The Cincinnati Reds made a flurry of moves at this year’s trade deadline to bolster their playoff hopes, acquiring Ke’Bryan Hayes, Zack Littell, and Miguel Andujar before the July 31 cutoff. However, their most impactful trade of the past year may have happened much earlier—back in November—when they sent Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Brady Singer.
Singer has been outstanding lately, emerging as one of the most reliable arms in the Reds’ rotation. He dominated the Atlanta Braves in a 3-2 win last Friday and has tallied 18 strikeouts over 12⅓ innings across his last two starts, allowing just a single earned run.
India, meanwhile, is enduring the worst season of his career. Entering the weekend, he was slashing just .240/.320/.343 with five home runs, 32 RBIs, and an 85 wRC+. Wiemer’s season hasn’t gone much better—he was designated for assignment by Kansas City last week to make room for their new acquisitions.
Looking back, the Brady Singer trade is shaping up to be the Reds’ best move of the year.
India had become expendable on a Cincinnati roster packed with young infield talent. Though the Royals have tried him at multiple spots this year, he was used almost exclusively at second base with the Reds. With Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Spencer Steer, Jeimer Candelario, and Matt McLain in the mix, the Reds had a chance to deal from a position of depth to address a long-standing issue—rotation durability.
Cincinnati’s young starters have often faded late in the season. Adding Singer, a workhorse accustomed to the grind, gave the team a dependable presence. Before the trade, he averaged nearly 28 starts and 155 innings per season—not flashy, but consistently available. While his ERA had never dipped below 3.00, he brought much-needed stability.
Singer has continued that trend this year, giving manager Terry Francona a steady presence in the back end of the rotation. On the flip side, India is staring down a career-worst season and may be a non-tender candidate this offseason.
Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall just proved that you don’t need to wait until July to make a franchise-altering deal. It’s a phrase that gets tossed around often, but in this case, it really does look like the Reds fleeced the Royals.
Leave a Reply