Reds are making everyone rethink what looked like an obvious deadline decision

The Cincinnati Reds, coming off back-to-back thrilling wins over the Pittsburgh Pirates, find themselves in a bit of a pickle with the MLB trade deadline less than three days away.

Heading into Saturday's contest against the Pirates, the Reds (52-57) remain in the NL Central basement, but are just 4½ games out of the final NL Wild Card spot. There are six teams in front of Cincinnati, however, and according to FanGraphs, they have a meager 3.2% chance to make the playoffs.

The Reds have won 9-of-14 since the All-Star break, and are arguably playing their best baseball of the season. The notion of selling off a number of assets ahead of the upcoming trade deadline appears to be best strategy — especially those players who are on expiring contracts — but what if this is the start of something special?

Reds are making it hard to wave the white flag at the trade deadline

Belief is a powerful thing, and at the moment, the 26 players in that clubhouse believe in each other. You needn't look any further than Sal Stewart's postgame comments about the upcoming trade deadline to understand what the Reds' mindset is at the moment.

"(We) take it day by day," Stewart said to RedsTV reporter Jim Day after the game. "Our job is to go out there and play hard. Nick's (Krall) job is to go out there and do what he feels is best. Our only job is go out there and play hard."

Stewart is doing his best to, as Emilio Pagán said earlier in the week, make things weird. On Friday, he went 2-for-5 with a home run and a game-tying, two-RBI base hit during the bottom of the eighth inning. The Reds' rookie also scored the go-ahead run in on the Pirates' miscue, and now leads all of Major League Baseball with 84 RBI.

As a fan, you want to see your favorite team win every game. But at the same time, for the Cincinnati faithful, it's difficult to have seen how poorly the Reds have played all season and think that they actually have a chance to make it back to the postseason. Such is the life of a Reds fan, right?

The Reds' recent surge gives rise to the idea that Cincinnati's front office might look to buy and sell at this year's deadline. It's a bold strategy, but according to ESPN insider Buster Olney, it's one that several front offices are taking this summer.

So while players like Caleb Ferguson and Nathaniel Lowe might have a new address after Monday, maybe the Reds will decide to hold onto Tyler Stephenson and Brady Singer in an effort to make a late-season charge.

With Monday's 6 p.m. deadline set in stone, the Reds will have to pick a lane sooner than later. A series sweep over the Buccos this weekend might greatly influence Cincinnati's decision-making before the deadline passes.

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