AL playoff team acquires former Rookie of the Year winner in trade

After more than 16 months of rumors, the Cincinnati Reds traded their 2021 Rookie of the Year, Jonathan India.

The Reds sent the second baseman and outfielder Joey Wiemer to the Kansas City Royals on Friday for starting pitcher Brady Singer, addressing one of their biggest needs of the offseason and loosening up an infield logjam that more easily fits the return of Matt McLain and possibly even some playing time for Santiago Espinal.

“I feel pretty good about the staff as we are right now,” said team president Nick Krall, who said he began talking to the Royals over the past month knowing they had an interest in India and looking for a pitching fit.

“It was tough to trade Jonathan India off this team. He’s a great player. We drafted him as a college guy. He’s a really good person, good family. But we felt this was something that could really help us shore up our pitching staff.”

Singer, 28, went 9-13 with a 3.71 ERA in 32 starts (179⅔ innings) for the Royals last season. The Royals’ 18th overall pick in the 2018 draft is 36-44 with a 4.28 ERA in his career.

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The right-hander joins a rotation that already includes All-Star Hunter Greene, lefties Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott, returning right-hander Nick Martinez and touted prospect Rhett Lowder (1.79 ERA in a six-start debut in 2024).

Martinez returned earlier in the week when he accepted the team’s $21.05 million qualifying offer, the only one of 13 free agents to receive a QO and accept. He was the Reds’ pitcher of the year in a vote of local baseball writers after a torrid finish that included going 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA in 11 starts after joining the rotation full-time in August.

Singer is now the only one in the organization to make more than 26 big-league starts in a season.

India hit .253 with a .357 on-base percentage for the Reds in 2024 and answers the Royals’ leadoff question heading into the offseason.

A strong influence on and off the field for the Reds, India played a career-high 151 games in 2024, making all of his starts in the field at second base.

Krall said India was on vacation in Italy with his family when he reached him to let him know about the trade.

“I just thanked him for everything that he did for this organization and what he did for this clubhouse,” Krall said. “He’s a professional. He’s a tremendous individual.”

India, who was drafted 13 spots ahead of Singer in the same 2018 draft, is entering the second year of a two-year contract that pays $5 million in 2025, with a year of arbitration after that.

Singer, who made $4.85 million in 2024, is in the same service-time class, with two years of arbitration eligibility left, including a 2025 process that could produce a salary north of $8 million.

After the trade, the Reds have about $55 million committed to six players under contract before Singer’s salary is determined.

That includes the $2.4 million deal struck between the Reds and Espinal ahead of Friday’s non-tender deadline to avoid arbitration.

The Reds have about a $100 million payroll budget.

“We’re still just working through our offseason right now and just trying to improve the club however we can,” Krall said when asked about the payroll implications of the trade and how it impacts anything else he might want to do.

“We haven’t found a (free agent) deal. But we have a little bit of payroll flexibility left.”

The Reds also non-tendered reliever Ian Gibaut at Friday’s deadline, meaning he is a free agent.