Bleacher Report tried to do the useful thing this week and identify one realistic move each team could still make to patch its biggest hole before spring training. And for the Cincinnati Reds, the suggestion was painfully familiar.<\/p>\n
In the NL Central section of Kerry Miller\u2019s roundup,<\/a> the Reds are linked to a \u201cbuy low\u201d outfield bat \u2014 Michael Conforto \u2014 framed as an even cheaper alternative to a bigger-name DH type.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a Reds fan, you can probably hear the collective sigh from across the river. Because this isn\u2019t just a move. It\u2019s the move the Reds always make when the offense needs a real jolt: a low-cost veteran flier that the front office can sell as \u201cupside,\u201d while fans are left staring at the same fundamental issue \u2014 just wearing a different jersey.<\/p>\n Reds fans won\u2019t enjoy the latest Michael Conforto prediction<\/p>\n Cincinnati did this exact dance with Austin Hays last winter. A one-year deal, modest dollars, \u201cchange of scenery,\u201d hope it clicks.\u00a0They did it with Wil Myers and Colin Moran.\u00a0So when Conforto\u2019s name pops up as the next \u201crealistic\u201d patch, it doesn\u2019t feel like a fresh idea. It just feels like a rerun.<\/p>\n MLB.com\u2019s own Reds coverage has been blunt <\/a>about where that impact is most likely to come from: left field \u2014 specifically, a bat that can slot behind Elly De La Cruz and make pitchers pay for attacking him. The same piece notes that Cincinnati currently has two \u201cset\u201d everyday outfielders (TJ Friedl in CF and Noelvi Marte in RF), <\/a>and then \u201ca whole bunch of questions,\u201d especially in left.\u00a0<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why Conforto makes fans groan: <\/a>he looks like the exact kind of compromise that lets the Reds pretend they solved it. Conforto\u2019s 2025 line is not exactly screaming \u201cmiddle-of-the-order fix\u201d: .199 average, 12 homers, .638 OPS.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the bat that changes how opponents pitch a series at Great American Ball Park.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Yes, the upside argument is easy to write. Conforto has a track record. He\u2019s had power. He\u2019s had on-base ability in the past. Great American is friendly to left-handed pull power. In theory, you cross your fingers and talk yourself into a bounce-back season.<\/p>\n While Cincinnati was busy trying to \u201cshore up\u201d the outfield and run back a similar lineup, the bigger picture hasn\u2019t changed: the Reds\u2019 2025 offense was below average (MLB.com pegs them at a 90 OPS+, 26th in MLB), and even in that ballpark they were 21st in homers. So if the plan is to contend, the solution can\u2019t be \u201canother maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n A Conforto signing wouldn\u2019t be unforgivable on a roster that already added the impact bat and was looking for depth. On this roster, it hits differently. It\u2019s more like shopping in the bargain bin again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bleacher Report tried to do the useful thing this week and identify one realistic move each team could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-415728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}