Reds second baseman Jonathan India is amidst a bounceback season. The 2021 NL Rookie of the Year had a down ’22 campaign. He spent some time on the injured list with hamstring issues and only hit .249/.327/.378 in 103 games.
The first two months of this season have more closely resembled India’s rookie form. He entered play Thursday with a .282/.369/.426 batting line over 244 plate appearances. His 15 doubles are one shy of last year’s mark in a little over half the playing time. He has a modest five home runs but is reliably reaching base at the top of the Cincinnati lineup. He’s avoided the IL and been in the starting lineup for all but one of the Reds’ games thus far.
While he’s not hitting for a ton of over-the-fence power, India has taken a marked step forward in his strike zone coverage. He’s always been a disciplined, high-contact hitter and he’s taken that to career-best heights. India’s walking at a quality 10.7% rate and has cut his strikeouts to a personal-low 18% clip. He’s chasing fewer pitches outside the strike zone than ever and making contact on a career-high 83.7% of his swings. He’s also hitting the ball a fair bit harder than he did last season.
Other clubs have unsurprisingly taken note. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported this morning the Reds are receiving trade interest in India but aren’t anxious to move him. That’s not to say they’re completely opposed to talks — few players around the league are truly “untouchable” in negotiations — but reflects the lack of urgency for Cincinnati to make a deal.
India broke camp in 2021, giving him exactly two years of big league service entering this season. He’ll be eligible for arbitration at the end of the year and isn’t slated to reach free agency until after the 2026 campaign. The Reds have very little money on the books beyond this season and won’t have any issue accommodating India’s arbitration salaries.
There’s a straightforward case for Cincinnati to keep him around. Even in a weak NL Central, the Reds aren’t expected to compete this season. Their 26-29 record is a little better than most outside observers likely anticipated, though they’re still a longshot to hang in the playoff mix all year. Given their post-’23 payroll flexibility and a farm system with plenty of upper minors talent, the Reds could more seriously angle for postseason contention as soon as next year.
As arguably the club’s best position player, India could be a significant part of those efforts. It’s not entirely outlandish for others teams to touch base with general manager Nick Krall and his front office, though. The strength of Cincinnati’s minor league pipeline is the middle infield, leading the Reds to look into trading from that depth to address other areas of the farm system over the offseason.
Former first round pick Matt McLain reached the majors last month after tearing up Triple-A pitching. He’s hit the ground running as the primary shortstop, posting a .361/.426/.541 line over his first 68 plate appearances. Elly De La Cruz, in the conversation for the top prospect in baseball, likely isn’t far behind while carrying a .303/.401/.648 slash as a 21-year-old in his first crack at Triple-A. Noelvi Marte — arguably the next-best prospect in the system — is hitting .295/.369/.500 while playing shortstop in Double-A. Edwin Arroyo isn’t hitting well in High-A but entered the year as a top 100 caliber prospect and is expected to stick at shortstop himself.
India is a productive hitter but has drawn below-average defensive grades from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average throughout his career. There’s no reason for the Reds to move him off the keystone imminently. Prospect promotions could alter that calculus in the coming months or next year.
Still, the Reds could see any India trade offers as putting the cart before the horse. They opened the season with Jose Barrero and Kevin Newman as their shortstop tandem. Talented as the upper minors options are, none of them have more than a two-week MLB track record.
It’s also common for middle infield prospects to branch out to other positions as they approach the MLB level. McLain played some center field at UCLA and could eventually be an option in the outfield. De La Cruz and Marte are both larger-framed shortstop prospects, leading some evaluators to question whether either might be a better fit for third base down the line.
They should be locking guys up. Not trading them.
Wrong….that’s what the old Reds did. The days of Votto-esque contracts are gone. Extension for 1-2 years maybe. Lock up long term NO
Yeah it would suck to look like the Braves right now with all those young guys locked up on team favorable long term deals that would just be a disaster.
You think the Reds are gonna have the Braves payroll? Keep dreaming…
The Reds payroll is squarely the owner’s problem, not mine. If they have any inclination to get out of the cellar for any respectable period of time then they need to make it happen.
They are already out of the cellar and 2.5 games out the playoffs with a payroll of $90M which includes $47M of dead money tied up in Votto and Moustakas. It’s very likely they will be significantly better next year with EDLC, CES and Abbott on this team and a payroll around $50M or less. Tampa Bay is the best team in baseball with a payroll $15M less than the Reds.
Ok well since you like pointing to the Reds payroll history to dispel the chances of signing extensions, let’s point to their performance history of never being within a country mile of the Rays from a developmental and analytical perspective. They aren’t the Rays and they won’t be anytime soon. All they have to do to copy the Braves is spend some money.
You need to start living in reality my friend…
You just compared the Reds to the Rays.
Degaz – maybe you haven’t been paying attention, but the Reds already locked up Greene to a $53M long term contract this year, and they are talking to Lodolo about the same.
And since you brought up the Rays, their playbook is to also sign young players long term, see Franco, Longoria, Archer, Snell and several others.
That’s not what I called locked. up…they extended his arb years by 1 year with an option for a 2nd. Locked up means long term to me. Greene will be a FA at age 29.
Wander Franco is a generational player that is only under contract through year 31. No one on the Reds is anywhere near the player he is.
Of the other 3 you mentioned only Longoria played for TB past age 29. And Snell and Archer we’re not extended past age 30.
You said initially an extension for 1-2 years for India but not long term. Yet you don’t consider 7 years long term (Greene contract controls him 7 years at signing). You’re at conflict with your own self.. I’m not sure you know yourself what you mean.
He’s talking about extending control by more than 1-2 years. The reds just gained mostly cost certainty with Greene
Extensions that control 3,4,5 FA years.. that’s what everyone here is saying
Greene’s contract is a 6 year guaranteed contract with a team option for a 7th. Also 5 of those years were already controlled by the Reds under Arbitration so they really only signed him for 1 year past that. Not sure why some ppl don’t understand that. It’s a 1 year extension. and a guarantee for Green that he doesn’t get DFA’s for injury or whatever reason.
does the name hunter green mean anything to you ? longer than 2 years
No… they only added 2 years past his last arbitration year of 2026..
Actually only 1 year past last arb year of 2027 with a team option for a 2nd year. That is a smart extension.
Mike, well I do agree with you about in Encarnacion swing and miss rate….bottom line is a strikeout is still only an out . To date his BEST minor league batting years are currently in AAA. The guy is batting .345. !! His ops is 1.117. SLG .717. OB% is .400. Will he mirror these numbers in the majors. ?? I’d say no of course….but this guy is great hitter……pure and simple. There were about 10 players last year struck out more than 170 times but still hit the tar off the ball. A strike out is nothing more than an out and we shouldn’t get too hung up on K’s
A strike out is the worst possible out. It does nothing for the team. It doesn’t even give the defense the opportunity to boot the ball. If you put the ball in play, there is potential for a bleeder, or a dying quail, or a swinging bunt, or a sacrifice fly, or the runners moving into scoring position. With a K, the only possibility is the ball gets dropped by the C, but even then, first base can’t be occupied, or there has to be two outs. Earlier this year, the Baltimore LF dropped a routine fly which would have ended the game. The next batter hit a two run homer to win it. That just can’t happen if the batter doesn’t put the ball in play. All outs aren’t equal.
6 years plus an option year for 7 years total. That is long term.
@degaz
India is not going to require Votto money or years. He isn’t one of the players I would be considering for an extension, though. And MLBTR, just stop with the lack of HR power crap. Not every player has to put the ball in the seats to be valuable. I would love Stephen Kwan on my favorite team. Probably true for 29 GMs.
I also agree on a 1-2 year extension post-arb years but locking him up long term into his mid 30’s is insane to me. Hunter Greene only got 1 guaranteed year past his arb years.
Actually the comparison to the Braves is a good way to go to a lesser degree for the Reds. I don’t know why you keep pointing to the kind of long term contract that Votto got or contracts into their mid 30’s. The Braves aren’t the only ones locking players to team friendly contracts I to their early 30’s unless is for the kind of contract Ozzie Albies got. The Reds might not push their payroll up too $200 million but signing players very early has allowed teams to get cheap, elite production.
Votto was one comparison on the extreme. I also don’t think they will ever do a Eugenio Suarez contract extension ever again under current ownership. And that is not just the Reds it’s a trend in small and mid market cap trends across the league. These teams have to do that with no true salary cap to survive
The British have turned down all offers, Blimey…
India would not be the guy to lockup. 107 OPS+ and on pace for a 2.4 bWAR. He is just slightly above league average. I don’t think I would trade him until De La Cruz has shown he can hit in the majors. I also would not allow him to block De La Cruz.
A 107 OPS+ is quite good for a middle infielder. Nobody said break the bank for him.
India now has a 112 oPS+ and is 1oth at 2B. If he played great defense that would make him quite valuable. He plays bad defense, so combined with his slightly above average bat that makes him, well, mediocre.
Brandon Drury has a 116 OPS+ and no one is talking about locking him up long term. Kim in SD had a 106 OPS+ last season and most people were saying he sucked.
I don’t think the Kim comparison is off at all. Kim is quite decent. Drury is quite older so I don’t think it’s a good comparison. Also had a career of ups and downs. I think India is comparable to Swanson offensively somewhat. Swanson has progressed seemingly but perhaps India can keep improving. I didn’t really know about the defense. 12% above league average is quite good.
He hasn’t played a ton and had a down year in 22′ so I think it’s reasonable to suspect he may have more potential than people may think offensively.
I agree with you. I wouldn’t be trading India either, locking him would be a good idea if they can.
And also, locking a player up doesn’t preclude trading that player at the right time as well.
Unless the contract removes all excess value. Votto, Cabrera, Baez, bad. Acuna, Albies, Franco, Good.
Here is the issue, strand-encarnacion, steer, De la Cruz, India and McLain all IF. Votto will be back also. Who gets the ABs. Strand should be full time DH, but probably won’t be due to Votto. Who is your SS. I don’t think cincy is that far out of contention, so winning should be something they should be thinking about. It reminds me of the Cardinals where they play all 5 guys in the OF and no one stands out.
If you have paid attention, McLain is your shortstop. He makes all the plays and is solid defensively in addition to the offensive numbers. I think people forget he was a first round pick out of college before any of these other guys.
Votto may be bought out next year. I wouldn’t worry about it. Things have a way of working themselves out. Injuries are a constant problem. Always good to have one more good infielder than you have starting. Without knowing much about the Reds I would think De la Cruz could move around. Maybe change to outfield or be a utility guy initially at least. Better to stick with the talent you know imo. Switching teams sometimes effects guys. But a trade would make sense.
He’ll obviously be bought out after this season, he hasn’t even played a game yet this season. If he would come back which I doubt, where do you play Steer?
Being on the roster doesn’t mean Votto will be playing every day.
You’d think at least one of those guys should be able to make a successful transition to an outfield spot, and that’s assuming all turn out.
By 2024 the Reds should have an Infield of:
Steer 1B
India 2B
De La Cruz 3B
McClain SS
Encarnacion-Strand will likely DH and serve as a backup 1B. At this point there is zero reason to believe the Reds are going to pick up the $20 million dollar option on a would-be 40 year old Votto and instead will likely choose the $7 million buyout. Votto has done alot for the organization but he’s done. Tyler Stephenson is solid behind the plate and should return to full-time Catching next season. T.J. Friedl and Jake Fraley give the Reds 2 decent Outfielders with room to add another. Lodolo, Greene, Ashcroft, Williamson, Stoudt. Diaz at the backend. The Reds are looking pretty good in the very near future
That is about my sentiments. You also have Marte coming on at AA and Hopkins is putting up good numbers at AAA.. Trade Senzel before he is hurt again. Get whatever you can. Plus, he isn’t that far away from free agency.
India is a bad defensive 2B, so I would go with these guys as long as Marte and De LA Cruz show they can do it in the 2nd half this season.
Steer
Marte
McClain
De La Cruz
Move India to a position where he isn’t hurting the team with his defense like LF.
strand needs to stay in AAA. his swing and miss stats are terrible. bring him up now, he turns into aquio, lets wait til next year on him.
Really no need to move India now, see how the next two years go. Though it is always fun to see a headline featuring the word disinclined. I would be disinclined to see India go anywhere if I were a Reds fan; with the way the NL Central is going they have as much of a shot as anybody to finish with 86 wins and take the divison.
India would sure look good in a Tigers uniform. Not sure how they would match up for a trade though.
Anyone that could fill the holes at 2B, 3B for Detroit would be welcome. Maybe someone that doesn’t need to platoon. That may be too much to hope for though, as I think Hinch could find a reason to platoon a switch hitter.
You seem any way they match up on a trade? We have pitching but so many are hurt right now. I think he’d be a great fit for Detroit and Cincinnati has 8 million top middle infield prospects behind him to come up and fill the spot.
The Reds are loaded with infielders that are at the verge of the majors. They should see what is out there for a trade. If they can get a good player(s) back then do it. If they can’t hold him. It is something they should consider.
I agree they should trade 1 or 2 infielders, but I don’t think India is the one. They should trade Marte and one of Elly or McLain for help elsewhere. Move Elly if you think McLain is legit or trade McLain if you think he is playing above his head right now. Either bullpen or a good power hitting corner outfielder. India is already established as a solid big leaguer and is already established as a leader for the team. Trading him now would be a death blow for this rebuilding team. Steer is also looking like a solid big league option. The others are great names on prospect lists and would bring back very solid blg leaguers OR possibly a prospect for prospect deal.
Now I am not against trading big leaguers. Of the current group, I would move Nick Senzel in the right deal for sure. Newman and Myers probably wouldn’t bring back much, if anything, but who knows.
Why would they even think about trading Elly De La Cruz? I know all prospects don’t become mega stars but I just can’t see a team saying hey we have the best prospect in all of baseball so we are going to put him on the block. It’s just not going to happen.
The last #1 prospect who was traded was I believe Wil Myers and that was a decade ago. Rarely do clubs feel inclined to trade them their upside is just too good to pass up.
Because he will likely never have a higher trade value than now.
But no matter how good he is on paper, you have to have room on the field for him. When three of your top prospects all play the same position and they are not pitchers, it makes sense to move 1 or 2. Unless you are the Padres and want a shortstop playing every position on the field.
Worked out pretty well for the Royals, didn’t it?
As the article indicated, you consider a trade if you expect the return to improve another area. If you can’t get a return to match the quality of what you feel you’re giving up, don’t pull the trigger.
Moncada to the WSox? Meyers was never a #1 prospect
He was #4 overall. Which is probably more in line with Elly anyway who was ranked 5, 8, and 10 this year. He might go up, but I doubt he gets to #1. That seems to be all Jackson Holliday.
Elly is already #1 in Kiley McłDaniel’s mid season rankings and I expect he will be there in most other major publications next time they update their list. He is hitting the ball in AAA at a historical rate with his exit velocity. The kid is special and there is no possible way he isn’t wearing a Reds uniform for at least the next 5 or 6 years. He is going to be so much fun to watch play everyday. The kid is as legit as they come
I agree Holliday seems the most “sure fire” top prospect so I’m already surprised to see Jackson Churio coming in ahead of him on certain lists, perhaps Churio is the “man”
India will never have a higher trade value than now. He has proven he is terrible at playing defense.
De La Cruz has crushed the ball in AAA, played good defense at a more valuable position, and has nothing left to prove there. Give him a shot in the majors now. Neither India nor Senzel should be blocking him. Move one of them to the OF and give De La Cruz a chance to prove himself in the 2nd half.
He is not #1 on the updated MLB, BA, Athletic, or BP lists. He might move up to #2 behind Jackson Holliday when Walker graduates.
I’d be “disinclined” to trade a good building block too. Not like the guy’s in his final year of arbitration, that would be a completely different story.
India is going somewhere else in other fans’ wet dreams.
They should have all these middle infielders playing where they are going to end up. You know, the planning which is lacking in this front office.
They might have accumulated some good prospects, but they are at virtually the same position they already had prospects. I have said it before, whether in the offseason or planning for the future, this front office is lacking in the skill of team building. Even if you don’t have cash to throw around, it still takes smarts to put a competent roster together.
I give these kids a ton of credit for their drive and attitude to get where they are despite that.
India for Logan Gilbert who says no?
Seattle
Most of the chips Seattle can afford to part with are starters and outfielders in the upper-minors.
That’s not getting them India.
I say no because India’s defense would be an issue for the Mariners. For Gilbert you would need to land someone another level up from India, say Tim Anderson or Bo Bichette.
No way would the Mariners trade five seasons of Logan Gilbert for one and a third years of Tim Anderson.
Good point
Would take more than India.
Feels weird that Arroyo is specifically mentioned but not CES, when speaking about the Reds loaded farm system. He may get the call before De La Cruz, considering the teams positional needs (DH and CI) and McLain’s hot start.
I wouldn’t trade him, but I think the Reds will. Their current OF has 1 guy who’s an everyday player, Friedl. Fraley’s decent, but he is platoon player. After that you got AAAA guys, or you’ll need to convert 1 or 2 infielders to become outfielders. Krall would probably be looking for an OF back who’s about to make his debut, or a MLB OF in return.
Depends on what the return is. I would be inclined to keep India but the Reds have a glut of middle infielders on the team or soon will. 3B is an option as well as all 3 OF positions.. CF depends on if Friedl is for real. Most of the candidates are shortstops and probably could easily shift to other positions. It looks like Steer is for real and should be in the lineup somewhere.. The Reds need to determine if Encarnacion-Strand can handle ML pitching. If so he could play DH or 1B. I would be reluctant to trade India for pitching (which the Reds could use) because of the injury factor with pitchers.
My asking price for India would be sky high and even then I wouldnt pull the trigger. Hes the leader of this team and our best player. The Reds do need pitching and could look to aquire something with the minor league depth
India is a solid player, but not a superstar. Let him play thru his six, and see if one of the prospects can fill the role. If he wants top dollar, let him walk, or trade him at year five. Its tough when its a fan favorite, and was one of the first players of the rebuild. Sentiment doesn’t win games, and doesn’t sell as many tickets as winning does.
If India is your best player, you are in some serious trouble. 112 OPS+ and terrible defense at 2B does not scream best player.
Reds should lock up India, CES, Noelvi, McLain and Steer.
India at 2B, McLain at SS, Steer at 1B, Marte at 3B, CES at DH, move them around if you like and Stephenson at Catcher/1B/DH.
Hope Votto gets a 100 at-bats this year and retires. He is a borderline HOF, I think he makes it, hanging around will not bolster his case.
Where are you moving Elly De La a Cruz to? CF
Good point, De La Cruz is also infield or DH. I would still keep them all and extend most or all. I am less excited about extending pitching. Not every extension will pan out but most of them will be good.
With that cannon of an arm, I’d put Elly in RF. Potential to be elite there defensively with his speed and arm (assuming he develops the instincts).
There’s no need to trade India. The Reds built their farm the right way by going after talented middle infielders. These are the easiest players to convert into outfielders. See: Mookie Betts, Tatis, Jr, Whit Merrifield, Jazz Chisholm and Jarren Duran just to name a few current players who have transitioned. The Reds need to determine who their 3B, SS & 2B of the future are out of this group and then give the other kids some time in the OF while in the minors. If they all make it to the majors and perform, the Reds will be looking real good for years to come.
India is a passable 2B, but not the kind of player you build around by extending long term. Slightly above average offense and below average defense. If I am moving a player to a less important corner OF spot to make room for a more talented MI, it would be India.
India – Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 55 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50
De LA Cruz – Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 60 | Run: 70 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 60
India is now at a position that doesn’t allow him to utilize his best tool. Move him to RF when De LA Cruz is ready. .
MLB stats over multiple seasons mean more than scouting grades.
You are correct and India has been outright bad on defense at 2B and only a smidge above average on offense over multiple seasons in the majors.
Its time to bring up De LA Cruz and see if what everyone else sees in him plays out at the MLB level. Elly at least has a chance of being a special player in the majors. We already know from several seasons of stats that India is just MEH.
I really Biggio but it would be nice for the Jays to trade him in a package to get India. Biggio is going to take his roster spot and has little value really, maybe they would rather Espinal be the roster player coming back. But I’m sure they jays have the prices to entice the Reds to move him.
Chapman will be gone at year’s end and I was thinking that barger would take over at 3rd but he started the year horri-awful. So the Jays have barger, Espinal, bechette and Biggio as there infield and backup peice. They have to swing a trade cuz Chapman while worth a ton of money I’d rather give that to Bo or vladdy. Bo has become an average SS at best he just doesn’t have the arm so once he signs his first FA deal I’m sure he will play 2nd then
In other breaking news: water is wet.
The idea of me making posts like this is to hopfully start dialogue and see what others are thinking about the situation.
Trade from strength. Get a huge arm on that mound for next year. You have plenty of middle infielders and he’s going to be expensive quickly
Brown from Houston ? That’s a worthy return for India.
Houston shouldn’t make that deal.
So he would back up Altuve, and send Dubon to the minors? For one of Houston’s starters? The one that throws 100mph? Don’t think so. India is not that much better than Dubon. Would you trade Greene for India?
The Reds are not getting a huge arm for India. He is a slightly above average player. They would get a slightly above average player in return. OR a couple of prospects that might include a guy with a great arm that is further down in the minors. What team needs a MI?
I could definitely see the Dodgers having called
This feels like an “accidental” leak from Cincy FO because they are getting early interest but what they feel are lowball offers
McCourt
Dodgers have their own quality prospects, they need a couple of one year rentals not expensive young budding stars. For example, Jorge Soler can opt out of his contract at the end of the year rather than take his last year at 12 million. I think Soler is an upgrade on Peralta, Thompson and Taylor if they think Outman is ok in center.
Ames Rosario is another option that I like for Dodgers he can play SS and CF, two big needs. One year of Rosario or Soler will be a small fraction of the price of India.
Ahmed Rosario not Ames!
Not disagreeing. And they may think Vargas and Lux is the middle infield of the future, so it’s a moot point
But they also could view adding a MIF as a long term play to move Max off 3B and let Mookie moonlight way less as a MIF. They have great flexibility
My point with India is La absolutely has the prospect capital, as you alluded to. I don’t see them spending it unless it’s an impact talent. And we’ve see with Trea Turner in recent years, they’re willing to acquire guys with more than 1 year if they fit the longer term plan
The story last week about Mookie’s flexibility giving LA many trade options supports what we both are saying. I think they do *something* and their goal will be to not overpay for whoever they choose
From what I’ve read, Dodgers have definite interest!
He’s the kind of player the Rays try to acquire because he’s controllable and cheap. And possibly available.
His injury history isn’t detailed enough for the Rays to want him.
He’s definitely NOT the type of player the Rays try to acquire – one which costs a lot of talent in the trade going the other way.
Imo the Seattle Mariners should definitely try to get him they really need a future 2nd basemen especially rn he’d fit perfectly with them
I whould have 1b steer 2b India ss McClain 3b dela-cruz lf Fraley cf t.j.rf senzel DH/1b ces c stevenson and go from there
I see a lot of you Reds fans yelling out “trade this guy” and “trade that guy”. Personally, I think ALL smaller market teams than your Dodgers, Yankees, etc., should keep all assets. With the issues with Bally, AT&T Sports, etc., it raises red flags on a financial terms for all clubs you depend on that money. Yankees and Dodgers have their own network and don’t have a 3rd party network like smaller clubs to cover their games.
MLB screws the fans with these blackouts that have gone on for 2-3 decades now. Losing money, hurts the organisations like Reds, Pirates, Mariners, etc. in a huge way. So, keep all prospects and talent because it’s cost effective while MLB struggles to find a solution. Just saying
You said it well. The income disparity from local TV deals is the big problem in the game as well as the blackouts keeping fans from seeing their teams play. Young people have a twitter attention span so they lose interest fast. It is killing the game in flyover country but MLB HQ in NYC has an east coast view of things and ignore it.
I still see a lot of Eric Davis in Elly, including the missile home runs. I would have had him in CF and learning that.
Instead, I am guessing he will be at 3B when he comes up and CES the DH when he does. They must want to leave Friedl in CF although I always saw him in LF. Maybe Marte will play LF eventually, he is a year away at least. Steer will probably stay at first and India at second.
If they ever deal India, it will probably be in his year five for maximum value and Arroyo will probably be ready by then since he is still in A ball.
Reds will have a good starting staff in 2024: Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Abbott and one of Dunn, Williamson or Phillips. Impressive? By all means, and a team can never have too much SP depth because of the inevitable injuries.
So, if the Reds are gonna trade India, the Dodgers would be a great trade partner. Like the Reds and their middle infield depth, LA has a ton of pitching to offer, and they love guys who can play all over the place which is something I think India can do.
Maybe India for Gavin Stone or Bobby Miller.
You left out Petty who should be in there somewhere barring injury.
…OR Teams like the Reds have Owners who either don’t have the capital to own a ML team or are simply unwilling to spend. The “small market” Rays are the best team in baseball. Stop making excuses for cheap Owners.
@metsie
What you point out (Tampa is best team), and your conclusion (cheap owners) don’t mesh. Tampa is cheap, but their management is smart. As your team has proven, high payroll with no plan doesn’t work every time. Small markets are required to budget, and scout, and plan well, if they want to overcome the unlevel playing field. Large market teams can make mistakes, and keep spending. NYY, BOS, and TOR all spend more, but the “cheap” owners, TAM, and BAL are at the top of the standings. Maybe you should get mad at dumb owners, rather than “cheap” owners.
Reds should look to emulate the Braves contract extension model ASAP.
The Reds shouldn’t trade India yet. Maybe after the young players are more established. I don’t see a reason to trade him now.
Unpopular opinion but Krall is playing it right. Still too early to trade India or any of the other young player/prospects (EDLC, CES, Mclain, Marte, Stephenson, Friedl, Fraley, Benson, Hopkins, Barerro, Fairchild, or even Senzel). Only way Krall makes a deal involving any of those 13 players is if the other team overpays. Good place to be. Good problem to have.
With McLain hitting the ground running and Elly forcing his way onto the team soon, the case could be made to reload the farm and supplement the future of the organization by trading India. I’m not sure I would necessarily do that at this moment, but the return would be fat.
Yeah, it’s the wrong moment, even if they’d get a strong return. India’s now the heart of a young team that’s building some very positive momentum after years of losing. They need to signal to the players and fans that they’re now trying to field a winning MLB team.
Raised in the city
Ready to run
Cruise to the lake
Fun fun fun
Disinclined to trade Jonathan India
Just look at the name on the front of the uniform, they’re the Reds…they selling!
Lol anytime there is a random report that a struggling team doesn’t want to trade someone, almost always it means “Hey contenders, this guy is on the block”.
Anytime a small market team gets a good player, there comes a report that the small market team should trade him. The big market teams would love the small markets to stay in perpetual rebuild.
What about Jonathan Bangladesh though?