Brains, blueprint, belief: How Reds worked to build a contender for '25

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Can the Reds be this year¡¯s version of the Royals?

To be fair, Cincinnati is looking to rebound from an 85-loss season, 21 games better than Kansas City¡¯s 106-loss 2023 campaign. But after opening last season with a 16-13 record, the Reds went on an eight-game losing streak and never recovered, going 61-72 the rest of the way for a fourth-place finish in the National League Central.

¡°The common theme was little things,¡± president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. ¡°We lost a game early in the season where we blew a save; those things happen. We lost a game the next week in extra innings when we got thrown out at the plate on a baserunning mistake. We lost a game where we had the bases loaded and just needed to get a guy in with no outs, and we couldn't get the guy in.

¡°We lost games from defensive miscues. We lost games from miscommunication. We lost games because we tried to take too many bases when we shouldn't have. They're all little things, but those are specific instances where all of those games were close. It's just paying attention to the details and the little things that can get us to that next level.¡±

• Here's how the Reds' Opening Day roster could look

Just as the Royals did at the end of the 2023 season en route to a ¡®24 postseason berth, the Reds attacked their problem areas this offseason. No, they weren¡¯t in the mix for the likes of Juan Soto or Corbin Burnes, but Cincinnati made a slew of roster moves -- and one stunning managerial hire -- that they hope will add up to more than the sum of their parts.

Step 1: The manager

Having dismissed David Bell a week before the end of the season, the Reds dug in on a search for a new skipper. When Krall heard from former broadcaster Marty Brennaman that Terry Francona -- who had retired a year earlier after 11 seasons with the Guardians due to a variety of health issues -- was interested in the job, the executive didn¡¯t know what to think.

¡°People talk very highly of him,¡± Krall said. ¡°But I wasn't sure if he was really interested -- or if we would be on the same page.¡±

Krall and general manager Brad Meador flew to Francona¡¯s home in Arizona to sit down with the two-time World Series winner. It took all of 45 minutes for Krall to know that Francona was his man.

¡°The conversation was so easy,¡± Krall said. ¡°It seemed pretty obvious he was the guy. We¡¯re about an hour and a half in, and he starts talking about, ¡®We can do this, we can do this and we can do this.¡¯ We just seemed to be on the same page with everything.¡±

Owner Bob Castellini flew to Tucson the next day to meet with Francona. A deal came together within five hours, and just like that, Francona¡¯s retirement was over and a message had been sent to everybody in the organization.

¡°It started with bringing in Terry,¡± reliever Brent Suter said. ¡°He's not coming out of retirement to be mediocre; he¡¯s coming here to win. That was a great start to the offseason.¡±

Step 2: The roster

Francona¡¯s arrival breathed new life into the Reds, but now Krall needed to address the roster.

¡°Going into the offseason, we looked at it as we had a lot of moves to make,¡± Krall said. ¡°I'm not sure I knew exactly what they were in October.¡±

Suter returned on a one-year deal the week after the World Series, keeping an important bullpen piece in Cincinnati. Two weeks later, Nick Martinez accepted a qualifying offer, bringing back one of the club¡¯s most important arms.

¡°With how he pitched last year, the veteran leadership, everything he brought to the table, that was a no-brainer for us,¡± Krall said of Martinez¡¯s qualifying offer. ¡°Once he accepted, it showed us, ¡®This is how much money you have to spend on whatever else you need.¡¯ And we had several other needs.¡±

The trade market accounted for the most notable moves. Three days after Martinez¡¯s situation was resolved, the Reds finally moved Jonathan India after two years of trade rumors, sending him and Joey Wiemer to the Royals for Brady Singer. Over the next two months, Cincinnati acquired catcher Jose Trevino from the Yankees, infielder Gavin Lux from the Dodgers and reliever Taylor Rogers from the Giants.

¡°We looked at it and said, ¡®We have only so much money to spend; that's what your budget is, so how can we continue to get better?¡¯¡± Krall said. ¡°We felt the trade market was the best place for us to use those dollars.¡±

Outfielder Austin Hays and reliever Scott Barlow were late free-agent additions, finishing off the Reds¡¯ busy winter.

¡°They rounded this team off nicely not just with veteran guys, but championship-caliber guys,¡± Martinez said. ¡°You bring in Lux, who's won two World Series. You bring in Trevino, a Platinum Glove winner playing possibly the highest standard of baseball with the Yankees. They bring in Hays and Singer, who have been with playoff teams. It doubles down and makes it very clear the direction that they want to go and what they see this team as capable of doing.¡±

Step 3: The message

Francona reached out to all of his new players over the course of the offseason, but when the team gathered in Goodyear to kick off Spring Training, his message was clear and concise.

¡°He said, ¡®Hey, we know you're good enough; now it's time to show what you can do and it's time to hold yourself to a high standard,¡¯¡± Martinez said. ¡°We believed in ourselves before, but now there's a different standard about how you go about your day-to-day stuff. This guy didn¡¯t come back to lose.¡±

Like every other manager, Francona¡¯s goal is to get to October. Unlike many of his peers, he knows how to get there, having guided his teams in Boston and Cleveland to 11 postseason appearances, three pennants and two World Series titles between 2004-23.

¡°We had the belief, but we¡¯re getting more of a road map of how and what it looks like, what we have to do, holding ourselves accountable,¡± Suter said. ¡°It¡¯s palpable. Every spring, you have belief; this year, we have hope. There's a mission.¡±

Francona¡¯s presence has given the Reds a guiding light, but just as he has done in the past, the manager is empowering his veterans to take important leadership roles in the clubhouse, in the dugout and on the field.

¡°In the opening meeting, he said, ¡®Being a veteran in the big leagues doesn't give you permission to cut corners; it gives you an opportunity to lead more,¡¯¡± Suter said. ¡°That really resonated with all of us. He has an amazing gift of not just being able to lead on his own, but to create pods of leaders and encourage them to do their thing. It's special. He knows what a winning culture looks like. He's pushing us to be our best. He's a Hall of Famer for a reason.¡±

¡°I have a responsibility and I'm not going to run from that,¡± Francona said. ¡°But when players take the lead and do it the right way, it's way more powerful. If you do it too much as a manager, you're either overcoaching at times or you're panicking, so you have to kind of pick your spots. When players do it, they're being a really good teammate.¡±

Dustin Pedroia, who won a ring with Francona in 2007, recently visited the Reds' clubhouse and spoke with the team. One of his primary messages: there¡¯s a difference between chemistry and culture, and one is far more important than the other.

¡°Chemistry is when you feel good and everyone likes each other; that's a really good thing to have, but it doesn't necessarily translate into wins,¡± Suter said. ¡°What translates into wins is culture and commitment to winning; a commitment to excellence, to holding yourself and each other accountable, and having a standard that is high enough to win a World Series. When you mix good chemistry, which we already have in here, with good culture, which we're establishing, special things can happen. That's what we're trying to build.¡±

Step 4: The expectations

The vibes in Reds camp this spring are wholly different than they have been in recent years, but while vibes can help create a strong culture, they don¡¯t always translate into victories.

Francona knows the obstacles that stand in the Reds¡¯ way this season, and when the experts release their preseason predictions, few are likely to pencil in Cincinnati as NL Central champs.

Whether anyone else believes the Reds are ready to win is inconsequential to Francona. The only opinions he is worried about belong to those in the room, a message he shared early in camp.

¡°I told them, ¡®I don¡¯t know what the expectations are outside of this room and I don¡¯t care. What's important is what our expectations are,¡¯¡± Francona said. ¡°We're going to play the game right, we're going to practice the game right and we're going to leave it on the field. When we struggle, we'll struggle together and we'll try to figure it out together. Then we'll see how good we can get -- together.¡±

There are plenty of reasons for optimism in Cincinnati. The rotation is deep, as is the bullpen. Matt McLain is healthy. Elly De La Cruz is becoming a bona-fide superstar each time he takes the field. And with Francona in the dugout, very little will surprise the Reds as they take aim at their first division title since 2012.

¡°It's a tough division; we've got work to do,¡± Krall said. ¡°We don't want to just get to the playoffs; we want to go deep in the playoffs and win a World Series. That's the goal for everybody. I know you can say it, but being able to put it in practice, watch guys take it a little bit more seriously, you can see the expectations and the standards have risen.¡±