Reds' biggest trade whiff of the offseason wasn't White Sox star Luis Robert Jr.

While the Reds weren’t explicitly pursuing first base options during the offseason, some rumors linking Terry Francona’s new club with his former player, Josh Naylor, worked their way around. He's a solid defender with a good amount of pop and would have represented a significant upgrade from Christian Encarnacion-Strand at first. Unfortunately, a deal never materialized, and Cincinnati may now be full of regret.

Naylor has had a career-best start to the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He's had seasons in which he hit for average and times when he hit for power; now, he’s putting it all together. Over his first 19 games, Naylor has hit four home runs and has stolen as many bases. More impressively, he has a 10:7 walk to strikeout ratio a season after striking out 105 times last season.

The Reds’ trade whiff on Josh Naylor looks even worse in retrospect

Naylor’s heroics have not only benefited him. He currently leads Arizona in win probability added, and he’s helping keep the D-backs in the thick of a crowded division. At the age of 28, he’s becoming a leader on an exceptionally young squad. One has to wonder what Naylor would have brought to this year's youthful Reds ball club.

Instead, the Reds have to settle with mediocrity at first base. Cincinnati first basemen have the second-worst wRC+ in the major leagues and the worst fWAR. Encarnacion-Strand is at the heart of this failure. He has worked just one walk, has a .481 OPS, and is currently on the injured list with a back issue.

There’s little hope of relief from the farm for the Reds. Edwin Rios, the Triple-A first baseman, is in the waning days of his career and has a .155/.246/.328 line this season with Louisville. Spencer Steer, who took over first base when CES was injured last season, has also been abysmal. He has just six hits over 15 games.

Of course, had the Reds traded for Naylor, they may not have been able to acquire Jose Trevino, who has stepped up in Tyler Stephenson’s absence. Cincinnati simply had too many holes to fill this offseason, but that doesn’t make missing out on Naylor any easier to stomach.

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