I had the chance to catch a bit of Reds baseball this weekend, and for the most part I was glad I was finally able to sit down and watch some of the games, not because of what the team was doing on the field, but because this past weekend was all about celebrating the Reds’ past, which is much better than watching the current team trot onto the diamond.

On June 24, the Reds honored the 1976 World Series champions and then spent the next two days focusing on Pete Rose, inducting him into the team’s hall of fame on Saturday and retiring his number on Sunday.

Those three off-field ceremonies were better than any moment of the first three games of the four-game set against the Padres, which the Reds lost by a combined total of 23-8. Sure, Anthony DeSclafani’s solid performance in the final game was nice to see, but by that point my mind had already began to wander toward 2017.

So, I decided to take a peek into the future and see where the Reds would be at the start of 2017. For the record, I believe there’s a more than decent chance Jay Bruce is traded by Aug. 1. However, I have no idea what the team would get in return for him, so while he may not appear on the future roster don’t look for other team’s prospects either. Same goes for Zack Cozart, though he’s not as offensively gifted as he was at the beginning of the season, so his value has likely gone down a tad.

At any rate, let’s start with the position players. Devin Mesoraco should return from injury for at least one game behind home plate next season, with Tucker Barnhart serving as his backup. Mesoraco is signed through 2018 while Barnhart is still another year away from arbitration.

Joey Votto will be at first base for now and for several years after, since the Reds are paying him at least $20 million per season until 2023.

Brandon Phillips will mercifully enter the final year of his contract in 2017, and I can’t see him waiving his 10-5 rights to take a trade when he wasn’t willing to do so earlier this year. Perhaps one season on a bad team changes his mind, but I doubt it. Billy Hamilton seems to be a lock in center field, and Adam Duvall is mashing his way into owning the left field position, unless he’s traded.

That leaves three positions vacant: third base, short stop and left field. Technically, the Reds could get creative here and open other positions. For instance, Duvall could play third base, which would open another spot in the outfield. However, that’s unlikely to happen, since Duvall has only played third four times in his career.

It’s more likely the hot corner is manned by Eugenio Suarez, who has struggled this season. Suarez, as of this writing, sports a .220 average, down nearly 60 points from last season. He’s also a bit of a liability on defense, and one particular play against the Rangers showed why. A slow bouncer was hit directly at Suarez, and to my surprise he was able to field the high hop. He apparently was surprised too, because he turned around thinking the ball bounced over his head, allowing the runner to reach base.

Suarez came up a shortstop and played majority of his time there last season, so if the Reds would want to move him over, in theory that’s something they could do. The problem is none of the team’s minor league corner infielders are producing.

According to MLB.com, there are three third basemen listed in the Reds’ top 30 prospects: Eric Jagielo, who came over from the Yankees in the Aroldis Chapman trade, Taylor Sparks and Gavin Lavalley, both of whom were 2014 draft picks by the Reds.

Of those three players, LaValley has the highest average, a .267 mark in the Florida State League. Sparks struggled in the FSL, posting a .220 average with six home runs. He is hitting much better with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in AA, picking up four hits and two home runs in 11 at-bats.

Jaigelo is the highest-rated prospect of the three, and he is doing very little offensively in Pensacola. The 24-year-old is hitting just .210 with a .310 on-base percentage in 62 games this season.

So, it would appear the Reds stick with Suarez for the beginning of 2017, at the very least. Jagielo is coming, but he needs to improve on his bat before making an impact.

That leaves right field as the team’s final vacancy on the diamond. The clubhouse leader seems to be Jesse Winker, a 22-year-old outfielder currently on the disabled list in Louisville. Prior to his injury, the first-round choice was hitting .286 for the Bats with a solid .381 on-base percentage. Player comparisons are tricky and by no means a good predictor of future success, but for reference sake let’s compare the scouting grades of Winker and the gentleman he would theoretically replace in right field, Jay Bruce.

Major League Baseball scouting uses a 2-8 or 20-80 scale. In this scale, 50 (5) is average while 20 (2) is poor and 80 is top-end.

Bruce graded out as a five in hitting and a “high six” in power. Winker is close to those, grading out as a 6 in hitting and a 5.5 in power, per MLB.com. He’s the team’s highest-rated outfield prospect for a reason, beating out the underperforming Phil Ervin and the injured Yorman Rodriguez.

Winker would seem to fill the Bruce-sized void in right field, giving the Reds an outfield of Duvall-Hamilton-Winker from left to right and an infield of Suarez-Peraza-Phillips-Votto from third to first with Mesoraco catching.

That’s not bad, and in a few years with the subtraction of Phillips and the addition of another bat at third base, the Reds could have a decent lineup in a year, maybe two.

The bullpen is a natural disaster. It’s hard to predict who will be in what role, predicting who will be in the ‘pen in general seems impossible. I’m inclined to guess the bullpen will be made up of whomever the team decides can’t cut it as a starter, which could include Raisel Iglesias.

As for the starting rotation itself, Homer Bailey and DeSclafani seem to be locks. Bailey is a lock due to his contract while DeSclafani seems to be pitching his way into an ace role. That leaves three spots for a ton of players.

Glancing back at MLB’s top 30 players, three of the top five and five of the top 10 are pitchers. Two of the team’s top pitching prospects, Cody Reed and Robert Stephenson, have already seen time in the Reds’ staff this year. Amir Garrett, who entered the season fourth on the team’s prospect list, pitched very well at Pensacola but walked six batters in his first start for the Bats, which isn’t likely to earn him a shot at the majors anytime soon.

The sixth-best prospect in the Reds’ farm, Keury Mella, is currently in the Florida State League, too far out to make an impact in 2016. He could show up on the roster next season, but a 4-5 record and a 3.29 ERA in AA aren’t exactly making waves.

So, in terms of the starting rotation, Bailey and DeSclafani are locks. Cody Reed, should he continue pitching well, should be included as well.

Dan Straily has pitched surprisingly well at times for the Reds this year and does have some team control left, but given the team’s stance on rebuilding, I don’t think they can allow him to keep a rotation slot in 2017. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was traded in the next month or so, opening up a spot in the rotation for Stephenson or Bailey, depending on the latter’s rehab.

Alfredo Simon should be nowhere near the Reds pitching staff next season. If a restraining order must be filed, then so be it.

Brandon Finnegan has pitched well in a starter’s role for the Reds this year, but he was projected as more of a reliever than a starter. Do the Reds keep him in the rotation, or do they ask him to solidify the bullpen in 2017?

That’s one of many questions the team will find themselves asking as we draw ever so closer to the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The questions are hard enough to answer now, without knowing the players the Reds get in return for their deals. Once the trades have actually been made, it’s going to get even more difficult for both the fans and the front office.

Suffer through the losing, Reds fans. There very well could be reinforcements on the way. You just have to give them a little while.