Reds power drought makes one controversial free agent hard to ignore

An open mind is certainly needed as the Cincinnati Reds sift through all available options to add some oomph to their lineup. The club has made its plays at the margins in order to take advantage of matchups, but some of their rivals are threatening to turn up the heat.

When you are operating on such a tight budget, concessions have to be made. The question the Reds face is how much is too much when it comes to pursuing the power bat that is lacking from the lineup. If only things could have worked out with Kyle Schwarber, but we now know that was clearly a mirage.

That's where we land with this particular potential Reds' target. Marcell Ozuna could provide the power source that Cincinnati desperately needs, but are the trade-offs worth it?

Marcell Ozuna is an intriguing Reds option, but the red flags are plentiful

Let's get the elephant out of the room and acknowledge that Ozuna has a checkered past. A 2021 domestic violence arrest and corresponding 20-game suspension are on his record. As such, it would be completely understandable if the Reds took him off their board as a result. If they believe in second chances, however, there's a case to be made for Ozuna as an upgrade, but it isn't a flawless one.

At this point in his career, the 35-year-old slugger is a DH-only player. The Reds have been reluctant to bog down that spot in the lineup with just one player, though, for a talent like Schwarber, who also brings the hometown cachet, an exception would have been made.

While that's largely a philosophical issue, it's also a practical one. The corner infield logjam means that between Sal Stewart, Ke'Bryan Hayes, and Spencer Steer, one of them will likely be DH'ing in order to get their best nine players on the field, and it will come down to Stewart and Steer since the vast majority of Hayes' value is tied to his defensive wizardry.

The next sticking point is whether or not Ozuna is on the decline. The right-handed masher clocked 21 homers last season, but his .232/.355/.400 slash line left something to be desired for a bat-only player.

He's just one year removed from a 2024 campaign when he slashed .302/.378/.546 with 39 dingers, though. In 2023, he cracked 40 homers while batting .274/.346/.558. If you believe 2025 was simply a blip on the radar, then, in a purely baseball sense, he's worth a long look. But if you believe that last year was the start of a rapid descent down the aging curve, then he would be more trouble than he's worth.

Ozuna likely exists somewhere between affordable and pricey in terms of his next contract. A short-term deal is in order, but exactly what the salary will be is a question. Jim Bowden pegged him at one-year, $12 million, while ESPN came up with a two-year, $30 million prediction. The former might just work, but the latter might be too risky to justify.

The Reds don't have the luxury of being picky, and Ozuna could be their best available gamble to get elite power production into the middle of the lineup. If they believe in him, they can make the positional fits work, but if they have any doubts (or moral objections), it will be best to let this fish swim on by and turn their attention elsewhere.