LAS VEGAS — Will the Cincinnati Reds trade Hunter Greene this offseason if a tantalizing return package was offered? Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall didn’t completely rule out the possibility on Tuesday afternoon.
During the media session as part of the Major League Baseball General Manager meetings happening at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Krall was asked about the trade rumors surrounding the 26-year-old Greene, who posted a 2.76 ERA in 107.2 innings over 19 starts last season for Cincinnati.
“We’re going to try to do what’s best for our team,” Krall said. “I don’t want to rule out anything, but that’s a hard one to actually say, ‘Hey, we’re going to trade the guy who has a chance to be the ace of our staff and top of the rotation guy going into the postseason.’
“I’d say that we’re looking to figure out how to get better. But right now, that’s not on tap.”
Hunter Greene is standout pitcher with affordable contract
Greene is in the middle of a six-year, $53M deal that has a team option for the 2029 campaign. It’s an affordable contract that has generated thoughts about what the Reds could potentially get in return for Greene. However, Reds manager Terry Francona brushed away the rumors recently, saying, “I don’t think those things are gonna (happen).”
That matches with what Krall told The Cincinnati Enquirer in October, saying, “I wouldn’t say no, but when you trade pitchers you’ve got to go (back)fill them somehow. We all know how it works, where you run out of innings at some point in the season, guys get hurt, things happen.”
Greene was one of those players who was hurt last season, dealing with a right groin strain landing him on the injured list twice during the campaign. When he returned to the rotation for the second time on Aug. 13, Greene was a key reason why the Reds made the postseason, posting a 2.81 ERA over his final eight starts and limiting opponents to a .181 batting average.
Coming off an 83-79 campaign, the Reds finished in third place in the National League Central and were swept out of the wild-card round by the eventual world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Those signs point to the team having to improve in 2026 to go deeper into October.
However, the Reds’ payroll is expected to remain in the same neighborhood as last season when Cincinnati had an Opening Day payroll of just over $115M (ranking 22nd among MLB’s 30 teams), meaning any improvement may have to come from within unless Cincinnati makes tough roster decisions this offseason.
“We just have to figure out how to be creative and figure out what makes sense on both the free-agent market and the trade market,” Krall said.
All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.