Reds’ looming roster battle reveals why Brady Singer shouldn’t go anywhere

All offseason, Cincinnati Reds fans have been waiting for the news that Brady Singer has been shipped out of town. The reasons are obvious. Singer will make a not insignificant $12.75 million in 2026, is in his final year of team control, and almost certainly won't be re-signed.

The Reds need offense, are cash-strapped, and there's likely a strong market for Singer's services. Not only could trading him help land the offensive upgrade Cincinnati seeks, but the club would also be wise to capitalize on an asset now rather than lose him for nothing next winter.

However, as spring training approaches and the Reds' fifth starter battle heats up, Singer's value to the club begins to shine through.

The Reds' fifth starter battle shows why Cincy can't trade away Brady Singer

The candidates for the final start in the rotation are numerous. You've got top prospects Chase Petty, Chase Burns, and Rhett Lowder in the mix, as well as young arms returning from injury in Brandon Williamson and Julian Aguiar.

There's a lot of talent in that mix, but it is all pretty raw and unproven. Petty struggled mightily in his brief, six-inning big league stint and looked lost at Louisville, posting a 6.39 ERA. Burns struck out an impressive 35.6% of batters in 43⅓ big league innings, but rose all the way from High-A to the majors in his first pro season. Lowder barely pitched last year as a forearm strain and an oblique injury nearly wiped out his entire campaign.

Aguiar only has 31⅔ innings and a 6.25 major league ERA to his credit, and Williamson has looked like a serviceable back-end starter over his 131⅓ career innings, but turns 28 in April, limiting his upside.

There's a real chance that, given the plethora of options, one can establish himself as a competent or better fifth starter, if not more. But if Cincinnati were to trade Singer, they'd need two of these unproven arms to step up.

That's to say nothing of the inevitable injuries that will crop up throughout the season. All teams deal with this, but it's an even bigger concern for the Reds given the histories of Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo. If they trade Singer and the injury bug strikes, the depth will quickly be tested.

We already saw this happen in 2025. Injuries to some of these depth arms, combined with Greene missing time, are what motivated the Reds to trade for Zack Littell at the deadline. Timing was on the Reds' side when that happened, but a similar situation earlier in 2026 could derail the entire season.

So while trading Singer seems to make a ton of sense, not enough people are acknowledging the risk that it poses, and because of that, Cincinnati would be wise to hold onto the right-hander. After all, pitchers who can eat innings and post a 4.00 ERA or better don't grow on trees. If they did, nobody would be clamoring to trade for Singer.