Reds Seek Bats

1- GMJ and Lugo are both awful. They're not going to "improve" anything. Leave them with their respective teams, please.

2- Why hasn't Stubbs been called up yet? Why is Taveras getting playing time?

You Know, good old Walk Jockety may be the biggest sucker in BB if Boston can convince him to take on Lugo and pay a dime over league minimum, much less give up anything over a has been 27YO stuck at A Ball for the last 3 years in return.

No telling, Jim Bowden ran this team and they are thinking they have a chance, been too close to Drayton Moore and his "dreaming escapades" the last few years, all the while finishing near the cellar.

if the reds take on lugo or matthews jr, then they basically solidify their place as the worst franchise in sports. if they want a cheap solution that is risky they should go with Willy Mo Pena

Holliday, Delmon Young, or Kemp (Dodgers) coould be great fits. Both the Dodgers and Twins have outfield excess and Kemp and Young are club controlled for a few more years and cost less than Holliday who might be too risky for the price. What do the Reds have that either of those teams or Oakland need???

Posted by: Redbird | June 29, 2009 at 09:23 AM

Don't see the Reds (or anyone else for that matter) getting their hands on Matt Kemp. He's one of the top 5 CFs in baseball already and a future MVP candidate. Dodgers would be nuts to give him up.

Is Encarcion coming back any time soon. He is a pretty useful bat if healthy. Personally Josh Willingham makes a lot of sense especially in Great American Ballpark.

Jocketty and Beane have a good trading history ;-).

Guys the A's would be interested in..umm...Alonso, Valaika, Soto, Frazier, if you're looking at positional needs

Yeah, Josh Willingham makes tons of sense. His power would look good behind Votto/Phillips and his OBP would be good enough to make Bruce's HRs usefull.

If I were the Nats I would look to trade Willingham and Johnson for whatever arms I could get and then put Dunn at first and a speedy outfielder in LF. Lets say the Reds offer Tavaras and (for the sake of arguement) two arms: Stewart and Manuel. Reds get the power LFer they need for this year and the next and the Nats get two arms they can bolster their pen with and a defensive minded outfielder.

phoenix88-
That would be an awful, awful deal for the Nats. You don't trade Dukes unless you're getting young talent back. Dickerson is a borderline AAAA type. Dukes is horribly miscast in CF, but he's a solid LF/RF.

PL- Accepting an impending Type A FA back would be stupid IMO:

1) its killing Beane's leverage by reducing the number of suitors (like the Teixeira/Angels trade last year, Wren demanded a MLB 1B, which demeaned the value of the package)

2)the type A FA could always accept arbitration. Not a problem if its a good player like Holliday, but if some mediocre player accepted arb, that's payroll tied up in dead weight.

3)Hence why I like the Reds as a trade partner- Frazier is a 3B converted to CF just this season, he could easily be converted back or assume CF for the A's. Of course I really like Yonder Alonso, but he's most likely not a 3B.

(By the way, quick clarification -- Nix has been good, I think -- a very pleasant surprise. I just really like Gomes a lot and I want him in there more.)

Also, there's no way Alonso's going into a deal for a rental player.

Right now the Reds rotation is a mess, so I don't know how they can seriously consider themselves a contender. They'd need Volquez back healthy, and Harang to pitch a lot better. The bullpen is starting to show signs of stress and if it weren't for the influx of young arms like Fisher and Roenicke, would be in bad shape too.

The preseason strengths of this team, aren't right now. The only reason they have a shot is that the division is lousy as a whole. Every team has flaws.

One guy isn't the answer.

Dan, Hernandez has been good too bro. He is top 5 in most categories among NL catchers and was a HR short of the cycle yesterday. Hanigan is good young hitter, but give credit where credit is due.

"4. Trade Alonso, Valiaka, Maloney and Thompson to the D-Backs for Stephen Drew"

No! No! No! Holyshit NO!

That trade would be a disaster for Cincinnati.

I'd hesitate to give up Yonder Alonso alone for the overrated Stephen Drew.

Yeah, Drew has some pop in his bat for sure, but he's clearly a below average defensive shortstop, and his swing is too flyball geared to have a consistently high BABIP.

Drew is a fine player to have, but I doubt that he's any better than league average given his defense. He's already 26 so there isn't a lot of physical development left with him either. He's about to his arbitration, so his salary is about to go up, too.

Alonso is an elite prospect, and all three of those other guys are legitimate prospects with a chance to make an impact in the majors.

I like the idea of going after a young shortstop, but I'm not sure if Stephen Drew is really the right one to pursue.

"2. Promote Stubbs and throw him to the fire. Right now Stubbs is the Reds best CF option. It also helps that he is one of the better leadoff type prospects in the minors."

Totally agree. Stubbs at this very moment is likely to be a much better option than Willy Taveras. How the hell did Taveras and Aaron Miles get two year deals last winter when so many stars had to take one year?

Yes! I am a Willingham fan and think he could really put it together if he was given regular playing time. It isn't that the Nats won't give him a chance, but rather that they really can't, due to their OF glut.

I would love to see him move over to the Reds. He could really take advantage of that park, I think.

schellis -

"Alonso isn't a LF, and really neither is Votto so one of them has to go."

Yeah, but he's young enough that he can be tried at the position. I'd like to try Alonso at 3B as well. According to all I've read, he's got a plus glove at 1B. Experimenting with positions can be done in the minors.

"Maloney and Thompson are number 4/5 starters at best and really any exposure will probably tank their value. The Reds have the arms now to the point that guys like this are fairly expendable."

- A 4th/5th starter is really valuable. To be able to fill out the back of your rotation for league minimum is huge. That's a spot well-run, mid market teams NEED to fill at league min IMO.

They are expendable, but they shouldn't be treated as throw-ins due to how close they are to MLB and how they can contribute immediately.

I think that is a crazy lopsided deal too, schellis (and not in the Reds favor). Even if it were true that Alonso and Votto were blocking each other, that doesn't mean that you go trade one of them for pennies on the dollar.

Also, I have read that Votto can play a pretty good LF.

Oh yeah, one more complicating factor -- I'm 99% sure there's an MLB rule that draft picks can't be traded within one year after signing! For Alonso, that's August.

I've got a solution. Let's pull a Selig and move the Reds to the AL.

Votto/Alonso situation resolved!

two names i'd like to throw out there are brandon inge (his value is probably a little high right now) and troy tulowitzki. (getting hot lately, but could be a long term answer) do the tigers have any third base prospects waiting in the wings?

I like Tulo, but I don't see Colorado moving him after the winning streak they went on.

That's been the biggest problem, there are too many teams that are afraid to cash in their chips this season.

Reds have one of the better staffs right now, and thats with Owings, Arroyo, and Harang all having semi-off years. Maybe this is the new Harang i guess, But Cueto still needs to come back healthy.

we need one legit bat in the order to support votto (and itll help bruce) if thathappens theres no reason to believe reds are out of it.

In terms of fantasy baseball it would be a horrible deal. But Drew is young, plays a premium position, isn't paid a ton of money and is under team control I believe for another 2 to 3 years.

The D-Backs do not have to move him so a fair trade will most likely not get the job done.

The Reds need a SS and a 3B, they have a number of minor leaguers that should be ready in short order. Other then Cozart and possibly Valiaka they really don't have a SS that is close to ready. Cozart has some bat questions and Valiaka has issues with the glove that will likely have him moved to 2B or super utility.

The Reds can horde their prospects and hope for the perfect storm, or they can use the surplus and over pay to fill their primary team need.

Alonso is a 1B everything I've seen drives that home. Votto is as well, everything I've read shows him to be a Dunn level LF. Instead of moving around players and hoping for the best trade them for known quanities.

Yes two backend starters have some value, but its not like the Reds don't have more coming in the pipeline to replace them. Perhaps you try the deal with only one of the two and throw in a expendable reliever instead.

There are very few teams out of the race right now, and the Reds will likely join them unless they get ballsy and make a move now.

As for fantasy baseball, my teams always make the playoffs, and I win about half the leagues I'm in each year, leagues are 18-20 teams since I find smaller leagues to not be worth my time.

In those I have no problem trading excess talent to get something I need either.

"The Reds can horde their prospects and hope for the perfect storm, or they can use the surplus and over pay to fill their primary team need."

AWFUL organizational philosophy. I haven't played fantasy BB in a while, so I can't speak there, but this is how surpluses turn into deficits. You don't overpay for average players.

And, it is arguable that 2008 was a career year for Drew, and 2006 was BABIP driven.

As bweav44 said, if Valaika can be close to league average defensively at SS, and with a decent bat, an overall 2-3 WAR player, he's better than Drew. If there is zero chance he sticks, he would've been moved off already.

the blue jays are already talking of getting rid of Wells/Rios which the Reds would do good with either of those, and the jays need another starter

also a trade for Dye would work well too

Dont the reds already have alex gonzalez? Why would they need another ss just like him? Too bad Renteria signed with the Giants, or they could own all 3 for Boston shortstops for themselves!

Too bad Lugo isn't a for Red Sox yet.

i dont disagree. stubs is good and needs to be in there soon..its just gonna take a bit more time before Willy is is taken out.

Can someone, anyone, explain why people seem to think that encarnacion is going to help when he comes back. He wasn't hitting before he got injured. He made error after error at third and the Reds are playing much better with him out of the line up. Many have given up on Tavaras (I couldn't agree more) and as far as I am concerned Hannigan has earned the starting job. We need a better bat but it is not going to be encarnacion. I have seen Stubbs play on numerous occasions in Louisville. He is a good one.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

DON'T SAY ANYTHING TOO BAD ABOUT LUGO!!!!!!!!

If you do, the Reds just might not take him....