Thinking about this trade the Royals and Reds made, which brings Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer to Kansas City in exchange for Brady Singer, I...think it makes sense, but I think that one side thought it through more than the others.
Okay, let's talk about where this trade works. And there is some of it that works on the Kansas City end. Jonathan India is the exact kind of middle infield piece that the Royals needed. Pasquantino and Witt are firmly in place, and Massey and Garcia are...fine. Massey had a decent rebound season, Garcia's was a step down from his 2023. One of those two could be a swing piece, India could fit right into 2nd, and that infield could really be something. I also like India's odds in that lineup; he doesn't need to be THE defining piece, but he's a great piece that can get some contact work done.
That also works to clear up the now-crowded Cincinnati infield, which will have the return of Matt McLain at 2nd, CES back at 1st and Candelario and Marte at third, in addition to Elly remaining at short. Keeping India in that scenario complicates things too much, and he's got more room in Kansas City I think.
And then you can also say that the Reds had too many outfielders, and the Royals' OF isn't set in stone yet, so Wiemer's better off for KC than Cincinnati. So that works too.
...but it's the Brady Singer part that confuses me a bit.
Okay. So Brady Singer was really good in 2022, right? And he was primed to be one of the premier young starters in the game. Then 2023 he has a down year, and everyone sort of...backs off that. Cole Ragans shows up, the Royals get Lugo and Wacha, the pressure's off. And so in 2024, Singer has a decent enough season, 9-13 with a 3.71 ERA and 170 strikeouts, but he's no longer the most crucial arm in that rotation. So, going into 2025, the Royals have Lugo, Ragans, Wacha, Alec Marsh, and some combination of Kris Bubic and Kyle Wright, assuming neither get cut soon. We're looking at a rotation that no longer has room for Brady Singer.
So let's look at where he's going, the Reds' rotation, who will be using all of the following as starting options in 2025: Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Brandon Williamson, Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez, Rhett Lowder, Graham Ashcraft and Julian Aguiar. Now, obviously you have to factor in injuries, people starting in the minors, but that's eight guys. And I know they're overestimating this because for the second year in a row the Reds got caught with their pants down again because too many starters got injured. So they're trying to employ a strategy that prevents this. But now this ninth guy enters the equation, and he does so as a major league option, so that means Rhett Lowder likely will have to fight harder for a rotation spot, Nick Martinez will likely be starting the season out of the 'pen, and if multiple people who were injured this year are ready at spring training, it's gonna lead to some awkward decisions.
So yes, the Royals no longer had room for Brady Singer. But the Reds have even LESS room, even as a team creating back molars and wisdom teeth for the rotation essentially. So unless the Reds are interested in swinging Singer for another trade, they're gonna be holding the bag like this. Maybe they have a plan with all of this, but it just seems excessive and misguided.
Who knows, maybe Singer works more than India, but I'm not sold with KC's decision to give Singer a harder time yet. Maybe I'll warm up to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment