You got to spend money to make money. Thats one thing small market teams choose not to do (most likely) or cannot afford to do (less likely). The Reds love trading away all their talent or letting them become free agents so they can get picked up by bigger franchises. Like their football team, they are a good place to start a career or squeeze a final few years out, because the owners aren't going to shell out the big bucks for the right free agents. If you think baseball is bad, wait and see if the NFL goes uncapped. This might be the small market teams last shot at the playoffs if the NFL goes uncapped.