Ke’Bryan Hayes’ contract is the kind of thing Cincinnati Reds fans want to be mad about, because it looks like the latest excuse for why they can’t go shopping. And yeah — paying real money for a glove-first third baseman on a team that desperately needs thump will always feel a little backwards.
But there’s a more uncomfortable truth: Hayes isn’t the problem. The Reds’ bigger issue is the financial crater left by Jeimer Candelario. That contract went from “finally, they spent” to “oh no, they spent like that.”
The Reds can live with Ke’Bryan Hayes, but Jeimer Candelario still haunts the books
Start with Hayes.