The setup for managerial press conferences at the Major League Baseball winter meetings has two managers speaking simultaneously on separate sides of a Grand Hyatt ballroom.
On one side of the room Monday was Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, hired in October. He was surrounded by more than three dozen reporters and at least five TV cameras. He was asked several questions about Jacob deGrom, the two-time Cy Young winner who signed a five-year, $185 million contract.
Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell spoke on the other side of the room, surrounded by six reporters and no TV cameras.
It was a stark illustration of the Reds’ current standing in the league.
The Rangers lost 94 games last season, and they’re making an aggressive push to upgrade their roster.
The Reds lost 100 games and remain in the slow burn of a rebuild.
No, the Reds won’t be the team making a big splash in free agency with their own payroll constraints set from ownership.
‘I'm focused on the guys that we had at the end of the season, the second half of the season,” Bell said Monday.
“It's just the way the game goes. I know that can change between now and spring training. You’re always looking to make improvements and that’s just kind of the way things go, but for the most part, really focused on the guys we have.”
The Reds had a 21-39 record following the trade deadline last season, and that’s their starting point.
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