The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.CINCINNATI — The monitors at either end of the Cincinnati Reds’ home clubhouse, which usually show the next day’s schedule and opposing pitchers, simply said “Enjoy your off day!” on Sunday.Monday is indeed an off day for the Reds, but for many of the team’s players, it might be tough to enjoy the day with the MLB trade deadline looming at 6 p.m. ET.“(I’m) just ready for it to be over with, honestly,” catcher Tyler Stephenson said after the Reds’ 10-2 victory Sunday over the Pittsburgh Pirates.Stephenson is one of several Reds on expiring contracts who could be dealt before the team returns to the clubhouse Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the Athletics.“(There will) probably be a lot of text messages back and forth — probably some phone calls,” Reds closer Emilio Pagán said of Monday’s day off. “We would love to continue to have a chance to play with this group and win games and put us in a spot to play meaningful baseball in October. We know where we’re at in the standings.”The Reds are 10-6 since the All-Star break and have taken two series against teams ahead of them in the National League Central in that span, winning two of three on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals and taking three of four at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Reds are 16 games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and 5.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the final NL wild-card spot. Five teams, including the Cardinals and Pirates, stand between the Reds and the Phillies.Unless the Reds decide to pull an about-face and trade either starter Hunter Greene or shortstop Elly De La Cruz, the team doesn’t have much in the way of top-end talent to offer contenders. What the team does have in spades is players on expiring contracts, including Stephenson, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, right-handed starter Brady Singer and left-handed relievers Brock Burke and Caleb Ferguson.Stephenson, who hit an RBI double in his first plate appearance Sunday and homered in the eighth inning in what may have been his last at-bat with the team that drafted him in 2015, is the team’s best trade piece in a deadline market in which there’s a high demand for right-handed hitting catchers like him.A free agent following the season, Stephenson said he and his wife talked about going around Cincinnati on Monday to visit places that have sentimental value to them, to enjoy those spots one last time as locals, “just in case.”“Just the business side of it, this being my last year, being a free agent — it’s definitely a looming day and that day’s here, so we’ll see,” said Stephenson, who has hit .353/.433/.600 with four home runs and nine doubles over his last 26 games, beginning with a home run at Yankee Stadium on Father’s Day.Manager Terry Francona’s plans for Monday are simpler — he said he’d like to sleep in.“We could use an off day,” Francona said after Sunday’s win. “I hadn’t even given it any thought. I was so wrapped up in the game, and I really don’t get wrapped up in (trade talk). I know the guys are working. That’s not my area — and I don’t want it to be.”