Headlines

  • Giants To Promote Bryce Eldridge
  • Mets Moving Sean Manaea To The Bullpen
  • Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut
  • Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List
  • Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor
  • Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Reds Send Kearns, Lopez To Nats In Blockbuster

By Tim Dierkes | July 13, 2006 at 4:27pm CDT

I was fairly baffled by this trade.  How in the world does swapping out Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, and Brendan Harris make the Reds a better team this year?  (Ryan Wagner and Daryl Thompson were also swapped in the deal).  Let’s analyze.

Lopez is a below average defensive shortstop.  He’s probably amongst the five worst defensive shortstops in the game, as indicated by The Fielding Bible.  The Reds are ranked just 12th in the league in defensive efficiency this year.  Still, Royce Clayton is no defensive whiz at this point – he’s probably only a shade better than Lopez.  So unless Krivsky has some fielding metrics that say otherwise, the gains on defense are minimal.  And if both players keep hitting like they have been this year, the Reds lose a full win on offense.

As for the bullpen additions, I’m less impressed after I look more closely.  Majewski is a 26 year-old reliever who does not miss bats (career K rate of 5.3 per nine).  He’s also generous with the free passes.  While he may have squeezed into the list of the ten best setup men last year, he’s not the most reliable option.  23 year-old southpaw Bray is more potential than results thus far, and he hasn’t shown much ability to shut down left-handed hitters. He’s got good stuff, but he’s still just a reliever. 

Brendan Harris is a good little player; maybe he’ll be starting at second base for the Reds next year if Brandon Phillips moves over to shortstop.  Righty starter Daryl Thompson is just 20, and adds needed depth to the Reds’ farm system.  Still, neither has been making anyone’s top prospect list.

I tried to defend Wayne Krivsky a bit at first, but this trade just looks bad.  The more I dig in, the less I like the players he acquired.  And if the Reds – 1.5 games out of the wild card – don’t make the playoffs by a couple of wins, this trade is the reason.

For the Nats, Kearns would not be a bad option at all in center field.  He’s got good range and a good arm.  His power potential remains huge, and though RFK will dampen his stats.  Great American Ballpark inflates right-handed home runs by about 15% while RFK deflates them by over 20%.  This could cost him 5-6 homers annually.

Lopez is seeing his power numbers slip this season as he continues to pound the ball into the ground more than half the time he makes contact.  The steals don’t add much value.  Strip it down and mostly you’re left with one asset: the ability to draw a walk in 10-12% of his plate appearances.  That’s a good thing, but it doesn’t outweigh the negatives.  The idea of unloading Lopez made sense, but the execution was poor.

Click here to see the fantasy take on this trade over at RotoAuthority.

Go over to the Hardball Times to see Aaron Gleeman’s excellent take on the deal.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Cincinnati Reds Washington Nationals Austin Kearns Felipe Lopez

Angels Trade Rumors: Alfonso Soriano and More
Main
Rubin: Mets Could Get Garcia Or Vazquez
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Giants To Promote Bryce Eldridge

    Mets Moving Sean Manaea To The Bullpen

    Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut

    Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List

    Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor

    Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear

    Orioles Promoted Mike Elias Prior To 2025 Season

    Anthony Rizzo Retires

    Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

    Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List

    Phillies Place Trea Turner, Alec Bohm On Injured List

    Sean Murphy To Undergo Hip Surgery

    Trea Turner To Undergo MRI Due To Hamstring Strain

    Davey Johnson Passes Away

    Mets Option Kodai Senga

    NPB’s Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams

    Shelby Miller Likely Headed For Tommy John Surgery

    Red Sox To Place Roman Anthony On Injured List

    Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Diagnosed With Torn ACL

    Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays

    Recent

    Matt Strahm Triggers Vesting Option

    Nationals’ Prospect Jarlin Susana Undergoes Lat Surgery

    Yordan Alvarez Headed For MRI With Ankle Sprain

    Nationals Have Interviewed Guardians’ AGM Matt Forman

    Blue Jays Release Orelvis Martinez

    Giants Designate Brett Wisely For Assignment

    Phillies Outright Matt Manning

    Diamondbacks Designate Anthony DeSclafani For Assignment

    Blue Jays Designate Ryan Borucki For Assignment

    Angels Designate Chad Wallach For Assignment

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version