The Reds and Brewers don’t usually make life easier for each other, but the trade deadline has a way of bending old rules when the fit is right. Cincinnati and Milwaukee already showed they can find a deal, swapping Frankie Montas for Jakob Junis and Joey Wiemer a couple of years ago. That move didn’t end up paying off for either club - Montas was mediocre and left Milwaukee in free agency after the 2024 season, and neither Junis nor Wiemer remains in Cincinnati - but it did prove Nick Krall and Matt Arnold can get something done.
That matters now because the two teams are headed in opposite directions. Milwaukee sits on top of the NL Central and is shopping for help, while Cincinnati is stuck at the bottom and positioned to sell. And the Brewers’ biggest need is clear: pitching, both in the rotation and the bullpen.
The rotation issue is more fragile than it looks from the outside. Jacob Misiorowski has already gone past his career high in innings, Kyle Harrison is on the injured list with “forearm tightness,” and Brandon Woodruff is done for the season. If Milwaukee wants to keep pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves in October, it needs another playoff-caliber arm.
Brady Singer stands out as the most obvious fit. His overall season has been uneven, but he’s thrown well over the last month, and he brings the kind of durability contenders love. He has reached at least 150 innings in each of the past four seasons, and that sort of stability would matter for a young Brewers staff that has lost its veteran anchor.
There’s also a path to a bigger package if Milwaukee wants to reinforce its bullpen. The Brewers could use another high-leverage reliever, and a left-handed one would be especially useful with four southpaws on the injured list and Aaron Ashby carrying the load on his own.
Cincinnati has the inventory to answer that need. Brock Burke, with a 2.66 ERA, and Caleb Ferguson, at 3.86, are rental lefties.
Sam Moll owns a 4.32 ERA and still has one year of arbitration control left. Any of those arms could be paired with Singer in a deal that brings back a strong return from Milwaukee’s top-10 prospects.
And if the idea feels ambitious, the rivalry itself may be part of the reason it works. Because these clubs know each other so well, the Reds can ask for a little extra on their best pieces. That makes Cincinnati a rare and useful trade partner for the team sitting at the top of the division.
In Other News...
Reds Suddenly Face Another Pitching Scare They Could Not Afford
After dropping the first game of a doubleheader to the Guardians, the Reds were already trying to salvage a split when another pitching concern surfaced in the nightcap. Jose Franco was forced out of the game, adding yet another uneasy moment to a season in which Cincinnati has already had to navigate multiple injuries on the mound.
For a club that has spent much of the year trying to piece together its pitching staff, any new scare carries extra weight. The Reds still had to finish the game without Franco, and the bigger question now is whether this latest setback becomes just a brief interruption or another hit to a rotation and bullpen that can hardly afford one. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Face One Trade Deadline Dilemma That Could Shape 2027
The Reds are weighing a familiar deadline balancing act, with several veterans and short-term pieces drawing varying levels of interest as Mondays 6 p.m. ET cutoff approaches. Tyler Stephenson, JJ Bleday, Nathaniel Lowe, Eugenio Surez, Brady Singer and Brock Burke all sit in that gray area where a contenders need can create a market, but Cincinnatis own roster questions and longer-term plans matter just as much.
Bleday is the one who makes the decision feel especially tricky, because his value in a trade may not match his value to the Reds if they are still searching for everyday outfield answers beyond this season. The same kind of push-and-pull runs through the rest of the group, with Lowe offering left-handed balance, Surez bringing right-handed power, Singer supplying rotation stability and Burke giving clubs another bullpen option, leaving Cincinnati to decide whether the return now is worth the cost later. [Read more 🡒]
How The Reds 2025 Deadline Trades Are Looking Now
When the Reds moved three prospects at the 2025 deadline to land Ke'Bryan Hayes, Zack Littell and Miguel Andujar, the focus naturally fell on what Cincinnati was getting back for a push in the present. A few months later, the early returns on the players they sent out are starting to take shape. Sammy Stafura has made a noticeable jump with the Pirates minor league club, while Adam Serwinowskis arm has stood out in the Dodgers system even as his control remains a work in progress.
Kenya Huggins has had a tougher go of it with the Athletics at Double-A, which is part of the uneven picture the Reds left behind when they cashed in those prospects. Serwinowski and Huggins are both eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter, adding another layer of uncertainty to how those deals will be judged in the long run. For Cincinnati, the deadline haul is still being measured against the upside it gave up, and that evaluation is only getting more interesting as the former Reds prospects continue down very different paths. [Read more 🡒]