Red Alert! Cincinnati abandons ship again

Robert+Butler

Robert Butler

Robert Butler

I wonder what the Cincinnati Reds are doing in free agency?

Oh, we’re jumping ship again. Nice.

Let me get this straight.

So, they play well throughout the regular season, are expected to make the playoffs, they fall short of the wild card, and now were trading away half the team?

What are the Reds doing?

What are they trying to accomplish?

Whenever the Reds start to show any promise, everything seems to go downhill.

Nick Castellanos has shown no intention of re-signing, and after Jesse Winker was traded away to the Mariners, the franchise is on the verge of losing both of its All-Star outfielders in one off-season.

It doesn’t stop there either.

The front office has also traded away starting pitcher Sonny Gray—who was an All-Star just two seasons prior—as well as  infielder Eugenio Suarez and relief pitcher Amir Garrett.

Although Suarez and Garrett  struggled mightily last season, their presence in the locker room was still unmatched.

Many of these players brought an edge to a team that was previously scrounging around for the first pick in the draft.

They’re actively erasing the culture the team has developed over the past two seasons, and for what? To make space for another breakout star just to dump them a couple  years later?

How do the executives expect to keep a fan base and sell tickets when there are not any players worth watching?

They have Johnathan India,  Robert Stephenson, and Joey  Votto at 38 years old.  They have  Luis Castillo  too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we got rid of him sometime soon.

We have not made any improvements to our bullpen, and our rotation is still just average.

We traded for Mike Minor. I don’t know who that is, but hey, he’s 34, and posted an ERA north of 5.00 last season.

That will do wonders for the Reds—I just know it!

It sucks that the Reds are a small market team, and they can’t afford to pay players like the Dodgers can, but I don’t think I can take much more of this.

At some point the line has to be drawn, and they have to become  more consistent. I don’t care how  they do it either, just make it happen.

Basketball season is ending soon, and I hope there is something worth watching in the summer.

Right now I think I would rather watch paint dry than sit in the outfield and watch this team blow a game.

Is there a plus side to all this?

No. Not really.

I would not be surprised to see our season end in April.

In the meantime, try to remain positive, if at all possible.