The Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals were reportedly having some trade talks this past week and those talks included the likes of Jonathan India and Brady Singer. After Nick Martinez decided to accept the Reds qualifying offer, it seemed that those trade talks died down. But while things seemed quiet, they weren’t. On Friday evening it became official as the Reds acquired Singer and sent India and minor league outfielder Joey Wiemer to Kansas City.
After what has felt like 18 months of trade rumors surrounding Jonathan India, he has actually been traded. With the emergence of Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain, India didn’t seem to have a spot at second base if and when everyone was healthy. Cincinnati opted to keep him last offseason despite consistently being involved in trade rumors and when McLain wound up injured in spring training it seemed like it was a smart move for the Reds to keep the 2021 Rookie of the Year around. He stepped back into an every day role and had his best season since that 2021 campaign.
With acquiring Brady Singer the Reds are adding depth to their rotation. The 28-year-old right-handed starter made a career high 32 starts in 2024 and threw a career high 179.2 innings to go along with a 3.71 ERA. Singer walked just 54 batters and he had 170 strikeouts.
Throughout his career he has been a guy who has generated an above-average rate of groundballs and has a 49% rate for his career (the league average rate is 42%). For the most part he’s been a 2-pitch guy, throwing his sinker and slider over 90% of the time in four of his five seasons. In 2024 he exchanged some sinkers for 4-seam fastballs. That led to a career low groundball rate of 47%. He also threw the change up at the lowest rate of his career in 2024 – throwing it just 2% of the time.
Cincinnati is likely taking on a few extra million dollars in salary in this deal. Singer is arbitration eligible in 2025 and 2026. MLB Trade Rumors projects that he will get $8,800,000 for 2025. Jonathan India, who is also under team control through 2026, is set to make $5,000,000 in 2025.
Wiemer was acquired by the Reds at the trade deadline along with right-handed pitcher Jakob Junis and some cash in exchange for Frankie Montas. After spending his college career at the University of Cincinnati, the stay with the Cincinnati Reds was much shorter. Wiemer only played in two games with the Reds this season and spent much of his time after the trade in Triple-A.
While in Cincinnati he only had one plate appearance. He drew a walk. The 25-year-old outfielder played in 30 games for Triple-A Louisville. He struggled in a big way after joining the Bats. He hit just .191/.280/.229 and had just three extra-base hits – two doubles and one triple.
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