Reds had eyes on one particular starter in leadup to their quiet trade deadline

The Cincinnati Reds reportedly targeted Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer at the trade deadline, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Needless to say, their efforts were unsuccessful, as Cincinnati’s only move at the deadline was to trade for Athletics reliever Sam Moll.

It’s no surprise that the Reds were searching for starting pitching. Entering the deadline, their starters had a 5.21 ERA, and four-fifths of their Opening Day rotation was either on the injured list or had already been released. According to a report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Reds were even willing to trade Jonathan India, once thought to be an untouchable piece of their core, to acquire young, controllable pitching. They were also linked to Eduardo Rodriguez and were said to be scouting the New York Mets, possibly with interest in Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander.

The 27-year-old Singer meets the young and controllable criteria better than any of those veterans; he is under team control through 2026. Furthermore, unlike Rodriguez, Scherzer, and Verlander, he doesn’t have any no-trade protection in his contract, so he couldn’t have vetoed a deal to the borderline-contending Reds club. In other words, he made good sense as a target for Cincinnati on a relatively thin trade market.

Singer looked like a solid, mid-rotation starter right out of the gate in 2020, pitching to a 4.06 ERA in 12 starts. However, he ran into trouble down the stretch in 2021, posting a 5.70 ERA in the second half. The Royals moved him to the bullpen to open the 2022 season but quickly changed their minds, sending him to Triple-A to ramp back up into a starting role. Upon his return from the minors, he looked better than ever, putting up a 3.11 ERA and 3.43 SIERA in 24 games.

Unfortunately, Singer ran into another rough patch at the start of the 2023 campaign. After 15 starts, he was sporting a 6.34 ERA and 4.67 SIERA in 76 2/3 innings pitched. Since that day, however, the right-hander has turned things around once again. In nine outings, he has a 3.05 ERA and 3.90 SIERA while averaging nearly 6 2/3 innings per game. He cut his walk rate without sacrificing strikeouts, and he’s allowing far less hard contact, too. That’s exactly the kind of pitcher he looked like last season.

Ultimately the Royals were not compelled to trade Singer. He had only just begun to reverse his fortunes by the deadline, and Kansas City had little reason to sell low on such a promising arm. He still has three years of arbitration eligibility ahead of him, and it’s possible the Royals could be competitive in the AL Central within that time. If not, they still have ample opportunity to find a trade.

Similarly, the Reds weren’t facing any pressure to make a major deal. With so many talented young players under team control for the next several years, their competitive window is just beginning to open. They could have used another starter for the stretch run, but surely they were hesitant to add a pitcher who had struggled most of the season.

If Singer continues to succeed over the next six weeks, the Reds might be inclined to check back in with the Royals this winter. Cincinnati has several promising arms on the roster, including Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft, and Lyon Richardson, but this team could certainly use a more established starter to anchor the rotation. The Reds have one of the better farm systems in the game (N0. 12 at Baseball America, No. 5 at MLB Pipeline), while the Royals have one of the worst (No. 29 at BA and MLB Pipeline), so Cincinnati should have all the necessary pieces if they decide to make a deal.