Brady Singer traded to the Reds for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer

Rumor becomes reality as the Royals deal Brady Singer to Cincinnati for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer.

The most likely candidate on the Royals roster to be moved in a trade didn’t even make it to the Winter Meetings. On Friday the Royals announced they sent right-handed starter Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer.

General Manager JJ Picollo leaned into the pitching depth he’s accumulated and applied it to improving his lineup. The move ended the five-year tenure of the former first-round draft pick Singer in Kansas City. It brings a presumed leadoff hitter to the Royals with a little outfield depth sprinkled in.

The Royals entered the offseason with the stated goal of acquiring a bat who could provide them with the much-needed skill of getting on base. India checks that box. His career OBP is .352, including last season’s .357 mark. That’s because India truly works his plate appearances. His chase rate of 18 percent is in the 98th percentile which is exceptional. He misses on just 19 percent of his swings which lands him in the 81st percentile. He took a free pass over 12 percent of the time last year which was among the highest walk rates in the majors. I wouldn’t get so carried away that I would term India an “on-base” machine or some other flowery superlative, but the guy does bring a skill that is in dire need on this ballclub.

As you would expect with his prowess of reaching base, the majority of his starts in his big league career have come from the leadoff spot in the lineup. Last season, Royals leadoff hitters batted a collective .228/.270/.334. You may look at those numbers and think, “That’s not good enough.” I would go a step further. It was entirely unacceptable.

When you have an investment in a player like Bobby Witt Jr., who is locked in as the number two hitter in your lineup—as Matt Quatraro says, this is where your best hitters take up residence these days—you need to give that guy some help at the top of the order. Witt was a one-man wrecking crew up there for most of 2024, but imagine India and his .248/.357/.392 up there in front of him.

The knock on India is his contact. The guy just doesn’t square up the ball like you want from a hitter at the top of your order. His average exit velocity of 87.2 MPH ranked 113 out of 129 qualified hitters in 2024. Statcast had his Hard-Hit Rate (balls hit with an exit velocity greater than 95 MPH) at 36.5 percent, which placed him in the 28th percentile. For a guy who is so good at recognizing a good pitch in the zone and making contact, you are left wishing that contact could be a little better.

His spray chart from last season shows a distinct lack of presence in the gaps. That would play exceedingly well at Kauffman Stadium. India has a bit of power to his pull side as a right-handed hitter, but just doesn’t consistently drive the ball to make him a true threat when putting the ball in play.

Picollo said he believed that India had the profile to hit a few more doubles with The K as his home ballpark. While he’s likely to see an uptick in two-baggers just from moving to Kansas City, he doesn’t strike me as the type of hitter who is built to truly take advantage of the dimensions at The K.

Defensively, India will slot into the lineup as the second baseman. That’s the only position he's played in his big league career as I don’t believe he possesses the arm for a spot on the left side of the infield. It’s possible he could transition to left, but that seems unlikely. That obviously leaves Michael Massey without a spot. Or perhaps Massey moves to third which means Maikel Garcia misses out. But like India, Massey doesn’t really have the arm for the hot corner. Picollo did say he discussed left field as a defensive option with Massey. It’s a bit of a defensive quandary. That would lead one to believe there are more moves coming as the Royals continue to flesh out their roster. Third base and really the entire outfield are ripe for an upgrade.

Wiemer was rated as Milwaukee’s third-best prospect by Baseball America ahead of the 2023 season. His scouting grades featured quite the spread:

Hitting: 30. Power: 70. Speed: 60. Fielding: 55. Arm: 80

BA notes Wiemer has several moving parts to his swing. It’s a complicated approach that leads to quite a bit of swing and miss. He struck out in 28 percent of his plate appearances for the Brewers in 2023 and most recently went down on strikes 31 percent of the time for the Reds Triple-A team last summer.

He did get an extended look with Milwaukee in that ‘23 season. In 410 plate appearances, Wiemer hit .204/.283/.362 which was good for a 75 wRC+. He hit 13 home runs and swiped 11 bags. He a big dude who has proven he can roam center field or either corner. The defense is good and the arm, as you can see above, is exceptional.

I understand there will be a bit of excitement around the upside of Wiemer but he feels like a fourth (or fifth) outfielder to me. Drew Waters with more power.

Fun fact: Wiemer went to Cincinnati from Milwaukee in the Frankie Montas trade last season. He was joined by Jakob Junis.

So it’s farewell to Singer, who will forever be an enigma to me. He’s equal parts simple and complex. Frustrating to watch every fifth day, yet dependable enough to take the ball and give his team a chance to win.

Has Singer underachieved in his big league career? It’s a question without a simple answer. A former first-round pick, a guy with some prospect pedigree, yet he never dominated and never announced his presence with authority. He slotted more comfortably into the fourth starter role instead of the front of the rotation position he occupied early in his Royals tenure. Is that disappointing? Perhaps.

Singer gave the Royals 124 starts spanning five seasons. He averaged 8.5 SO/9 and 2.8 BB/9, both rates more than acceptable. His 4.28 ERA is mediocre and his 98 ERA- is basically average. He was good for somewhere between 2 and 3 fWAR in each of his four full seasons in the rotation. There’s a certain value there, even if he never met somewhat lofty—and perhaps unfair—expectations. The fourth starter role suited him.

He added a four-seam fastball and a sweeper last year, but both pitches profiled close to his trusty sinker/slider combination. There’s always the danger that a guy will move organizations and make the adjustments to become a better player. I would have definitely been concerned about that had the previous pitching regime been in place. But after two seasons working with pitching coaches Brian Sweeney and Zack Bove and a year on a staff with pitching chameleon Seth Lugo and change-up expert Michael Wacha, if Singer hasn’t figured out how to unlock his repertoire beyond his bread-and-butter sinker/slider, I feel confident that it’s not going to happen.

The Royals were previously settled with their starting pitching with a true surplus at the position. With Singer gone, will they hit the free agent or trade market to look for a durable back of the rotation type of guy? Dare I say, an innings eater?

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being an amazing and exciting deal for the Royals, this trade lands at a solid five for me. One one hand, it’s good to see Picollo and his staff actually being transactional. Singer was their best trade chip and they went and found a deal. Perhaps this is my bias talking, but I can’t help but feel they could’ve done better than India. (I’m not ignoring Wiemer, I just think he’s a bit of a throw-in because the Royals agree that a straight up Singer-for-India deal isn’t enough to get across the finish line.)

Contract-wise, this is pretty much a wash. Singer is expected to make around $9 million next season in arbitration according to MLB Trade Rumors. India is due just above $7 million after signing an extension last year. He was guaranteed a base of $5 million and hit a boatload of plate appearance incentives to bump his salary by a little more than an additional $2 million. Both players are under team control for two more seasons.

I can’t say I’m sorry to see Singer depart. India does fill a need, but I’m just not sold he’s the best guy for the position. The bottom line for me is the Royals did improve their lineup while not substantially weakening their rotation. It’s a win in that regard but I just can’t help but think they could’ve done just a bit better.

There’s still plenty of winter left though. Plenty of time for Picollo to continue to maneuver. I can’t seem to thing he’s just getting started.