Rays Listed as Potential Landing Spot for Reds Pitcher This Offseason

Will the Tampa Bay Rays try to improve their rotation in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds?

Jul 22, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; General view of Cincinnati Reds hat during the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays will be heading into the winter meetings soon with the hopes of improving their team and getting back into contention in 2026. 

So far, there haven’t been a ton of moves made just yet in terms of free agents signing and trades happening around baseball, with the winter meetings right around the corner, that will all start to change soon. 

The Rays are going to be an interesting team to watch this winter with a couple of veterans who could be on the trade block. Players like Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz would be sought after if made available, and they are prime players for the franchise to consider trading based on their contract situation. 

Furthermore, while the team might look to move a veteran or two, they do have a need in their starting rotation that must be addressed. Finding good starting pitching at an affordable price is never easy, but one option could make sense for Tampa Bay to pursue in a trade. 

Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN recently wrote about the Rays being a potential fit for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brady Singer. 

Singer Would Help Solve Rotation Problem

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

This offseason, one of the top needs for Tampa Bay has been to bring in a veteran starter to round out the rotation and eat some innings. With starting pitching being so expensive on the free agent market, pursuing one in a trade could make sense for the Rays to add an impact arm. 

While Singer might not be a front-of-the-rotation pitcher, he has been highly consistent in his career and is an innings eater. Since 2022, he has totaled at least 150 innings pitched each year, proving that he is capable of being a reliable arm for the rotation. 

That is precisely what the Rays are looking for in the unit, especially with some of the uncertainty regarding the health of Shane McClanahan. The southpaw is expected to be back in 2026, but it’s impossible to know after missing two campaigns what type of pitcher he would be. 

With Singer being in his final year of arbitration, the contract status for him isn’t an ideal one for the Rays. However, if they traded for him and things didn’t work out well during the season, he would be the caliber of pitcher that they could deal at the trade deadline. Overall, while it would be surprising to see them go after a pitcher not under team control for multiple years, Singer would fill a need on the field for them.