Wittenmyer & Williams is a regular point/counterpoint column from Enquirer Reds reporter Gordon Wittenmyer and sports columnist Jason Williams. They go back-and-forth this week about whether the Reds are the only hope for a winner in Cincinnati anytime soon.
Williams: What a typical, disappointing Cincinnati sports weekend. All it needed was a Reds loss to complete the circle of doom and gloom.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWittenmyer: Yeah, I’m not sure what was worse: Saturday’s UC football loss or Sunday’s Bengals loss, not to mention FC Cincinnati's crushing defeat. And don't get me started on college hoops. At least with the Bengals, we’ve all gotten used to it and just expect it at this point.
Williams: What a hopeless sports landscape we’re in right now with no end in sight. And sadly, it’s nothing new. That landscape has been barren for decades.
Wittenmyer: Happy freaking Thanksgiving to you, too. You know what all that bellyaching means, don’t you? It means the Reds are Cincinnati’s only hope anytime soon.
Williams: You mean the team that’s already announced it has frozen payroll for next season? Which means the Reds have no money to add an difference-making free agent. No hope.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWittenmyer: Look, Eeyore, I can’t believe I’m Mr. Positive today. But you’re also talking about a playoff team that brings back most of its successful starting rotation. That’s a good place to start regardless of what they’re able to do this winter.
Williams: Come on. You and I sat right next to each other in the Dodger Stadium press box. Maybe you don’t remember that because the Reds got run out of town so fast. And that team lost its closer and cleanup hitter. That’s just two of the 10 free-agent losses.
Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini claps during a ceremony honoring the “Big Red Machine” team before the game between Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Saturday, June 28, 2025.Wittenmyer: Man, I’m just trying to have some holiday spirit and optimism. It might be an uphill climb, but they showed they have the right manager in charge and Elly De La Cruz should be healthy going into next year. And I still go back to all that starting pitching talent they have.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWilliams: This feels a lot like going into the 2024 season, when the Reds thought they had the best young core in the game and counted on a lot of those kids getting better. Why don’t you ask David Bell how that worked out? It reminds me a lot of the Bengals with a run-it-back mentality – and with less talent than you had the year before.
Wittenmyer: As much as it pains me to say, you’re not wrong on that one, the Reds are actually talking about how a lot of their improvement with the lineup next year might have to come internally. And that’s not a great sign for a team that struggled to get close to the middle of the pack offensively even in their hitter friendly ballpark. At the GM meetings, I worked with another writer on a survey of 21 MLB executives on who they predict will be the next NL Central team to win a World Series, and only one picked the Reds.
Williams: I’m surprised the Reds got one vote. I love building around a core of homegrown players. It has to happen in a place like Cincinnati. But when that core is ready to win, you’ve got to spend money to give it a chance to succeed in October. And one of the worst parts about how this ownership is doing it is that they’ve put a lot of extra money in their pocket over the last few years. The Reds have torn down a veteran roster and shed bigger contracts. I understand the plan for rebuilding. But it’s not a plan to win if you don’t put resources back into the team when it’s time to win. Otherwise, you’re no better than the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Wittenmyer: As much as you’re killing my holiday vibes, you are starting to speak my language. The way a lot of these owners operate is galling. Attendance went up 7% last season. I don’t know how you ask fans to keep buying tickets when you keep showing them you’re not giving your front office a realistic chance to improve the team. Obviously this is against the backdrop of the potential labor stoppage after next season. But in some ways, that makes it even worse that a team like the Reds isn’t doing more to strike now in this window of opportunity. I hope I’m wrong.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWilliams: I hope I’m wrong, too. This town deserves a winner. I’ve always struggled to tell people how to spend their money.
Wittenmyer: I’ve never had a problem with that.
Williams: Yeah, the Reds are a private business. Ownership can spend money however it wants. But it’s a business that relies on a relationship with the community and the fanbase. You can’t keep insulting them and picking their pockets and maintain that relationship. Go get Kyle Schwarber, for goodness sake.
Wittenmyer: Now that’s a lift for my holiday spirit.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Are Reds only hope in hopeless Cincinnati sports landscape?
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