The Reds have an offseason call to make on Brady Singer, and the case for bringing him back is a tough one to sell after the year he just turned in.
Still, C. Trent Rosecrans said on First Word with James Rapien that he would not be shocked if Cincinnati decided to keep him around.
“There are lots of positives about Brady Singer, even though he had a bad year,” Rosecrans said. “He gives you those innings.”
That’s the heart of the debate. The Reds do need more starting pitching depth, and Singer did log 157 innings this season. That was his fewest since 2022, but it still counted for a real workload in a rotation that can always use stability.
The problem is what came with those innings. Singer posted a 5.85 ERA, allowed a league-high 102 earned runs and finished tied to the wrong end of another ugly stat with 15 losses, also the most in the league. Losses don’t tell the whole story for a pitcher, but there’s no dressing up how rough the season was.
His final four starts made that even harder to ignore. Over 15 1/3 innings, he gave up 26 runs.
That’s why the “he gives you innings” argument only goes so far. A starter’s availability matters, especially when injuries start to create questions elsewhere in the rotation. But those innings need to come with something better attached to them.
There had been a report around the trade deadline that the Reds were considering extending a qualifying offer to Singer after they chose not to move him. After the season he had, that feels far less likely now.
The bigger issue is the cost. There’s a clear difference between entertaining a return at the right price and committing meaningful money to a pitcher coming off a season like this. Cincinnati has to decide whether it believes Singer can rebound, and how much it’s willing to pay for that bet.
A reunion wouldn’t automatically be a mistake. The price tag matters, and so does whatever else the Reds do to strengthen the roster. But bringing Singer back simply because he can take the ball every fifth day wouldn’t be a compelling reason, and it’s hard to imagine fans embracing that move.
If Singer is part of next season’s rotation, the Reds need more than availability to justify it. They need a real reason to believe the results will look a lot better.
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