Reds have a trade deadline problem nobody wants to talk about

The Cincinnati Reds are heading into their weekend clash against their bitter rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, with an above .500 record. In any other year, that'd be something to build off of at the beginning of June.

Unfortunately, this isn't just any other year. The entire NL Central is above .500, and the Reds are in the back of the pack more than two months into the season. By virtue of their negative run differential, Cincinnati also has the worst expected record of any team in the division. Sort of a good news/ bad news situation, huh?

And so, the Reds are facing an existential reckoning about this iteration of the franchise. Cincinnati is too good to sell, but they may not be good enough to genuinely compete for a spot in the playoffs. This dichotomy could leave the Reds paralyzed at the trade deadline.

Reds are running out of time to find an identity this season

The good news is — despite falling behind pace in the division — the Reds remain completely alive in the Wild Card chase. Heading into play before Wednesday night, the Reds were just one game back in the standings.

The bad news, however, is that some of the teams behind Cincinnati (namely the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals) have displayed some white-hot stretches that portend a jump in the standings.

An even larger issue for the Reds is their lack of balance. In other words, they aren't elite at any one thing. Cincinnati's defense ranks ninth in outs above average (OAA). The offense ranks 18th in runs scored. The starting rotation ranks 23rd in ERA. And the Reds bullpen ranks 29th in fWAR.

The most problematic portion of that equation — the injury-plagued relief corps — can be addressed with a minor trade or two, but that's not the kind of deadline haul that changes a team's fortunes mid-season.

The Reds have turned in some tremendous individual performances. JJ Bleday has a breakout season and Chase Burns has evolved into a Cy Young contender, but those sole forces can't carry a middle-of-the-road team to greatness.

Perhaps in a year when the NL Central wasn't so stacked, the front office could justify a splash at the deadline. But, much like the big-league roster, the farm system at Krall's disposal is closer to average than elite. Adding to it by way of selling at the trade deadline feels like a disservice to a competitive squad, but it also seems foolish to go all-in when the competition is so steep.

With roughly two months to go until the trade deadline, the Reds have entered put-up-or-shut-up territory. The team's performance during this two-month window will almost certainly dictate Krall's decision-making process.

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