Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India: Trade deadline sale 'definitely on a lot of our minds'

NEW YORK – Jonathan India led the National League in batting in June, and was so hot at the plate through the weekend that he opened July as the NL’s reigning Player of the Week.

And if you don’t know what that means, he does.

“It’s definitely on a lot of our minds, for sure,” the Cincinnati Reds second baseman said.

With the turn of the calendar to July, it’s officially trading season in baseball, and the Reds managed to avoid finishing June in last place in the National League Central but for the grace of godawful pitching by the last-place Cubs’ bullpen this season.

Will Cincinnati Reds make deals at MLB trade deadline?

They haven’t seen .500 in two months and opened a daunting series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees having lost 10 of their last 15.

The Reds say they’re not sellers yet, and that they don’t want to be.

But everyone from the clubhouse to the highest levels of the front office know how thin that makes the margin between now and the end of an upcoming 10-game, all-loser homestand against Detroit, Colorado and Miami that takes them to the All-Star break.

Which is to say, there isn’t any margin.

“We have to wait and see how we finish off this road trip and the homestand coming up, and then we’ll see,” general manager Brad Meador said. “We’re talking about it. We’d love to be able to add.

“But realistically, we’ll probably just have to see how it goes.”

Jonathon India midseason hitting stats atop MLB

And if reality bites enough by the middle of the month, the hottest hitter in the league – the guy with an affordable contract through next year and an additional year of club control after that – might be one of the most coveted Reds players in a trade market that figures to lean heavily toward demand for hitters.

The trade deadline this year is July 30.

India, who was so blindsided by trade rumors a year ago that he needed a day to regroup, is in a far different head space when it comes to those realities of his profession this time around.

“From the business side,” he said of the Reds’ potential to sell at the deadline, “it makes more sense for me to go to a winning team and help a team out. At the end of the day, I’ve been through this last year. And it’s a business.

“Whatever happens, happens. All I can do is control my play,” he said. “If I go, I go. It’s just part of it. It would suck. Hopefully, I would go to a winning team and help my career and be better for it at the end of the day. But I never want to leave this place. I love it here. I love the organization.

“It’s a business.”

While India’s name has come up in speculation and media lists of possible hitting targets for buyers this month, no conversations of substance appear to be in the works yet.

“We’re having very vague conversations with people,” Meador said. “But that’s just checking in. That’s going both ways. We’re not anywhere close to anything like that.

“And Jonathan’s playing great.”

Meador emphasized the Reds’ hope that selling won’t be on the table by the time they get to the All-Star break.

“Look, this is a great group. And I believe in this group,” he said. “I think we can win with this group. I think we can go to the playoffs with this group. I know we can."

Leadoff man TJ Friedl is due back from a hamstring injury right around the All-Star break, and that would be like adding somebody, Meador said.

“We need to get Friedl back,” he said. “Hopefully, we get (infielder) Matt (McLain) back at some point. But even if we don’t, it’s just being consistent. I totally believe this is the right group of players and that we can go to the playoffs and we can be successful.”

The Reds’ series-opening victory against the Yankees in New York on Tuesday a few hours later seemed to make Meador’s point.

Despite hitting, running, fielding and win-loss lapses on and off all season, the Reds somehow finished Tuesday night with winning records against three of the best teams in the majors: 4-3 against the Phillies, 4-3 against the Dodgers and 1-0 against the Yankees.

“Every game that we play is important from now on,” bench coach Freddie Benavides said. “It just shows we can’t take things for granted now. The sense of urgency is from today all the way until the end of the season.”

Definitely for the next 10 days or so.

Will Cincinnati Reds be buyers or sellers at MLB trade deadline?

Meador said he didn’t anticipate blowing the roster up, either way. An offseason that involved adding a handful of veterans on short-term contracts set the roster up to win as Plan A, or sell those veteran pieces as Plan B and try again this winter.

India understands he might be part of that mix in a market where hitters could be in short supply and high demand. He signed a two-year, $8.1 million deal in the offseason, making the 2021 Rookie of the Year an especially attractive target the way he’s hitting now.

“As I go on in this game, in my fourth year now, it’s just part of it,” he said. “I can’t fight it. I can’t complain or be mad.”

If he's learned anything about the business side it's this: Players tend to benefit when they take care of their own business and perform.

“It usually goes well,” he said. “That’s all I can do.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds infielder Jonathan India MLB trade deadline rumors