Reds-Giants incident all but kills perfect trade deadline fit involving former rival

The Cincinnati Reds, and almost every other Major League organization for that matter, will be looking for relief help as the August 3 trade deadline nears. The Reds bullpen has been among the worst in the league, and yet somehow Cincinnati is still sitting above .500.

The San Francisco Giants are one team that's quickly being talked about as sellers. San Fran had playoff aspirations at the start of the 2026 campaign, but are sitting in the bottom of the NL West and will almost assuredly begin selling off some of their top talent as the trade deadline approaches.

FanSided's Robert Murray mentioned players like Robbie Ray and Luis Arraez as potential trade pieces, but another player who's sure to draw some eyeballs later this summer is former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker. Unfortunately, some bitter history between Brubaker and Reds' utility player Spencer Steer may keep the Giants' righty off the Cincinnati's wish list.

Reds have beef with Giants pitcher JT Brubaker

In case some of the Cincinnati faithful have forgotten, Brubaker had a somewhat tense exchange with Steer during San Francisco's visit to Great American Ball Park earlier this season.

While there was no audio available, Steer can clearly be seen mouthing the words, "F--- you. Throw the f----- ball." He then proceeded to lace a single in left field, and was chirping at Brubaker on his way up the first base line.

As many fans remember, this led to Steer being plunked by the Giants the following day, and then San Francisco reliever Erik Miller had words with Sal Stewart (and the whole Reds dugout) after the final out of the series finale back in April.

While that incident itself is dead and buried, old wounds sometimes take a little longer to heal, and it's doubtful that Brubaker would be welcome inside the Reds' clubhouse; regardless of how well he's pitched for the Giants this season.

Brubaker, who's an Ohio native, owns an impressive 2.70 ERA with 22 punch outs over 30 innings of work. He's signed to a minuscule $1.82 million contract, and will almost certainly be part of San Francisco's upcoming roster purge.

But while Brubaker might not be a good fit for the Reds, that doesn't mean Nick Krall and front office can ignore the need altogether. Cincinnati's relief corps has been used and abused this season, and the Reds will need some reinforcements if they hope to compete down the stretch.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow