Trading Hunter Greene Would be a Massive Mistake and the Final Straw for Fans

To help paint a picture, Jameson Taillon makes $17 million. Alex Cobb, coming off injury, made $15 million. Mathew Boyd as well, and Luis Severino is averaging $23 million. Walker Buehler was coming off injury and signed a one-year, $21 million deal.

Also, the Reds are not in a financial burden where they need to shed salary.

The current payroll is more than manageable, and I’d even argue low, even for the Reds standards. The money Greene is owed will not be able to sign multiple impact bats, as the same money is getting you someone in the Max Kepler-to-Michael Conforto sphere.

Starting pitching has become extremely expensive, even for pitchers who have had an injury history or profile closer to a back-end starter. The Reds have a frontline arm making less than Nick Martinez and they cannot afford to move on simply in hopes of filling their holes elsewhere.

Using Greene to Address Roster Shortcomings

The idea of trading from a strength to help a weakness is understandable and often times the right move.

If the Reds wanted to move someone, let’s say Nick Lodolo, to help the roster, it would make sense. Trading a player of Greene’s caliber with an attractive contract would bring back impact players, but do we really see that type of player fitting what the Reds are doing?

Terry Francona has made it clear that his preferred prototype is a contact-oriented, plus defender. If I had to guess, I’d say Tito’s favorite baseball player is Nico Hoerner, and he’d want nine Hoerner’s if he could have them.

However, the value of a Hoerner-esque player does not match up with that of Hunter Greene’s.

A trade of Greene could return a power bat, but everything we saw this season is evidence that those types of players are not what Tito wants, so how does a trade make sense?

Executing a Greene trade is difficult because the value of both Greene and the players coming back would be high enough that GMs will be hesitate to make the move. If it were prospects as the return it would be easier to pull off, but the Reds just made the playoffs and need major-league contributors in return.

How many teams have impact bats they would be willing to part with in order to address their pitching? Boston, maybe? Although they had a few young arms flash enough to wait and see. We are not looking at a Jonathan India-for-Brady Singer level of deal here. There’s a reason we don’t see this level of majorleaguer for major leaguer happen very often.

Fans Turning Away Isn’t Dramatic

I usually do not go to extremes. I try to stay fairly level headed and avoid dipping my toes into the drastic emotions that come with being a fan. However, I do think this is a perfect-storm scenario that could actually be the final straw for some fans. If I am being honest, I can’t say I blame them.

For years and years, the Reds have struggled to field a competitive team. They have not spent to the level many want, they have traded off fan favorites, and the success has not followed.

“Oh, but they need to be more like the Brewers, Rays, or Guardians.” The difference is those teams have proven they can maneuver in their small-market ways while still finding success. They Reds haven’t shown that ability.

Cincinnati is finally seeing another rebuild produce a few talented players and ended their season in the playoffs. Signs of improvement while at least showing they are within striking distance of something more. Instead of discussions around adding to their core, we are talking about trading away their most success arm.

Fair or not, right or wrong, fans are growing tired of the what it means to be a fan being stripped away. Small-market teams, now more than ever, are focused on an equation and a bottom line. I’m not saying that’s the wrong path, but it does strip away a lot of the emotion of being a fan.

It is getting harder and harder to connect with teams. Greene has been the vocal leader of this team, signed to a deal that showed he’d be the guy going forward, and all of that could disappear at any moment. Cincinnati does not have the track record to back up a deal of this caliber.

Trading away Greene would have something to do with money, even if that is not the primary focus. If the Reds are not willing to invest more in this team during a time where they are fresh off a playoff berth and still have a core that is relatively cheap, then when will they invest more in the team?

For those of you that feel like this is more evidence in a never-ending hamster wheel of finding the cheapest way to construct a somewhat decent team, I get it; It’s hard to argue against those feelings. And at some point you might ask yourself if following the Reds for six months a year is truly worth your time.

We’ll save that discussion for a time when a hypothetical move of that magnitude actually happens. But I’d be lying if I said it isn’t in the back of my head.

Final Thoughts

Trading one of your best players, on a very attractive deal, is not the only way to address team needs. Actually, I’d say it is the last way I would address needs. Signing free agents, trading less established arms, or moving prospects all make more sense to me.

Hunter Greene has developed as a pitcher, a leader, and voice of this era of Reds baseball. I think he’s as important to the Reds reaching their ultimate goal as any other player in the organization. I struggle to see a situation where moving him could be a step forward.

Then again, the Reds making a head scratching move would not be foreign to any of us.