1) My kingdom for a shortstop?
Reds general manager Nick Krall is in an unenviable situation. Cincinnati was unable to land any of the three remaining starting free-agent shortstops last week -- Didi Gregorius, Andrelton Simmons and Marcus Semien. And now, every GM in the Majors with a shortstop to spare can drive up the price for a trade because they know Cincinnati really needs one.
It appears some of the more tradeable shortstops are Tampa Bay’s Willy Adames, Cleveland’s Amed Rosario, Arizona’s Nick Ahmed and Colorado’s Trevor Story. Adames and Story would likely come with a heavy return regardless of the timing. Krall should probably hesitate to give up too much for someone who seemingly would keep the spot warm until Jose Garcia is ready to be a regular. Ahmed likely wouldn’t require a lot to deal, but he has two years and $17.5 million left on his contract.