Who in a million years would ever expect the Cincinnati Reds, or ANY MLB team for that matter, to trade an ACE in today’s market? Well, the landscape is shifting. Relationships mean more than they did before with social media, and availability? It’s the best ability. Let’s look into Hunter Greene Trade Rumors. Subscribe to our Newsletter by using the popup or the form below! Please Also Add Us To Your “Trusted” Sources clicking here!
Hunter Greene Trade Rumors
One could probably turn a blind eye to these this year for now, but it’s still a very real rumor and I know several teams talked Hunter Greene last year at Winter Meetings. No shock, we also reported that Nick Lodolo was being ‘shopped’ – better labeled ‘listening to offers on.’ After all, both of these guys are on one of the most team friendly deals, especially Hunter Greene. Nick Lodolo isn’t on an extended deal and is earning money through Arbitration, but his team control made him attractive in trade offers.
Hunter Greene, now 26 years old, is signed to a 6 year, $53,000,000 deal that bought out his arbitration years. This means the Cincinnati Reds have him until 2028, and at their expense, 2029 as well, as there’s a club option for $21M. Although this deal is extremely team friendly, is it really? Hunter hasn’t made more than 26 starts in his career, and that signals a pretty big problem.
Making A Case For The Reds To Trade Hunter Greene
There is some speculation that the relationship with the club isn’t the greatest. Hunter is a Cali kid, born to pitch in a big market, and that’s not to say he hasn’t embraced Cincinnati as a MLB All Star, he has, but I think his heart truly lays in California. Now, he’s still a kid, but the utmost professional one, and he isn’t skipping starts because he’s unhappy – he just hasn’t been healthy. And that’s where we make our first case to trade Hunter.
Hunter Greene’s Health
As mentioned above, Hunter hasn’t made above 26 starts in his career. That doesn’t mean much to an acquiring team, and it shouldn’t, but for the Reds to be ‘cash strapped’ like they act every single year, they need the absolute most out of guys making money on their team, real money. It’s pretty pathetic that it’s like that – but it is. Heaven forbid further arm injury, please, but he also already has a repaired elbow and the game’s data is showing more and more that the guys who throw heat…are the ones with repeated elbow issues. Like I said, Heaven forbid this from happening, but if you’re the small market Reds, you can’t eat $10M or more on injured players. This is just one reason for trading him.
The Cincinnati Reds’ Need For Offense
Trading Hunter Greene could make sense for the Reds if they believe their window to contend is being held back a bit by a lack of consistent offense rather than pitching potential. Hint: It is. Greene’s electric stuff and long-term upside with his cheap contract make him a valuable trade chip, and moving him could bring back a proven middle-of-the-order bat or multiple impact hitters ready to contribute immediately. With young arms like Lodolo and Abbott still in the rotation mix — and other pitching prospects, like Rhett Lowder rising — the Reds might view dealing Greene as a way to balance their roster and finally add the offensive depth needed to compete deep into October.
Reds Have Sufficient Pitching Depth
As similarly mentioned above, the Cincinnati Reds have themselves in a great position when it comes to pitching depth. The Reds’ rotation was a mainstay in their quest for October in 2025’s season, and Greene only making 25 starts (and one in the PS where he was blown up by the Dodgers,) signals good reason for them to believe they have enough in house. Rhett Lowder is healthy again, Brandon Williamson, who showed promise in 2024, will be back from Tommy John, Chase Burns will be completely stretched out. All of these guys are on rookie deals. The depth is absolutely there to make a move like dealing Greene. Milwaukee has made a killing doing similar.
So, Will They Trade Hunter Greene?
That answer, to me, is no. They will have to be absolutely WOO’d by an offer. The Reds hold ALL and every leverage in the Greene ‘sweepstakes’ and it will remain that way, unless, of course, he somehow demands a trade, which is unlikely to happen, or he ends up hurting himself in offseason workouts, also unlikely. Nick Krall won’t trade Greene unless he gets a Castillo-like haul, and if you’re Krall, Hunter Greene may even be pulling MORE than what the Reds got for Castillo back. We will still play into it, though, and look at what teams and what they can give up in a future article coming soon. Be sure to bookmark our website and add us as a trusted source!
