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.

ATLANTA -- The Trade Deadline is only six days away, on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET. Although the Reds (48-53) reside in last place in the National League Central, they are still 4 1/2 games back of the third NL Wild Card position.

That certainly makes it more difficult to drop any predictions.

Cincinnati's front office was already in "wait-and-see" mode before making decisions on its Deadline approach. After being swept in the three-game series at Washington this past weekend, the Reds beat the Braves, 4-1, in the series opener on Monday.

However, they are still waiting … and still seeing what might happen.

“Nothing had changed from when we came back from the break to now," Reds general manager Brad Meador said before Tuesday's game was rained out. "We’ve talked to every team. It’s been very general conversations so far. We’ll continue to just evaluate everything -- both short term and long term.”

Meador and president of baseball operations Nick Krall still have some wiggle room to be patient. That's because nearly every NL team remains in the playoff hunt -- except for Colorado and Miami.

Like the 2023 Deadline, when the Reds only acquired lefty reliever Sam Moll, it would appear to be a seller's market again. That could make the asking prices for trades prohibitive.

“We haven’t gotten that deep into it as far as what 'ask' would be for what," Meador said.

Meador didn't detail which areas on the field the Reds would like to improve.

It's also entirely possible that the Reds could do both some buying and some selling, and nothing drastic like moving a haul of prospects to acquire a rental player on an expiring contract. They have some depth with multiple pitchers on short-term contracts -- including starter Frankie Montas and relievers Lucas Sims, Buck Farmer and Justin Wilson.

Swingman pitcher Nick Martinez can opt out of his two-year contract after the season. Fernando Cruz is under club control for four more years after this season, but he is 34 years old.

For the Reds to get a playoff berth, they would have to leap past five clubs, including the Mets for the final spot. They still have remaining matchups with many other Wild Card contenders, including the Pirates (seven games), Mets (three), Braves (three after Wednesday's doubleheader), Cardinals (six) and Cubs (six -- including three to end the regular season).

“We still believe in this team and believe we can be a playoff team," Meador said. "Anything we can do to improve our chances and our team, we’re going to try and do that. At the same time, we’re looking beyond just this year.”