Well, it looks as if the Cincinnati Reds won’t be acquiring two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal this deadline.
The Los Angeles Dodgers predictably fired a broadside shot across the league by reportedly acquiring the Detroit Tigers ace late on Saturday night, and when that deal goes through the reigning World Series champs will add yet another decorated arm to their already ridiculous cast of starting pitchers. Eventually, that will include the likes of Shohei Ohtani, fellow
two-time CYA winner Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and just about anyone else they deem worthy of said opportunity.
What that does is not only cement them as likely favorites for another World Series title, it takes away the potential ace that could’ve vaulted the likes of the Milwaukee Brewers, or Atlanta Braves, above them for those odds.
For Cincinnati, it likely doesn’t end up meaning that much in the grand scheme. Unless, of course, it pushes the rest of the sport to pivot to perhaps the next best arm available on the market, and Hunter Greene has seen his name repeatedly pop up in those conversations despite most signs pointing towards the Reds not being willing to move him at this time.
On the secondary pitching market, the surprisingly potent Chicago White Sox sprung for former Reds ace Luis Castillo, adding him from Seattle in a late night move that will bolster their nascent rotation. Rumor has it they aren’t done adding starting pitching, and Brady Singer sure does seem like the kind of pitcher who’d be a fit for them for this particular stretch run.
Speaking of Atlanta, Singer seems like he’d be a durable workhorse fit for their beat up rotation, too. They just lost Reynaldo Lopez to the 15-day IL with a knee problem, and that worsens a group that’s already down Spencer Strider for the rest of the season. Singer’s ability to eat innings would be of great value there, and we’ve now got just over 24 hours to see whether they’ve got the chops to pry Singer away from the Reds at this juncture.
As for the rest of the pending free agents on the Reds roster, it’s mostly been crickets aside from Tyler Stephenson. Several teams – the New York Yankees, in particular – have been linked to acquiring the Reds backstop. Nate Lowe and Eugenio Suarez, meanwhile, haven’t had a robust rumor market…so far.
There’s a lot left to shake out before tomorrow’s August 3rd deadline hits, but fully expect the Reds to be active as last night’s loss to the Pirates once again sunk them six games under .500 and 5.5 games back of the National League’s final Wild Card spot.
