Reds have a rare trade opportunity thanks to Orioles savvy contract move

The Cincinnati Reds ranked in the bottom-third of the league in both slugging percentage and home runs last season, but aside from the recent addition of former Colorado Rockies slugger Michael Toglia, the front office has done little to address the team's lack of power.

Thanks to a clever signing on the part of the Baltimore Orioles, the Reds may now have a legitimate opportunity to fill that void through a trade. The O's avoided arbitration with Ryan Mountcastle after agreeing to a one-year, $6.787 million deal with an affordable $7.5 million club-option for the 2027 season.

Heading into his final year of arbitration eligibility, Mountcastle was already an attractive trade candidate for teams looking to add some power to their lineup. But with that extra year of team control, the Orioles slugger will be viewed even more favorably. The Reds shouldn't waste any time, and strike a deal with the O's before it's too late.

Orioles savvy deal with Ryan Mountcastle makes the slugger an easy fix for a Reds lineup that's starved for power

Mountcastle is coming off a down-year, hitting just .250/.287/.367 with seven home runs in 2025. The year prior, however, he posted a .271/.308/.425 slash line with 13 home runs. Mountcastle's bat speed has been among the best in the game the past several seasons, and when he connects, the ball goes a long, long way.

Like so many hitters of his ilk, however, Mountcastle has plenty of swing and miss in his bat. The 28-year-old struggles to lay off pitches outside the strike zone, and saw his strikeout rate jump from 22.5% in 2024 to 27.5% this past season.

But the Reds don't have the luxury of being picky in this scenario. By all accounts, Cincinnati made their $125 million pitch to hometown slugger Kyle Schwarber, but in the aftermath, have no intention of offering such a deal to other would-be power-hitters.

Though free agents like Eugenio Suárez, Cody Bellinger, and Rhys Hoskins would enjoy mashing baseballs inside Great American Ball Park, the Reds don't appear to have the appetite to hand over the type of money those players are going to command. As such, Cincinnati's best bet is to scour the trade market.

With Pete Alonso now in Baltimore, no one expects the Orioles to hang on to Mountcastle heading into the upcoming season. It's unlikely that the O's will be seeking anything more than a mid-tier prospect in exchange for Mountcastle — something the Reds have an abundance of. This is a no-brainer.