The offseason begins in about a week and the Cincinnati Reds haven’t given a public indication whether payroll will increase, decrease or stay the same heading into the 2022 season.
No matter the budget situation, the bullpen is an area the Reds need to address this winter. It was the club’s weakness for most of the season (4.99 ERA, fourth-highest in MLB) and blown saves add up when a team falls short in a playoff race. The Reds lost seven games when leading after seven innings and four games when leading after the eighth inning.
Michael Lorenzen and Mychal Givens will become free agents after the conclusion of the World Series, and Tejay Antone will miss the entire 2022 season after he underwent his second Tommy John surgery. Lorenzen and Givens often shared duties in the eighth and ninth innings throughout the final two months of the season.
That leaves a lot of questions for the Reds’ bullpen entering the offseason. The Reds operated without a designated closer after trading Raisel Iglesias last December. Ten relievers recorded a save, a franchise record, but only Lucas Sims, Amir Garrett and Antone remain under team control.
Some young pitchers emerged with more trust in important situations like Art Warren and Tony Santillan. Luis Cessa was phenomenal after the New York Yankees traded him to the Reds.
“It’s been a season of opportunity for our bullpen because there were points it wasn’t really clear,” manager David Bell said. “Guys continuously stepped up at different points of the year and given where we were where it was a major concern, I think it turned into a strength with the way guys stepped up.”
