Payroll bump should help the Cincinnati Reds – but not buy a pennant

“If we’re not going to play better than .500 baseball from now on, to me that would be a disaster,’’ Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini told Paul Daugherty on Tuesday. (Photo: The Enquirer/Meg Vogel)

The headline, after all, was “Castellini not tipping his hand.”

But he did drop on a tidbit. He said the player payroll would be the highest in team history. The previous high was $115 million in 2015. This season’s payroll was $101 million.

So let’s say the Reds really push it and get the payroll to $120 million, what’s the buy?

Not a lot. Certainly not the pennant.

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The Reds have $68.5 million committed to seven players. Scooter…