One Cincinnati professional sports team is dealing to win while the other appears to be dealing to save.
The Cincinnati Bengals are attempting to improve its weakest link from the last two seasons. They certainly made significant strides Monday signing interior linemen Alex Cappa and Ted Karras.
Cappa comes from Tampa Bay where he’s played guard since 2018. He allowed just five sacks in 2021.
Karras was picked up from New England. The six-year veteran has played a mix of center and guard over five seasons with the Patriots and one with Miami. He gave up just three QB sacks last season and is expected to snap the rock in Cincinnati.
These aren’t blockbuster signings by any means but they are notable upgrades at both positions.
The Bengals resigned defensive tackle BJ Hill which is a good, quality save because they lost DT Larry Ogunjobi who signed a huge contract with the Bears. The other painful loss so far is tight end CJ Uzomah who is headed to the Jets.
Meanwhile, familiar names for the Reds are being dealt faster than cards on a Vegas 21 table. Sunday, the Reds said so long to Sonny Gray who is now in Minnesota.
In return, Cincinnati gets the Twins 2021 first-round draft pick, Chase Petty. Petty may pan out down the road, but the Redlegs lose another major rotation piece from last season.
And yesterday, the Reds dealt Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to Seattle. The Mariners gave up pitchers Justin Dunn and Brandon Williamson along with outfielder Jake Fraley.
Despite hitting 31 home runs last season, Suarez has struggled mightily at the plate batting just .199 over the last two seasons. Winker, of course, was a National League All-Star in 2021.
Dunn has 25 appearances over the last three seasons with a just under four ERA. Williamson was promoted to Double-A ball last year and potentially could be a mid-rotation starter within the next year. Fraley batted just .201 with nine home runs in 265 plate appearances for the M’s last season.
Keep in mind, the loss of Gray, Winker and Suarez follow previous departures of Wade Miley, Tucker Barnhart and Michael Lorenzen.
Recent player moves may payoff in the future, but frustration by the fan base is considerable and understandably so. The Reds have now traded six key players from a team which posted 83 wins in 2021…a roster many thought could be built upon to win now instead of breaking up to hopefully win later.
But at the end of last season when the Reds GM Nick Krall said the team would align resources with payroll, much to everyone’s chagrin, we’re seeing that play out now.