The Reds have a chance to get aggressive at the deadline, but the real question is how far they’re willing to go.
Cincinnati has more than half a dozen players on expiring contracts who could be moved before the August 3 deadline, and that alone gives the front office plenty of options. Still, if the Reds want to make a move that actually changes the shape of their future, they may have to do something uncomfortable.
One path worth considering is attaching Cam Collier to a rental to juice the return.
That kind of move would go against the Reds’ usual instinct. They’ve built a reputation for holding tight to their best prospects, sometimes to a fault.
Last year’s deadline trade for Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pittsburgh Pirates was a notable exception, with Sammy Stafura included in the package. Stafura started slowly, but he’s now hitting .276/.370/.573 in the minors.
Collier, meanwhile, was Cincinnati’s first-round pick in 2022 and is going through the roughest stretch of his pro career. At Double-A Chattanooga, he’s hitting .216/.305/.393, though he still has 13 home runs and 60 RBI on the year.
He’s only 21, and the upside is obvious. But the fit is getting tighter at the infield corners with Hayes, Sal Stewart, and Spencer Steer all under team control for at least the next two seasons.
There’s also the roster math to consider. Collier is Rule 5 eligible this offseason and would need to be added to the 40-man roster, which only adds to the case for using him as part of a deadline deal.
The move Cincinnati should not make is trading Hunter Greene.
Greene’s name has started to surface as a possible deadline target for teams looking for pitching help, especially with Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan likely staying put. Since coming off the injured list, Greene has become an increasingly popular name in the rumor mill.
The Reds should ignore that noise. Greene has dealt with injuries, sure, but when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. And his contract runs through the 2029 season, which makes him far too valuable to move now.
That contract fits the Reds’ bigger window. Over the next three seasons, Cincinnati will have Greene, Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart, and Chase Burns under team control, with top prospect Alfredo Duno likely arriving sometime during the latter part of the 2027 season. That’s the kind of core teams dream about.
There’s also financial flexibility coming. Jeimer Candelario and Eugenio Suárez will come off the books heading into next season, freeing up $30 million in cash, though most of that is expected to help cover rising salaries for Greene, De La Cruz, and Andrew Abbott.
Beyond Greene, Burns, Hayes, and Jose Trevino, the Reds have no money committed past this season. Singer’s $12.75 million will disappear next year, along with the combined salaries of Stephenson, Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson, and Brock Burke, which total about $19 million.
So if Cincinnati makes the right calls now, it can head toward 2027 with both money and talent in place to absorb almost any loss. Trading Greene would blow a hole in that plan.
The Reds can’t afford to replace him in free agency, and the Greene-Burns pairing gives them a front-line one-two punch that stacks up with anyone’s. Health is always part of the equation for pitchers, but this is not the time for Cincinnati to hit reset.
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Joey Votto Just Changed His Tune On Elly De La Cruz
Joey Vottos view of Elly De La Cruz has come a long way from the caution he felt when the young shortstop first arrived in the majors. Votto admitted he once saw a player with plenty of flash but also plenty of risk, the kind of talent whose strikeouts, errors and recklessness could make it hard to trust the long view. Since then, De La Cruz has given him plenty of reason to rethink that stance, with Votto pointing to the way he works, carries himself and keeps showing up every day.
What stands out now, from Vottos perspective, is not just the tools but the steadiness behind them. He praised De La Cruzs humility and drive, and noted that the Reds have watched him turn raw ability into something more dependable through consistent performance and durability. Votto even placed him in rare company when talking about the shortstop standard in Cincinnati, which says plenty about how far De La Cruz has come in the eyes of one of the franchises most respected voices. [Read more 🡒]
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Reds Risk Making Their Ke'Bryan Hayes Mistake Even More Costly
When the Reds brought in KeBryan Hayes from Pittsburgh last July, it looked like a chance to buy low on a slick-fielding third baseman and reshape the roster with Taylor Rogers and Sammy Stafura going the other way. Instead, Hayes has struggled to provide much at the plate since arriving in Cincinnati, and the deal has quickly become one of those moves that looks different in hindsight than it did on paper.
That is what makes the next step so tricky for the front office. Hayes still carries a contract that runs through 2029, and if the Reds decide to move him again, they have to be careful not to turn a disappointing acquisition into a bigger problem by attaching him to other valuable pieces just to clear the books. [Read more 🡒]