As beginning pitchers proceed to fly off the cabinets, Nick Pivetta is among the extra established starters remaining on the open market. He’s already been linked to the Mets, and at the moment the Reds have emerged as one other suitor. The New York Put up’s Joel Sherman reported earlier at the moment that the Reds have checked in on Pivetta, implying their curiosity may need heightened after they missed out on commerce goal Garrett Crochet.
The Reds have already been lively on the beginning pitching market this offseason. They prolonged a qualifying provide to Nick Martinez in November, which he accepted. Not lengthy after, they acquired Brady Singer from the Royals in trade for Jonathan India. Together with younger arms Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott, that provides the Reds 5 succesful huge league starters, along with prime prospect Rhett Lowder. Nonetheless, it’s not laborious to know why president of baseball operations Nick Krall remains to be pursuing beginning pitching.
Abbott and Lodolo each completed the 2024 season on the injured checklist. Greene got here off the IL in time to make two brief begins on the finish of the yr, however he was out from mid-August to late September. All three have proven promise when wholesome, however none has pitched a full MLB season. The identical is true of the veteran Martinez, who has performed a hybrid starter-reliever function for many of his MLB profession. If the Reds signal Pivetta, they’d be a lot better geared up to climate an damage to one in every of their starters. In a best-case state of affairs through which everyone seems to be wholesome on Opening Day, Martinez can pitch out of the bullpen whereas Lowder begins the yr within the minors. If Lowder forces his means onto the Opening Day roster with a robust spring, new supervisor Terry Francona might be going through a logjam, however that might be a fairly good downside to have.
That stated, it will be barely shocking to see Cincinnati signal Pivetta given the quite a few different areas of want for Krall to deal with. The Reds completed among the many backside half of groups in runs scored this previous season. They ranked twenty first in OPS and twenty sixth in wRC+. They just lately traded India, one in every of their higher offensive gamers in 2024, and haven’t made any additions to the beginning lineup. Contemplating they have already got six contenders for 5 spots in subsequent yr’s rotation, one may suppose the Reds would put most of their remaining sources towards bettering the offense. To that finish, they’ve been linked to commerce candidates corresponding to Luis Robert Jr., Josh Naylor, and Lane Thomas.
Earlier this offseason, Reds chief working officer and chief monetary officer Doug Healy instructed Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that his workforce would “keep payroll ranges at or above 2024.” That’s a obscure and noncommittal assertion, however it does appear to suggest {that a} main enhance in payroll is unlikely. So, it’s truthful to surprise if Reds possession can be keen to spend what it takes to signal Pivetta and bolster the offense. In spite of everything, RosterResource estimates that their payroll for 2025 ($101MM) is already barely increased than their last payroll from 2024 ($100MM).
Pivetta is almost certainly looking for a multi-year deal just like these Luis Severino signed with the A’s (three years, $67MM) and Yusei Kikuchi signed with the Angels (three years, $63MM). In the meantime, Thomas is projected to earn $8.3MM and Naylor $12MM in 2025. Robert will earn $15MM within the last assured yr of his contract. All three of these salaries are team-friendly figures; a equally impactful place participant would price considerably extra in free company. Will Krall have the monetary flexibility to supply Pivetta an AAV above $20MM and nonetheless purchase an impression bat?
