The Cincinnati Reds started the offseason off with a trade that sent Jonathan India and minor league outfielder Joey Wiemer to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brady Singer. India, if everyone is healthy, would have likely been pushed into more of a super-sub/utility role that would have had him playing multiple spots a few times a week rather than being an every day player. Singer, though, will be joining the rotation. While the Reds had some depth if everyone was healthy, pitchers don’t exactly have a good track record of staying healthy.
The plan of attack for Cincinnati’s front office after that has been one that’s been stated as improving their offense and their defense. Their offense was bad in 2024 as they hit just .231/.305/.388 with an 88 OPS+ (meaning they were 12% below the league average OPS once the park factors have been accounted for). The pitching, which they added to, was actually quite good last year with an ERA+ of 108 (meaning their ERA was 8% better than the league average after accounting for park factors) and with Nick Martinez returning and the addition of Singer – on paper things might even be better.
The division wasn’t particularly close last season as the Brewers won it running away, beating the Cubs and Cardinals by 10 games with a 93-69 record. It was a busy day for two of those three clubs on Friday. Milwaukee went out and acquired starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, a prospect, and a little bit of cash from the New York Yankees. But in order to do that they had to trade away closer Devin Williams, who hasn’t given up a hit to the Cincinnati Reds since Jimmy Carter was president (don’t fact check this, please). Cortes threw 174.1 innings for the Yankees last season with a 3.77 ERA. He missed much of 2023, but was outstanding in 2021 and 2022 where his ERA was 2.61 in his 251.1 innings.
How the swap there will work out for Milwaukee is up in the air, but they are going to have a different look with their pitching staff next year. But they weren’t the only team making moves. The Chicago Cubs went out and acquired one of the better hitters in baseball, trading for Kyle Tucker. They sent Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and a prospect to Houston in return. Paredes was acquired at the deadline by the Cubs and went out and put up a .633 OPS. Wesneski was solid out of the Cubs bullpen, posting a 3.86 ERA in 67.2 innings.
Unlike the Reds, the Cubs had an average offense (100 OPS+). Also unlike the Reds so far this offseason, Chicago went out and improved their offense. Tucker hit .289/.408/.585 last season in 78 games. He missed nearly all of June, all of July, all of August, and nearly the first week of September before he returned for the final month. He’s been an All-Star in each of the last three years, and since breaking out in 2020, he’s put up an OPS+ of 143 while hitting 121 home runs for the Astros.
It’s tough to think that this move could make the Cubs worse in the short term – at least on paper. Kyle Tucker is a huge upgrade over a reliever and an infielder who couldn’t hit the ball out of the infield.
Cincinnati is probably better on paper in 2025 than they were in reality in 2024. Matt McLain – at least on paper – is going to play more than he did in 2024. A healthy Christian Encarnacion-Strand, a healthier Jeimer Candelario, a healthier Jake Fraley…. well, you get the point. Still, there’s a lot of ground to make up between where they finished 2024 and where they likely to be get to in order to compete for the division.
The Reds have been involved in plenty of rumors since the trade for Brady Singer, but so far they’ve either come up short (Garrett Crochet) or just haven’t been able to get past the “we’ve talked” stage with teams on guys like Luis Robert Jr., Josh Naylor, Lane Thomas, or had at least some contact with free agents like Nick Pivetta and James McCann.
It’s possible that they could go without a splash type of move this offseason and compete. The talent is there on the club. But it would also likely mean that they would have to look back when the season was over and have had nearly everyone healthy and everyone performing at least close to expectations. That’s a rarity. And it’s probably why despite getting Nick Martinez back and trading for Brady Singer, that the team still checked in on Nick Pivetta even though they’ve got starting pitching options with Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Martinez, Singer, Graham Ashcraft, and Rhett Lowder.
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