Where 6 top Cincinnati Reds trade chips will go at MLB trade deadline

SEATTLE – The trade buzzards are circling the bones of the Cincinnati Reds’ expiring season. Have been for weeks.

And with less than two weeks to go before the Aug. 3 deadline, Nick Krall’s front office has slapped price tags on more than a half-dozen pending free agents and agreed to listen to teams targeting some of the controllable players on the roster.

So, where will some of these Reds who were supposed to be headed to October for Cincinnati be headed instead?

Here’s our list of best bets for some of those destinations, with the conspicuous absence of the one player who might attract the greatest return on a deal.

That’s because 2024 All-Star Hunter Greene, with his 100-mph fastball and two-plus years of cost-certain club control, is the Reds’ one-off – a frontline starter who would be a fit for almost every contender and be moved only with a perfect alignment of timing, aggressiveness of offers and fortitude of ownership and the front office.

As for the rest of the short-term assets on the roster, our predictions (*-pending free agent):

RHP Brady Singer:* Chicago White Sox

The White Sox are ahead of schedule with their young core and don’t plan to part with the best of their strong farm system for the pitching help they need. But a next-tier option from Chicago’s system might be as attractive as – or more than – another organization’s top tier.

Singer, who spent his career with Kansas City until the trade to Cincinnati before last season, knows the AL Central; he’s the kind of innings eater who makes all his starts, who would deepen the Sox rotation and take some of the pressure off an overexposed bullpen; and he won’t cost as much as some of the other, bigger names on the market.

And this: The Sox and Reds have spent stretches of the last two years getting familiar with one another during talks for Luis Robert (and to a lesser degree Sox pitching).

Approximate pro-rated salary left on Aug. 3: $3.76 million

Also keep an eye on: Atlanta Braves

C Tyler Stephenson:* New York Yankees

The Yankees were in Colorado over the weekend, ostensibly to look at the Rockies’ Hunter Goodman in their quest to land a right-handed hitting catcher before the deadline. But Goodman has three years left of club control and would take a much higher price to pry loose.

They’re also said to be targeting Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, who’s having a better year at the plate than Stephenson but whose career production is very similar. Stephenson hit two home runs and an opposite-field double to the wall in that last Colorado game.

Approximate pro-rated salary left on Aug. 3: $2 million

Also keep an eye on:Boston Red Sox (and possibly the Los Angeles Dodgers, with All-Star Will Smith facing an extended stay on the IL)

IF/OF Spencer Steer: Seattle Mariners

The Reds aren’t actually shopping Steer, who might be as valuable to them in whatever they plan to do next as he would be to them as a trade chip. But they have told teams they’ll listen.

The Mariners have a top-3 farm system, a baseball operations head (Jerry DiPoto) that rode aggressive trades at last year’s deadline to within a game of reaching the franchise’s first World Series, and a recent history of making deals with the Reds.

Steer has started in all three outfield spots and played every spot on the infield except shortstop this season.

Steer has two years of club control, so anyone asking for him needs to bring a strong offer.

Approximate pro-rated salary left on Aug. 3: $1.18 million (plus two arbitration years)

Also keep an eye on:Philadelphia Phillies

3B/DH Eugenio Suárez:* Miami Marlins

The surprise buyers of the National League are said to be looking at a right-handed-hitting third baseman with an eye on the veteran who was moved from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners at last year’s deadline during a season in which he hit 49 home runs.

After a slow start and oblique injury in the first half, Suárez’s power has begun to stir again in the last two weeks.

Approximate pro-rated salary left on Aug. 3: $4.43 million

Also keep an eye on: Boston Red Sox

RHP Pierce Johnson:* Tampa Bay Rays

His rough outing in this week’s series opener in Seattle didn’t help his trade stock with scouts bearing down. But the Rays are looking for relievers, and Johnson is a veteran who has been effective in most outings this season.

He’s also a veteran who has performed in the postseason, with a 1.50 career ERA in 12 career playoff outings (17 strikeouts, four walks).

Also keep an eye on: Seattle Mariners

Approximate pro-rated salary left on Aug. 3: $1.92 million

LHP Brock Burke:* Atlanta Braves

The Braves need leverage relievers and left-handers in general. And they’re feeling the heat of the hard-charging Phillies in their division.

Burke has been a workhorse (league-leading 49 appearances) and one of the Reds’ most consistent relievers (2.89 ERA), albeit with the self-created high leverage of too many walks at times.

Approximate pro-rated salary left on Aug. 3: $688,000

Also keep an eye on: Philadelphia Phillies

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where 6 top Cincinnati Reds trade chips will go at MLB trade deadline