Cincinnati Reds Receive: RHP Alek Manoah

Toronto Blue Jays Receive: 2B Jonathan India

The Reasoning

This one-for-one swap makes almost too much sense for both sides.

Even after losing Noelvi Marte to an 80-game PED suspension, the Reds still have an excess of infielders. They have Christian Encarnacion-Strand to play first, Matt McLain* at second, Elly De La Cruz at short and Jeimer Candelario at third. They also recently made a trade with Toronto, sending the Blue Jays a minor league pitcher (Chris McElvain) for utility infielder Santiago Espinal.

It's time for a much more high-profile inverse of that swap.

If Cincinnati keeps India, surely it would find frequent use for him. But would the Reds even miss him if they traded him away? He is one of six infielders—seven if you count Marte, and eight if you include Spencer Steer, who figures to start in left field this season after spending most of 2023 in the infield—whom they have under team control through at least 2026.

Meanwhile, Toronto's second base situation isn't great. After five years, it's clear that Cavan Biggio isn't the answer, leaving the Blue Jays to hope that Davis Schneider's long-term outlook is much closer to his first 21 games in the majors (.403 AVG, 7 HR) than his next 14 (.102 AVG, 1 HR).

So, maybe they bring in India and throw in the towel on Manoah?

The former budding ace, who had a disastrous 2023 campaign, pegged three batters, allowed four earned runs and recorded only five outs in his lone spring training appearance before getting sidelined by shoulder pain. If Jays believe in either of Yariel Rodriguez or Ricky Tiedemann for the fifth spot in their rotation, parting with Manoah to shore up the weakest spot in their lineup could be a game-changer.

*McLain has been ruled out for Opening Day with a shoulder injury, but it's still unclear how serious the injury is. If he's potentially out for months, the Reds won't be trading away India until at least one of Marte or McLain is back. That makes it much more likely he'll be on the block headed into the trade deadline than dealt right now. But, hey, it could still happen.