Reds' Busy Offseason Makes Them the Team to Beat in the NL Central

After being traded to the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline in 2019, Nick Castellanos performed at an elite level in the small sample size he played in the Windy City.

In his contract year, Castellanos proved he could play like an All-Star, and he's now been rewarded with a sizable contract on the open market. The Cincinnati Reds signed the 27-year-old to a four-year, $64 million deal Monday morning.

With the signing of Castellanos, the Reds have gone a middle-of-the-pack club to a legitimate playoff contender in a division that is up for grabs.

Among NL Central teams, no one has been active as the Reds. In fact, the Cubs and Cardinals have been fairly stagnant in the offseason, while the Pirates just offloaded Starling Marte. The Brewers' biggest splash came via trade, when the club acquired Luis Urias and Eric Lauer from the Padres.

Meanwhile, the Reds have acquired Castellanos, Wade Miley, Mike Moustakas, and Japanese-star Shogo Akiyama, and have put themselves in a position to contend for NL Central supremacy in 2020.

During the season last year, they added the likes of Freddy Galvis and Trevor Bauer to go along with the already solid core of Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez, Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, and rookie-sensation Aristides Aquino.

The Reds could easily go from a sub-.500 team to a squad that could win the NL Central for the first time since 2012.