3 deals the Reds need to get done with 24 hours until the trade deadline

1. The Reds should trade for Nationals’ reliever Daniel Hudson.

The Reds still need to add another reliable reliever, and Daniel Hudson may be one of the more reliable bullpen arms remaining. The 34-year-old is in thee final season of his contract and will be a free agent at the end of the year. Hudson has a 2.20 ERA in 32.2 innings of work this season. Hudson is currently on the COVID-19 injured list, so availability may be delayed.

You may be asking, why in the world should the Reds trade for another reliever? Have you watched any of Cincinnati’s games this season. Look, I’m ecstatic that Nick Krall was able to land the trio of Luis Cessa, Justin Wilson, and Mychal Givens, but we’re talking about a bullpen that owns a 5.34 ERA.

Yes, Tejay Antone, Lucas Sims, and Michael Lorenzen are on the way back, but after seeing that trio of hurlers miss significant time this season, it’s hard to trust that the team’s bullpen as a whole will be healthy for the remainder of the season.

While this is Sims first trip to the IL this season, Lorenzen began the season on the 60-day IL, and this is Antone’s third trip to the injured list. The Reds need to add more depth to their bullpen, and pitchers like Jeff Hoffman and Sean Doolittle are expendable.

Daniel Hudson owns a 37.8% strikeout-rate this season and a 5.5% walk-rate. The Nats are sellers at this point, as Max Scherzer is likely to go prior to 4 PM on Friday. Trea Turner and others may be gone by tomorrow afternoon as well. Cincinnati needs a high-leverage reliever, and Hudson is certainly that. He’s owed approximately $2M over the final two months of the season.