Reds: Who will take the fall for the horrendous start to the 2022 season?

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Poor David Bell. I honestly feel sorry for the Cincinnati Reds manager. I know there's a contingent of the fanbase that does not like the Reds skipper, but even Bell's harshest critics must admit that the bulk of the team's woes cannot be laid at his feet.

This team has been setup to fail. There's no getting around it. The front office was given their marching orders from ownership and now Bell has what amounts to a group of rookies, journeymen, and aging veterans who are past their prime.

But ownership will not be able to sit idly by for much longer. While it may be unfair to blame the coaches, front office executives, or even the players for the horrendous start to the 2022 season, someone is going to have to take the fall. Who's it going to be?

1. Manager David Bell will take the fall for the Reds poor performance.

One of the easiest moves the Cincinnati Reds could make would be to fire David Bell. While I think that's incredibly unfair, such is the life of a manager in Major League Baseball.

However, I think relieving Bell of his duties is not going to fix the problem. No manager, not even Sparky Anderson, is going to win with the group of players currently on the Cincinnati Reds roster.

The Reds have gotten rid of the heart of their batting order from a year ago. Nick Castellanos, Jesse Winker, and Eugenio Suárez are gone. That's 93 doubles, 89 home runs, and 250 RBIs the Reds lost from last season's team that finished the year 83-79. I don't care how you slice it,

You can question some of Bell's decision making; that's what we as fans do. I oftentimes think of it as an impossible situation because if the decision works, you're a genius. If it fails, you're a moron. It's a lose-lose situation.

While David Bell could certainly be the fall guy for this team's shortcomings, having signed a contract extension last season makes that unlikely. It could happen, but I think even ownership knows that the lack of winning has little to do with who the manager is.

2. Hitting coach Alan Zinter will take the fall for the Reds poor performance.

A team's solution to show that they're serious about addressing fans' concerns is oftentimes to fire one of three people; the manager, the pitching coach, or the hitting coach.

Seeing as how David Bell just signed an extension and Derek Johnson was promoted to Director of Pitching, it looks like Alan Zinter might be the fall guy. The Cincinnati Reds are dead-last in Major League Baseball in OPS, and only one team (Arizona Diamondbacks) has a worse batting average.

While Alan Zinter is not the one stepping into the batters' box and striking out, he has to take some measure of responsibility for the team's poor performance. That said, the number of injuries to key players is staggering.

Jonathan India, Nick Senzel, Tyler Naquin, and Mike Moustakas have all missed time due to injury or illness. Tyler Stephenson, Jose Barrero, Donovan Solano, and Max Schrock, all of whom were expected to be contributors this season, are currently on the IL.

When you look at last season's statistics and see that the Cincinnati Reds ranked second in the league in OPS with Alan Zinter at the helm, it's difficult to argue that the team's hitting coach is the problem. More than anything it's the lack of talent.

3. GM Nick Krall will take the fall for the Reds poor performance.

Now this I can get behind. Just like I think it's unfair to lay the blame at David Bell's feet, it's unreasonable to think that the Cincinnati Reds' shortcoming can be blamed on general manager Nick Krall.

Krall was given a budget before the season began by ownership and was told to make it work. Krall has famously said the Reds were "aligning payroll to our resources" and trying to eliminate "peaks and valleys".

While Krall isn't fully responsible for the absence of talent from the Reds roster, some of the moves he made were just bad. Waiving Wade Miley was foolish, and Cincinnati lost their best pitcher from a year ago to a division rival for nothing.

Krall would later trade Amir Garrett to the Kansas City Royals for Mike Minor; a left-handed starter who strangely will make the same salary as Miley in 2022. Minor has yet to pitch for the Reds this season. To be fair, Miley has been injured to begin the 2022 season as well.

I honestly didn't mind the trade that Nick Krall swung with the Minnesota Twins. Sonny Gray was sent to the Twin Cities in exchange for Minnesota's first-round pick from a year ago, Chase Petty. The Reds were never going to pick up Gray's 2023 team-option and the right-hander landed on the IL three times in 2021.

The biggest mistake Krall made was trading Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker to the Seattle Mariners. While Connor Phillips and Brandon Williamson may eventually become starters in the Reds rotation, that one move was the equivalent of waving the white flag and giving up on the 2022 season.

Nick Krall is not the biggest reason why the Cincinnati Reds are not competitive, but the trades that he made this offseason were atrocious. Somebody has to take the fall for putting this team together and it very well could, and should be the general manager.

Next. Ranking the Reds 4 options when rosters are reduced to 26. dark

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Who will take the fall for the Cincinnati Reds miserable start to the 2022 season?

1. Manager David Bell will take the fall for the Reds poor performance.

2. Hitting coach Alan Zinter will take the fall for the Reds poor performance.

3. GM Nick Krall will take the fall for the Reds poor performance.

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