Hunter Greene’s injury may force Reds into unthinkable Brady Singer decision

Conventional wisdom was that, if nothing else, the Cincinnati Reds would clear out their cache of veteran rentals at the trade deadline. Of those veterans, the one who far and away had the most value was Brady Singer. But the Reds didn't trade Singer, and now they might be glad to have hung onto the right-hander.

According to Nick Krall, the offers for Singer and other prominent trade chips just weren't there. That might be true, but there's also a possibility that holding onto the 30-year-old was a hedge in more than one way. While it seemed like Cincinnati was buried in the playoff chase, the club has gone 13-8 after the All-Star break and is still hanging around the fringes of the NL wild card race.

The thing is, though, even the most optimistic person in the organization probably knows competing is a pipe dream given the absolute gauntlet of a schedule that awaits the Reds in September. No, instead, the real hedge was holding onto Singer to protect the team from Hunter Greene.

This might be a mild conspiracy theory, but maybe the Reds had concerns over Greene's elbow before it was announced that he was dealing with soreness. Now that we know that the soreness is due to a torn UCL, it makes tremendous sense to hold on to Singer for the duration of 2026. It might even make sense to hold on to him beyond the end of this season.

Reds should follow the Nick Martinez path and give Brady Singer the qualifying offer in light of Hunter Greene's injury

Greene will miss most, if not all, of 2027, and while his future with Cincinnati beyond that is murky, the organization needs to handle the short-term future before looking too far on the horizon. With Singer's contract expiring and Greene on the shelf, the Reds are going to head into next year an arm short in the rotation.

That is, unless they bring Singer back. The question is, would it be wise to commit the kind of money it would take to retain him long term? Probably not. But in the short term, Singer could hold immense value.

That's why it makes sense to extend him the qualifying offer once the time comes. Similar to Nick Martinez during the 2024-2025 offseason, the Reds could use the depth, and there's a good chance that Singer would accept the one-year pact that's expected to be worth close to $23 million.

It's true that Singer's ERA has flirted with the 5.00 mark all season, but it's really been a tale of two seasons for the former Kansas City Royals stalwart. Over his first 11 starts, he regularly got shelled and posted a 6.18 ERA. However, over his last 11 starts, dating back to June 1, he's looked like the Singer of old with a 3.45 ERA.

If Singer continues to pitch as he has during his 11 post-June 1 starts, then $23 million for a year of his services doesn't seem like a dramatic overpay. Additionally, keeping him around for another year allows the franchise the time it needs to figure out an escape plan with Greene.

Ultimately, the Reds are going to need a starter heading into 2027, and rather than pay market value for a new one on the free-agent market or trade valuable assets to acquire one, they can take the only clear short-term pathway available to them and offer Singer the qualifying offer. The worst-case scenario is that he declines it and they recoup a draft pick rather than lose him for nothing, but more than likely, he accepts and sticks around to bridge the gap.

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