Terry Francona's praise for the Brewers may reveal the Reds' 2027 blueprint

After sneaking into the playoff picture last year, the Cincinnati Reds are back on the outside looking in. And, if we're being honest, the team hasn't really been relevant within that discussion for quite some time, save for a couple of third-place, wild-card finishes that yielded nary a playoff victory.

So, with a ticking clock looming over numerous members of the organization, from president of baseball operations Nick Krall to superhuman shortstop Elly De La Cruz, perhaps it's time to start trying to emulate the best teams in baseball. Even just a quick glance at the recent history of the NL Central will reveal what it takes to be a consistent winner in this day and age.

At least, that's what manager Terry Francona is doing. The Reds' skipper had nothing but effusive praise for the Milwaukee Brewers, who are set to win their fourth straight division title (and fifth in six years) this season.

"They catch everything in sight," Francona said. "Everybody from 1-9, they don't have any base-cloggers. They complement each other very well."

It doesn't take much to read between those lines. It's clear that Francona wants his team to get deeper and more athletic this offseason, in an effort to increase the amount of ways the Reds can win games in 2027 and beyond.

Terry Francona clearly wants to take Reds in a new, fundamentals-driven direction

It's clear that a lot of what Francona cited regarding the Brewers is also mirrored by the Reds' own failures. Milwaukee, even in a down defensive season, has racked up the third-most Defensive Runs Saved (+43) in the National League this year. Cincy, meanwhile, is all the way at the bottom of the standings with -48 DRS.

Obviously, it's hard to win games when you're not converting balls in play into outs, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Brewers are fifth in the NL with +7 baserunning runs above average; the Reds are 11th in the same category with -0.3. Some of that comes down to the coaching, of course, but it mostly has to do with the personnel on the roster.

The point of these comparisons (and the one that Francona is making) is that the Brewers are just so much better at the "little things" in baseball. Yes, they also have the pitching (3.57 team ERA) and offense (108 team wRC+) that are needed to win large swaths of games -- they're the best team in the league, after all -- but it's so rare that they ever get beaten in the margins.

It's there that the Reds need to improve most. Between Elly De La Cruz and Chase Burns, they have real star power in both their lineup and rotation. Now, they need to supplement those stars with the kinds of complementary role players that have made the Brewers so successful in the 2020s.

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