Bryce Harper’s trade comments highlight inevitable future for Reds and Hunter Greene

Try as they might, Cincinnati Reds fans simply cannot escape the rumor cycle surrounding Hunter Greene. At the very least, that's true for good reason. Even in a loaded starting pitching market that features Tarik Skubal, arguably the best pitcher in the world, it's not a stretch to say Greene is the the most valuable trade chip available thanks to his performance and remaining contract.

Unfortunately, there's a hidden cost to all this public gesturing and rumor-mongering. Look no further than what's currently going on in Philadelphia with Bryce Harper. Harper reportedly feels hurt and betrayed by Philadelphia Phillies' president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and his unwillingness to downplay trade speculation, which in turn could lead to Harper looking for a way out of Philly this offseason.

“I have given my all to Philly from the start,” Harper told The Athletic. “Now there is trade talk? I made every effort to avoid this. It’s all I heard in D.C. (with the Nationals). I hated it. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Harper's comments are hard to ignore as a Reds fan, seeing as Greene is currently in a similar boat in Cincinnati.

Hunter Greene trade speculation could push Reds' best player to demand out

For a recent NL Central example of this same phenomenon, try to remember the Milwaukee Brewers' drama with their former ace, Corbin Burnes. The starter and the team had gone to war over $700,000 in arbitration in prior years, and it was clear the Brewers had no intention of paying Burnes the kind of money he was worth. Thus, after months of trade rumors, Milwaukee dealt their 2022-23 Opening Day starter to the Baltimore Orioles.

Thanks to a team-friendly contract extension signed back in 2023, the Reds won't have to deal with the same money-related arguments, but that only makes the situation more frustrating. Greene is already one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he's already signed a below-market deal.

Sure, that contract may make Greene so valuable that he's virtually impossible to trade, but the issue here is that the Reds' star pitcher might become disillusioned with the franchise, perhaps to the point that he demands a trade. Then, all of that valuable leverage Cincinnati has will go up in smoke.

At this juncture, this is mostly hypothetical -- Greene hasn't publicly commented on the rumors one way or another, and he surely understands the business side of this sport. But this entire saga is turning into one of the most frustrating in recent memory, which is exactly the kind of PR you don't want to be generating after making the playoffs in a full season for the first time in 12 years.