The Cincinnati Reds have already made themselves a big trade this offseason, acquiring right-handed starting pitcher Brady Singer from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Jonathan India and minor league outfielder Joey Wiemer. That likely helps solve some of the pitching problems that could arise in 2025. But in 2024 it wasn’t so much the pitching that was a problem as much as it was that the offense was not at all good. Some of that could be chalked up to injuries, but even so it would be a good idea to add a quality bat to the lineup. One often talked about such bat is that of Brent Rooker. The Athletics general manager David Forst has said that the team doesn’t plan to
Rookie was a guy who made his debut in 2020 as a 25-year-old and played in just seven games. In 2021 and 2022 he played in 74 combined games for three teams and hit .190. But in 2023 he wound up with Oakland and made the All-Star team while hitting 30 home runs and posting a .817 OPS (127 OPS+). Last season he hit 39 home runs as a 29-year-old and put up a .927 OPS (165 OPS+). Over the last two years he’s gone from a replacement level player to a middle of the order slugger. As Schoen Field notes in his article, Oakland would likely be selling high on Rookery after his 2024 season. He will be arbitration eligible for the first time in
course being able to trade for someone like Brent Rooker, who is still making very little money and has three more seasons of team control remaining before free agency comes calling, won’t be “cheap”. Schoenfield believes it would take trading away Rhett Lowder. But he thinks it would be worth it with Cincinnati having a handful of good starting pitching options in the big leagues as well as several top prospects who could be ready to help out in 2025 if the rotation needs some more help.
