The Royals have kickstarted their offseason. After rumors swirled for the past week, the Royals have agreed to a trade involving starter Brady Singer. The Royals are trading Singer to the Cincinnati Reds. In exchange, Kansas City will receive Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer.

Singer, a 2018 first-round pick for Kansas City, finishes his Royals career with a 4.28 ERA across 685.1 innings of work. He now joins a Reds rotation looking for more depth as well as upside. The pieces returning for Kansas City should go a long way toward revamping the team’s lineup. That was a stated focus for General Manager J.J. Picollo and he’s done just that to open the team’s offseason.

In 2024, India slashed .248/.357/.392 with 15 home runs and a 12.6% walk rate. He adds the on-base skills that the Royals have sorely needed and could be a leadoff option for the Royals next season. Outfielder Joey Wiemer joins India in the return for the Royals. He’s a 25-year-old outfielder who spent most of last season in Triple-A. The Reds acquired Wiemer last season from Milwaukee in exchange for Frankie Montas. Now, not even a year later, they’ve traded Wiemer to add a different starter.

Wiemer was a fourth-round pick by Milwaukee back in 2020 and was the team’s third-overall prospect as recently as 2023. In his best minor league season to date, Wiemer slashed .287/.368/.520 with six home runs for the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate. He spent 132 games with the Brewers at the big league level in 2023 but struggled immensely with strikeouts (28.3%). That showing was enough for the Brewers to start him in Triple-A again to open 2024 before ultimately trading him away. Wiemer has shown a strong ability to walk and get on base in his pro career, but inconsistency with both contact and power has plagued him of late. The Royals add him as depth hoping that he will re-discover himself and help boost a big-league outfield that could certainly use it.