Hunter Greene’s name is still out there, but Saturday night in Los Angeles changed the equation fast.
With the Detroit Tigers shipping two-time Cy Young Award-winner Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers, Cincinnati lost the clearest, most obvious trade partner for Greene. That matters because Los Angeles had the kind of firepower that usually makes a deal like this possible: a massive payroll, a top-tier farm system and the financial muscle that comes with its TV deal. If anyone could have absorbed the cost of Greene’s deal and met the Reds’ price, it was the Dodgers.
Instead, the Dodgers paid for Skubal with a prospect-heavy package of Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith. Hope and Ryan are both ranked among MLB Pipeline’s top 100, but even that return still looks light for a pitcher of Skubal’s stature. For Cincinnati, it also raises a simple question: if that’s the kind of deal Skubal fetched, what have the Reds been hearing on Greene?
The answer so far appears to be: not enough. Greene’s contract still has three years left and it’s described as ridiculously affordable, which is exactly why Cincinnati can ask for a premium. The Boston Red Sox already found that out when their would-be offer was quickly turned aside late last week.
There were other clubs tied to Skubal, too. The Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves were all rumored to be in the mix.
But the Brewers are off the table for obvious reasons: the Reds aren’t sending Greene to a division rival. Tampa Bay could probably get close to Cincinnati’s asking price, though the Rays tend to keep everything under wraps.
Atlanta, meanwhile, doesn’t have a reputation for giving up top-tier talent, so the Braves never looked like a clean fit.
That leaves the kind of surprise bidder that can still change a deadline, like the Arizona Diamondbacks or Philadelphia Phillies. But the Dodgers were the most logical landing spot all along, and now they’re gone.
Cincinnati’s situation on the field only sharpens the deadline picture. After losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, the Reds dropped to 5½ games behind the final NL Wild Card spot.
That makes a sell-off of players on expiring contracts before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline feel increasingly likely.
As for Greene, the door isn’t shut. It just got a lot harder to open. Some MLB insiders are saying there’s a 50-50 chance he moves, but that number probably dipped after Saturday’s blockbuster.
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Terry Francona has made it clear the trade deadline belongs to the front office, not the dugout, and that distinction matters now more than ever. The organizations willingness to listen on players such as JJ Bleday, Nathaniel Lowe and Dane Myers suggests the Reds may be thinking beyond this season even as the standings leave the door cracked open. For a team that has played its way into the conversation, the deadline could say just as much about the long view as the standings do about the short one. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Deadline Could Bring Elly De La Cruz The Infield Help He Needs
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One name drawing speculation is Baltimore infielder Jackson Holliday, a young player now on the trade block and the kind of addition that would fit a team trying to support its young core. For Cincinnati, the appeal is obvious: a chance to add more infield stability around Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart while the deadline market takes shape, even if no deal is close to being done. [Read more 🡒]