As Cincinnati faces a front-office shakeup following a disappointing season, the franchise icon signals he is ready to trade his bat for a blueprint to contention.
The Cincinnati Reds are basically waiting out the remainder of the season. In last place in the NL Central with a 67-73 record, this has been one of the more disappointing seasons in recent memory, especially since the Reds were a popular pick to win the NL Central before the season began.
A lot of changes could be coming after this season. Aging manager Terry Francona could possibly be on the way out, as Cincinnati could look to change direction at manager. However, a more likely change would be the dismissal of president of baseball operations and de facto general manager Nick Krall.
Krall has been unceasingly criticized by the fanbase for multiple seasons, and rightfully so. Many of his moves have not worked out, including the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade, the Gavin Lux trade, the Luis Castillo trade, and designating Christian Encarnacion-Strand for assignment. Then there is the debacle that was the trade deadline this past August. There are more blights on his record than positives.
Robert Murray of FanSided recently listed Krall as a front-office executive in the hot seat.
If the Reds decide to fire Krall, the noise surrounding a potential hire of former all-time great Joey Votto will be very loud. Votto has started to sound interested in the job, discussing it on multiple occasions. When he was on MLB Network talking with Brian Kenny, Votto, in a rather unserious manner, said he would take the Reds GM job if offered when asked whether he would work in a front office.
He then recently sat down with Mark Sheldon, who covers the Reds for MLB.com, and when asked again if he would work as a full-time front office executive, he said yes, even bringing up his “tongue-in-cheek” statement about wanting to be the Reds GM, and saying that many players have held that position and had success.
Votto even said he doesn’t want to be a manager, and he doesn’t want to be in some part-time special adviser role, as he’s seen players in that position be buried when it comes to making decisions for the franchise.
At the very least, he is making it clear that he wants to do this in the future. Whether or not the Reds reciprocate that interest will be one of the most interesting storylines of the Reds' offseason if they move on from Nick Krall.
