Pirates swiping trade candidate from Reds likely gives Matt McLain second life

Cross another picture-perfect fit for the Cincinnati Reds off the board, with Brandon Lowe heading to the rival Pittsburgh Pirates in a wild three-team deal that also involved the Tampa Bay Rays and the Houston Astros.

Lowe would have brought some serious left-handed thump to the Reds lineup. The 31-year-old second baseman crushed 31 long balls and slugged .477 last season. Cincinnati got just 37 homers from all of their left-handed bats combined last season, as the group combined for an anemic .384 slugging percentage that ranked 24th in the league.

Making just $11.5 million in the final year of his deal, Lowe would have been one of the few options that the Reds could have fit into their budget.

Missing out on Brandon Lowe likely gives Matt McLain a new lease on life with the Reds

There would have been a creative way to fit both Lowe and incumbent second baseman Matt McLain into the same lineup, but it would have involved a lot of gymnastics that may or may not have worked out.

Now, it looks like the pressure will be on the 26-year-old McLain to prove he's more the 2023 version, the one that slashed .290/.357/.507 as opposed to the 2025 version of himself that posted a dreadful .220/.300/.343 line after missing the entire 2024 season, recovering from shoulder surgery.

That is, of course, if the Reds don't have a bigger blockbuster up their sleeve. At the same time that the Lowe to Cincinnati rumors began percolating, the club was also linked to a bigger fish in the Arizona Diamondbacks superstar second baseman, Ketel Marte.

Since the original smoke began billowing, the Reds' connection to Marte has only intensified, with USA Today's Bob Nightengale naming Cincinnati as one of three potential frontrunners for his services.

The issue with Marte's deal isn't necessarily the money. With a $19.4 million AAV, he's downright affordable relative to the production he provides, though that number is still at the top end of what the Reds can afford. Instead, the sticking point may be the years remaining, as Marte is locked up through at least his age-36 season. The other two top suitors, the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers, have deeper pockets than the Reds and have to be considered better fits for the three-time All-Star.

Beyond Marte, the options for a true offensive upgrade have become very slim, which brings us full circle back to McLain. If Cincinnati isn't able to bring in another big bat, they are going to need him to step up big time and prove that 2025 and not 2023 was truly his fluke season. If he does that, suddenly things won't look so bad.