Only a year after reaching the postseason, the Cincinnati Reds were considered clear-cut sellers going into Monday’s MLB trade deadline. The Reds are 53-58 and in last place in the National Central, 15 ½ games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. The Reds are also six games out of the last NL wild card.
Rumors involving Reds right-hander Hunter Greene and shortstop Elly De La Cruz sprang up in the final days before the deadline. However, a team source told FanSided that Cincinnati never seriously considered either player because Greene is signed through 2028 and De La Cruz is under contractual control until 2029.
Still, the Reds were expected to make a few moves at the deadline. They did make three trades on Monday, but they were insignificant and lost in the shuffle of the many bigger deals going around the major leagues.
The Reds made two separate trades with the Cleveland Guardians, first acquiring infielder Juan Brito for cash considerations, then dealing first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for a prospect. The Reds also shipped left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson to the St. Louis Cardinals for $250,000 of international bonus pool money.
Dull deadline will further anger Reds’ fans
That certainly won’t appease Reds fans, whose calls for owner Bob Castellini to fire President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall continue to grow. Cincinnati’s lack of activity surprised FanSided MLB Insider Robert Murray.
Said Murray: "The Reds’ deadline has folks baffled. I don't get it. Neither does any executive who interacted with the Reds. 'What are they doing?' one American League executive texted after the deadline yesterday. 'Can't believe it,' another executive texted. Tyler Stephenson was an obvious trade candidate, and two sources insisted that Cincinnati sought a top 100 prospect for the catcher. Brady Singer, on an expiring contract, was also a clear trade candidate, and they held onto him. Could he be a qualifying offer candidate? Either way, easily the most confusing deadline of any team in baseball.”
As Murray mentioned, the Reds had two attractive chips in Singer and Stephenson. Both are on expiring contracts, so that the Reds wouldn’t have gotten a huge return for either player. Yet they still could have gotten something. Plenty of catching-needy teams were said to be interested in Stephenson, who is hitting .256/.342/.417 with nine home runs in 85 games. Yet the Reds didn’t come off their high asking price.
Why didn't the Reds trade Brady Singer?
The Reds are likely to try to keep Singer for 2027 with a qualifying offer. Smaller-market teams rarely make a QO, but that is how the Reds retained fellow starting pitcher Nick Martinez following the 2024 season.
Singer is 5-10 with a 4.35 ERA in 21 starts this season. Yet he registered quality starts in each of his five outings in July.
Another Reds player who can become a free agent at the end of the season is left-handed reliever Brock Burke, and he, too, seemingly had some trade value with a 2.52 ERA in 56 games. Right-handed reliever Pierce Johnson and third baseman Eugenio also have expiring contracts.
However, Krall told reporters on Monday night that he received few enticing offers.
“We had a lot of conversations about a lot of guys, but at the end of the day, the deals weren’t just there for us,” Krall said. “You would hope that more things would happen, but at this point, they just didn’t."
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