Reds’ trade deadline moves didn’t match their fading playoff chances

The Cincinnati Reds had one of the most confounding trade deadlines in recent memory. The Reds traded first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians for a 19-year-old pitcher and left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson to the St. Louis Cardinals for international bonus pool money. No other moves were made.

Nick Krall and the Reds front office must believe that the team they assembled this past offseason is still good enough to compete for a spot in the postseason. The Reds are 5½ games back in the NL Wild Card race and have a brutal schedule during the month of September that includes series against both the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Reds are off on Monday, but according to FanGraphs have a 2.1% chance to make the playoffs. Stranger things have happened, but most fans expected Cincinnati to unload all of their expiring contracts before the deadline. It now appears that they'll dance with the date that brought them and try to sneak into the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The Reds confounding trade deadline will have fans asking a lot of questions

Lowe was a low-budget addition to the Cincinnati Reds roster earlier this year after signing a minor-league contract back in February. He's now on his way to his fifth team in three years after the Reds traded Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians. This move could (and should) open a spot on the Reds' roster for their top prospect, Héctor Rodriguez.

Lowe didn't receive much action on the free agent market this past offseason, and the Reds were able to sign him to a bargain deal just before the start of spring training. He quickly became a clubhouse leader, and after Eugenio Suárez was sidelined with an injury, he found himself in the everyday lineup.

Lowe is former Silver Slugger, so no one should've been surprised by the success he's enjoyed this season. The veteran has absolutely raked against right-handed pitching, and will no doubt fill that same role with his new club. Before Monday's trade, Lowe was hitting .286/.363/.522 with 12 home runs against righties this season.

Ferguson began the year on the IL with an oblique injury, but the Ohio native recovered and became a steady presence in the Reds bullpen. The southpaw owned a 4.01 ERA and 20.2% strikeout rate in 26 appearances this season.

While both Lowe and Ferguson were productive veterans, trading them doesn't make the team much worse. But the Reds — who would seem to believe they're still playoff contenders — didn't do anything to make the team better.

Most fans assumed the best course of action was to sell at this year's deadline. Some fans, however, believe in the Reds so much that there was hope that they'd be buyers. But the Reds effectively chose to do neither, which may the worst of the three options.

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