Will the surging Reds be buyers at the Deadline?

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Are the Reds buyers? Will they become sellers? For a Cincinnati club trying to stay in the postseason hunt, questions abound on which direction they will take as the July 31 Trade Deadline gets closer.

“I could see there being some of both," general manager Brad Meador said on Saturday. "We want to try to push in to win this year. We also have this model that we draft and develop, and we’ve talked about sustainable success. That is still the goal. We’re not going to do something that sets us back over the next five years right now.”

Cincinnati has needs for later-innings bullpen help and a run-producing bat for the middle of the order. The Reds are willing to part with prospects to make trades, but won't completely empty the farm system.

On the other hand, the Reds also have several players with contracts that expire after this season. Nick Martinez, Emilio Pagán, Austin Hays, Scott Barlow and Taylor Rogers are veterans who could be in play if there's full or modified selling.

At 52-47 entering Sunday's series finale vs. the Mets, the Reds are third in the National League Central division race, 7 1/2 games back. In the NL Wild Card chase, though, they are just 1 1/2 games out. After the Mets, Cincinnati finishes the road trip at Washington before going home to play the Rays and Dodgers before the Deadline.

“We’re certainly talking to every team right now," Meador said. "We’re trying to see what the options will be. We have to keep playing well to be able to think about adding. That being said, we’re always going to look at both short term and long term. What that means right now, I don’t really know."

Finances could also come into play. It remains to be seen how much salary the Reds can add to their 2025 payroll with trade acquisitions.

“We’re working through it. We hope to have more information in the coming days to know exactly where we are," Meador said.