For the first time in more than a decade, the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in playoff contention coming out of the All-Star Break.
Cincinnati entered Friday’s action against the Milwaukee Brewers at 50-41 and in first place in the National League Central. Riding the brilliance of rookie Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati has posted a 21-6 record over its past 27 games.
This has general manager Nick Krall potentially looking to add ahead of the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline.
According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, there’s one specific target for Cincinnati. It wants to add a starting pitcher ahead of the deadline and has already had discussions with the Chicago White Sox, among other teams.
Chicago is going to go into fire sale mode over the next couple weeks. Ace Lucas Giolito is a headliner that could be available. Meanwhile, Morosi mentioned veteran arm Lance Lynn as a possibility.
Despite the Reds’ surprising success this season, they rank 27th in MLB with a 4.87 ERA. Their staff is also yielding the sixth-highest average and boasts the fifth-highest WHIP among MLB teams. Pitching is an obvious need.
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Cincinnati Reds MLB trade deadline targets
As noted above, Lucas Giolito has been bandied about a great deal leading up to Aug. 1. The 29-year-old starter has been stellar this season (6-5 record, 3.45 ERA, 1.14 WHIP).
The only question here is whether Cincinnati will want to exhaust prospects on a player who will be nothing more than a rental. The mid-market Reds will not be able to compete with the big boys for Giolito’s services on the MLB free agent market.
It could make more sense for Cincinnati to add a controllable pitcher to go with the likes of youngsters Andrew Abbott and Hunter Greene moving forward. Unfortunately, there aren’t many names from that group available right now.
Veterans Eduardo Rodriguez (Detroit Tigers), Shane Bieber (Cleveland Indians) and Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs) are names that could make sense if Cincnnati is willing to look for a short-term option.