Rival executive believes Reds could be sleeper for NY Mets starter Justin Verlander

Oh boy! These latest Reds rumors are sure to stir up the Cincinnati fanbase. Is Cincinnati Reds General Manager Nick Krall crazy enough to pull off a blockbuster deal with the New York Mets?

Mark Feinsand of the MLB.com is reporting that Mets starting pitcher Justin Verlander could be on the move before the August 1st trade deadline.

While Feinsand mentions the the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros as the two most likely trade destinations, a rival executive believes the Reds to be a sleeper team in the Verlander sweepstakes.

Reds rumors: Rival executive believes Cincinnati could be sleeper for Justin Verlander.

Now, before you get all bent out of shape, let's look this for just a minute. The Cincinnati Reds are said to be searching for controllable, young starting pitching at this year's trade deadline. Justin Verlander checks two of those three boxes.

A former MVP and three-time Cy Young Award-winner, Verlander is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Verlander, though he has a full no-trade clause included in his contract, signed a two-year/$86.6-million deal this past offseason. So Verlander's contract is guaranteed for the 2024 season.

However, youth is not on Verlander's side. At 40 years of age, Verlander is actually older than Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Verlander is 5-5 on the season with a 3.64 ERA, but in the month of July, the right-hander is 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 27 punch outs.

These latest Reds rumors seem a bit too farfetched.

Circling back to Mark Feinsand's report; the MLB.com writer cites a rival executive who believes that Cincinnati has a deep enough farm system to get a deal done and wonders if Reds GM Nick Krall is "wild enough" to pull the trigger on such a deal.

Quite frankly, I can't see it. While adding a pitcher like Justin Verlander would certainly be an upgrade for the Cincinnati Reds rotation, taking on his $43.3-million salary in 2024 seems like something the notoriously tight-fisted ownership group would balk at.

This deal looks even more unlikely because of how the Reds are positioned with their farm system. After fleecing the New York Mets last summer by dealing Tyler Naquin to the Big Apple in exchange for Jose Acuña and Hector Rodriguez, Cincinnati is in the business of building up their pipeline, not tearing it down.

While there is certainly some redundancy on the active roster, and Cincinnati is well-positioned to make such a trade, these latest Reds rumors seem a bit too farfetched. But, at this time of the year, don't rule anything out.