The last-place Cincinnati Reds, who have been one of the majors' best teams over the past month, plan to increase their payroll next season, according to president of baseball operations Dick Williams.
"We do believe that we're creating a good core to invest around," Williams told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "For the first time in a couple of years, I firmly believe we'll have a raised payroll."
The Reds have an estimated payroll of $110.9 million this season, the seventh-lowest in the majors.
After losing 43 of their first 65 games, the Reds have gone 18-8 over the past month and will send three players -- Joey Votto, Scooter Gennett and Eugenio Suarez -- to next week's All-Star Game.
Williams told the Enquirer that he did not have a set number on the Reds' anticipated payroll for 2019 but said he expected a "nice increase."
"I'm not talking like 1 or 2 percent," Williams told the paper. "But it's too early to know for sure. A lot of it will depend on how we play the rest of the year, the support we get from the fans and strategic decisions we make about where our investments will go in the offseason -- payroll or otherwise."