Why the India-Singer swap makes sense for both Reds, Royals

The Reds and Royals combined for the biggest trade of the young offseason (so far) on Friday night, when Cincinnati acquired veteran righty Brady Singer in exchange for second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer.

It was one of those rare deals that saw each team acquiring a proven big leaguer to address an area of need.

TRADE DETAILS
Reds get: RHP Brady Singer
Royals get: 2B Jonathan India, OF Joey Wiemer

Let's take a closer look at this exchange from all angles, via MLB.com experts:

Why it makes sense for the Reds
Via Reds beat writer Mark Sheldon

Singer is not known for power stuff and his sinker -- the right-hander's primary pitch -- averaged just over 92 mph last season. He's a ground-ball pitcher and often induces lighter contact. That should serve him well going from pitcher-friendly Kauffman Stadium to hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park.

In 32 starts and 179 2/3 innings for Kansas City last season, Singer was 9-13 with a 3.71 ERA and 3.1 bWAR. He had more starts and innings than anybody on Cincinnati's pitching staff in 2024.

“Last year, we had 16 pitchers on our staff that started games, so just getting someone with some durability and some longevity that’s had quality in the big leagues that we feel can shore up the rotation," Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. "Those two guys have a chance to really add impact and length to our team.”

The Reds’ rotation is expected to have All-Star Hunter Greene, Nick Martinez and Singer, plus Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder, Carson Spiers and Graham Ashcraft in the mix for the remaining spots. More >>

Why it makes sense for the Royals
Via Royals beat writer Anne Rogers

The Royals have always been fond of India, and he was identified as a potential trade target during this past season, general manager J.J. Picollo said on Friday night. When Wiemer’s name was introduced as part of the potential package, the Royals felt comfortable closing the deal.

“Clearly, we were looking for a leadoff hitter,” Picollo said. “ ... We wanted to address on-base. We wanted somebody to provide consistency for us in that leadoff spot. And Jonathan’s going to do that. We were very happy to acquire him. And Joey Wiemer is another player that we’ve always thought very highly of, a highly touted prospect.”

India, who will turn 28 on Dec. 15, was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 2021 and has been a key piece of the Reds’ infield for the past four years. He has a career .253/.352/.412 slash line, and in 2024, when he wasn’t totally healthy despite playing 151 games, he posted a .749 OPS with 15 home runs and 28 doubles.

Where India fits defensively is yet to be determined. He has only played second base in his MLB career, but he could have the ability to play third base and outfield. The Royals will discuss his fit, along with returning second baseman Michael Massey’s, throughout this offseason. More >>

Hot Stove implications
Via executive reporter Mark Feinsand

With a relatively weak second-base free-agent market led by Gleyber Torres, the Royals jumped the trade market by acquiring India, who was among the best second basemen available on the trade market. Singer isn’t at the same level as some of the top starting pitchers in free agency, but he has had solid seasons in two of the past three years and he is under control for the next two seasons, giving the Reds a cost-controlled starter to bolster their rotation.

Diving deep
Via analyst Mike Petriello

Singer and India were both first-round picks in the 2018 Draft, and each has had some success in the Majors, but neither has been an impact player so far. That’s likely to continue on their new clubs, as they’ll be more supporting players behind bigger stars.

India’s entire game is essentially about having one elite skill, and that’s not chasing outside the zone -- and nobody in the Majors was better than him at that last season. While his below-average power (28th percentile hard-hit rate) is likely to look even weaker going from the Majors' best home run park to one of the worst, Kauffman Stadium is actually just as good of a right-handed-hitting park as Great American Ball Park. That is, in part, because it reduces strikeouts and has a huge outfield to cover, which might help India if he can just lace liners into the gaps. While he’s an average hitter overall (104 OPS+), that’s a big deal for a thin Kansas City lineup that probably had only three hitters (Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino) who were even projected to be average.

Singer has been a somewhat similar average-to-slightly-below-average pitcher over his career, though he’s had big platoon splits both in terms of handedness (lefty batters have an OPS that is 103 points higher over his career) and location (he’s been 66 OPS points worse away from Kansas City). There’s a real concern that a pitcher who doesn’t really miss many bats or limit hard contact might give up more than a few extra homers in Cincinnati, though his ability to keep the ball on the ground (79th percentile in ground-ball rate) should help with that somewhat. If the Reds can teach him something to attack lefties, they may find some usage. If not, someone has to eat up the back-end innings.