Should Reds Extend Qualifying Offer to Brady Singer?

The Cincinnati Reds' disappointing season is finally over and president of baseball operations Nick Krall as well as the rest of the front office will have an important decision to make on starting right-hander Brady Singer.

With the 30-year-old's contract set to expire after the World Series, the question arises--should the team extend him the qualifying offer?

Just last season, Singer posted an earned run average of 4.03 while striking out 163 batters through 169.2 innings pitched during his first year with Cincinnati following a trade in the 2024 offseason that sent position players Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer to his former club--the Kansas City Royals.

Krall's intuition to make the deal that landed Singer appeared to pay off at the time with the Reds in desperate need of starting pitching depth and Singer coming off one of his best seasons in which he compiled a 3.71 ERA.

However, Cincinnati didn't see the results they would've expected from Singer this season as his ERA inflated to 5.85 while he only recorded 126 punchouts across 157 innings of action.

His final four starts this season would be his roughest stretch yet. Just last Thursday, the Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in spite of Singer surrendering seven hits and five earned runs through three innings. He also suffered back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers and division rival Milwaukee Brewers.

He wrapped up the month of September with a 15.26 ERA that poses significant concern given that he will be on the wrong side of 30 next August.

Even then, an argument could be made that Singer was one of the Reds' most reliable arms given that he made nearly all of his scheduled turns in the team's rotation this year. He is also four years removed from his 3.23 ERA in 2022 and showed flashes of his former self at certain points during this season.

Singer contributed to the Reds' 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on July 17, striking out six batters while only giving up two earned runs through seven innings of work to ultimately be credited with the win.

As a result, Cincinnati must also consider the possibility that they lose Singer for nothing and he ends up bouncing back with another franchise in the event he were to walk in free agency.

While the 12 remaining teams duke it out in the MLB playoffs, the Reds will be watching from afar as they decide on Singer's future.