those specific differences were, Krall did use the word "undisciplined" to describe some of the team's play.

Nick Krall and ownership is just as much to blame for the Reds' failed season as David Bell

But Reds fans need to be careful before just immediately celebrating Bell's demise. Was Bell flawed? Absolutely. But if you think that the manager was the difference between this year's Reds team finishing below .500 and competing for a division title, I've got some oceanfront property to sell you in Arizona.

Krall, and to a greater extent ownership, have just as much to do with this year's Reds team falling short of expectations as Bell. Yes, the Reds invested some money into the free agent market this psat offseason, but outside of Nick Martinez, none of those additions really amounted to anything.

In fact, if you remove Martinez's 3.2 fWAR, and add up the combined fWAR of Jeimer Candelario, Brent Suter, Frankie Montas, and Emilio Pagàn, the Reds paid a little over $40 million this season for 1.4 fWAR.

Reds legend Pete Rose famously defended Bell in 2022 by citing the words of his former manager Sparky Anderson. "What makes a good manager? One thing, does anybody know what it is? Good players." Though All-Stars Hunter Greene and Elly De La Cruz are certainly on that list of good players, only Martinez and catcher Tyler Stephenson have been worth 3.0 fWAR or higher in 2024.

The Reds won't be big spenders in free agency this offseason

If you're one of those delusional Reds fans who believes that Cincinnati will invest heavily in the roster this offseason, you haven't been paying attention. Furthermore, Krall put that type of talk to bed rather quickly during his press conference on Monday.

Krall told reporters, "We’ll have to go through the offseason and see what that looks like. We’re always going to be a small market club. That’s not going to change. We’re going to bring younger players up here, draft and develop and bring those players up.”

Allow me to translate that for you — Don't expect the Reds to spend money on any big-name free agents this winter, and don't be shocked if some of the young players we've been developing in the big leagues will be traded for more prospects.

Krall and Co. better do their research this offseason, because they cannot afford to screw up this hire. Quite frankly, if the new hire has no more success than Bell, the manager won't be the only one without a job. Krall's job is on the line as well.

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