Cincinnati Reds' Front Office Appears to be Focused on Wrong Things

You can explain a Cincinnati Reds performance—whether it's good or bad—in a bunch of different ways thanks to all of the statistics they have in baseball. It’s one of the greatest things about the sport.

Despite all of the statistics available, organizations should really only focusing on one thing: wins and losses.

This may seem elementary and I know I am preaching to the choir here, but consider what Nick Krall said to reporters af

“I didn’t want to put a bunch of younger players on the roster just to put younger players on the roster," Krall said. "We’ve got a good group of veterans. We could have traded three-or-four more relievers if we really wanted to go down that road. But this team has a positive 41 run differential. We haven’t won the games we should have won. We do have a shot.”

That quote has the same energy as something like what you may hear in the workplace:

“I didn’t finish the presentation on time and I know we lost the client, but I come in to work on time every day, so I’m doing a good job.”

I’m starting to wonder if Krall and the Reds front office can actually deliver a winner.

Run differential, and metrics like it, are fine tools to explain a performance and add a bit of optimism to a team’s outlook.

I don’t want the man in charge worried about that. I want him looking at wins and losses. If they aren’t adequate, fix it.

You may even be thinking that run differential is a smaller part of a larger picture that is wins and losses. Fine. He seems a bit fixated on this one piece of the pie. 

There are plenty of stats that say the Reds are on the right track, and there are plenty that plead for help. Krall is the one that must make all the stats add up to wins and losses. When they don’t, he should answer for it.

Unless that isn’t what the organization is worried about. That leads to a question with a much more depressing answer and I need another cup of coffee before I delve into that rabbit hole.