You know the story by now.
The Cincinnati Reds got the itch to stop paying for baseball players a while back, and have thoroughly pursued that route across all facets of their roster so far this winter/spring since the MLB lockout ended. You may recall, though, that this payroll slashing began last winter, and it began squarely in the team’s bullpen.
The Reds gave away Raisel Iglesias and straight up non-tendered Archie Bradley prior to the 2021 season, and the team’s bullpen promptly imploded time and time again to start the year. Because the team actually had some potent bats and lethal starting pitching, they actually found themselves within a sniff of a playoff chase later in the year, at that point finally trying to address the relief corps with a few fringe additions.