The Reds have opened the doors on a fire sale, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Todd Frazier will stay put. Billy Hamilton probably isn’t going anywhere. Most others are probably on the table. Fay expects at least four players to be traded, presumably Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Aroldis Chapman, and Marlon Byrd as a starting point. Others like Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, and Skip Schumaker are also expected to be shopped. The Reds are seven games below .500 and 15.5 games back in the NL Central. It’s probably too late for a rebound.
Here’s more news out of the NL Central:
- Gerardo Parra’s strong play has all but ensured that he’ll be traded by the Brewers, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Parra is in the midst of a career season, hitting .311/.345/.502 with nine home runs and six stolen bases. Known for fantastic defense, he’s actually struggled this year per Ultimate Zone Rating (-9.8 UZR). Still, plenty of playoff teams have need of a high average, left-handed outfielder.
- Cubs manager Joe Maddon said reliever Rafael Soriano might be “up sooner than planned,” tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Soriano was signed on June 12. He has a career 2.85 ERA and 207 saves in 630 innings. The Cubs have manufactured a pseudo-closer battle. They demoted Hector Rondon from the role earlier in the summer despite solid production. The club also recently called up Neil Ramirez – another candidate for saves.
- The Pirates would probably like to de-emphasize Pedro Alvarez, reports Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The former third baseman has continued his defensive ineptitude at first base with 15 errors. He’s also offered a .233/.299/.424 slash which is well below average for a first baseman. Unfortunately, the Pirates will have to look outside of the organization to move beyond Alvarez. Adam Lind is probably the most notable first baseman on the trade market. If the Pirates get creative, they could also try a three-team swap for Jon Singleton. Typically, Pittsburgh will look for fringier options like Chris Parmelee. We heard earlier this evening that the Orioles may soon designate Parmelee for assignment.
Reds should package Cueto and Chapman and tell teams if you want them you’ll have to take Votto also…….
Agree, Going to start over trade Big Money 1st Basemen to Mutts for Young Arms.
So rebuilding team should kill all the value of their 2 best trade chips? Votto hasn’t been terrible and is still on pace for a 5+ WAR season.
Not even mentioning the 2 biggest suitors for Cueto and Chapman, the Astros and Blue Jays, couldn’t afford to take over 200M+ in salary.
Wouldn’t it be more smart for a rebuilding team to unload unnecessary payroll…..it’s like what the braves did with Upton…..Sure they would have wanted to trade Kimbrel by himself…….but they sacrifice that idea to unload Upton…….they could make up for the prospects in other deals when they trade those other guy’s
The difference is BJ Upton was only owed 40M or so and taking Kimbrel could offset that.
A 2 month rental of Cueto and 1.5 years of Chapman don’t justify taking 200M for Votto, especially when Votto is the face of the franchise.
If you wanted to exchange Votto for Brandon Phillip’s contract, or Homer Bailey, maybe.. but no one is going to take 200M of Votto’s contract just to get a rental.
That’s the Reds gm job though…..is to convince some team it would be worth the risk….taking on Votto 200m contract….the difference as you pointed out is….Votto still a good player unlike Upton…..So the receiving team might like the idea….plus you get the 2 aces…..without giving up anything prospect wise……you just talking on salary…..Jays might do it he’s from Canada……
Jays don’t have enough money to acquire Papelbon, you think they are just going to take 220M+ in salary?
Heres my questions to your illogical scenario:
Why would a team take a guy whos owed 200M just to get a rental and a 1.5 year closer?
Why would a rebuilding team like the Reds want to trade their 2 best trade chips for no prospects just to clear a contract that isn’t terrible (yet). Hes still a 5 WAR player.
Where do you expect the Blue Jays to pull 220M out of?
Even in the AGON/Crawford/Beckett trade, the Dodgers gave up top prospects for lesser players then you are offering. The whole thing doesn’t make sense.
Ummm they do it to finally reach the playoffs for the first time in 22 season….they probably would think those 3 could help them get in……Jays will have the salary for it because a lot of their contracts end shortly…….Also the Red’s aren’t desperate for top prospect for Cueto or Chapman…..their farm system is not bad…..they would probably be ok without trading them and letting them walk…..if they wanted……Also those prospects the Dodgers gave up where garbage….not top at all…….
3 of the 4 prospects the Sox got were top 100 guys at one point or another.
The Phillies have a not-terrible farm system as well, doesn’t mean they should just give Cole Hamels away. Same goes for Cueto.
The Blue Jays can’t afford taking Votto’s contract, end of story. If they really wanted to have an older, expensive bat, they could always extend Joey Bats and EE into their mid 30’s.
A 200 million dollar deal is an ownership decision not a GM’s. And Rogers ownership will not approve any contract over 5 years, let alone 200 million.
It’s never going to happen with Toronto
And yes that’s team policy in Toronto. Alex A has to work based around that fact.
Why would the Reds, who are rebuilding, want to trade their two biggest trade chips and all that just to also move a valuable 1B for salary relief? In theory, if they had a Yankee’s/Dodger’s payroll then yes it would make sense, but your theory is completely off. Stick to the Yanks “Dots” Scann.
More smart?
Except for the part where Votto is actually useful, overpaid, but still a high quality player when Upton was offering nothing and the Braves should praise the heavens for dealing him with a RELIEF PITCHER for crying out loud.
the Dodgers already have AGon at first, and they are about the only team who might consider such a deal at this point.
Votto isn’t going anywhere.
Phillips is Yankee bound, Byrd to Pirates, Cueto and Bruce to Astro’s for a Bunch of Prospects. Yankees don’t care about prospects, Pirates are desperate , Astro’s , are trying to make move on the cheap which will fail, if they take that route !
Yankees care a lot about prospects……I would like Phillips though…..but Refs deserves his shot first……..
It will too late , if Kid a failure like Million dollar Baby drew, it over , Go for the Gusto!
Phillips is Yankee bound? Based off what?
Yankees have actually cared about prospects this year.
Pirates are desperate? Since when? I didn’t know having the 2nd best record in the NL made you desperate.
How do you know acquiring a guy like Cespedes and Samardzija will fail for the Astros?
Yankees this Year or it ‘s over, Old Team getting Older, Lousy Broken down pitchers , little speed, They are the Phillies in waiting !
Are you aware that the Yankees only have 4 everyday players over the age of 31, 1 of them won’t be there next season, and then you have 4 starting pitchers that are 27 or younger.
They have a top of the line bullpen and 3-4 very good prospects that are almost ready to help.
Bringing in a 34 year old 2B with a .673 OPS isn’t going to change the team into a contender.
pirates never act out of desperation- they did get Byrd for stretch run a couple years ago- though i think they might look more for a lesser right handed bat to platoon with Polanco rather than just sit Polanco completely; someone like Franceour would actually make sense. then somebody to give them an alternative to Alvarez at first base.
With 10/5 veto rights Brandon Phillips can, and likely would, veto any trade. With the Reds he can expect to remain a well known player and starting secondbaseman, while with the Yankees he might need to worry about being replaced if he gets hurt or struggles.
Phillips being Yankees bound would be a shock.
Votto,Leake to Red Sox’s for Marreo,Craig,Margot,Owens and so on?
Cozart to Mets Montero and so on?
Phillips/Cueto to Rangers for Odor,Aflaro and so on?
Byrd to Giants for Bleech and so on?
Bruce/Chapman to Royals for Starling,Brooks,Marin,Lamb and so on?
Skip Schumaker to Nats?
Manny Parra to Yankees?
Cozart hasn’t played since early June and is out for the year. Perhaps you should have a general knowledge of a team before you speculate on trades.
My Bad but the Mets would get a SS for next year and it wouldn’t cost them any of their top Pichers.
You Get what you Pay for , Give a Chump Mets get Chump Back !
The Red Sox aren’t doing that first deal, that is for sure. They aren’t gonna take on Votto’s contract and they don’t need Leake at this point.
They don’t need Leake? The Red Sox have one of the most atrocious rotations in the MLB. They’ll probably aim for higher on the starting pitching market, but to say they don’t need him is asinine.
What makes you think the Yankees want Phillips? They have brought up Refsnyder to try out at 2nd.. If he flops I think Cashman chases Zobrist for 2nd.. Heck, I would hope he would try to get Prado back before going after an aging 2nd baseman with 2 years ($27m) left on his contract. Unless that aging 2nd baseman is Ian Kinsler.. I have always wanted to see him in Yankee pinstripes..
Brewers trade Garza and Parra for Singleton and Hader
No money changes hands
Reds should take fewer prospects with higher quality that are close to or major league ready
I would only trade guys who don’t make you eat salary
So chapman, cueto, byrd, leake……maybe Bruce
Keep Bailey, hope he bounces back
If you can unload Phillips money, great, but doubtful
Astros would want Garza???
Well I wouldn’t be shocked. They have followed Lohse closely and he has been horrible. So maybe they would…probably not for that deal though.
Well then if they ( The Astros ) get Garza and Loshe could at least have their OWN Home Run Derby contest !
Id like to see Astros get Hamels
I know he’s not main target and expensive but is below market value or close to it
Also someone should trade for Chapman and use him as closer down the stretch but work harder to get him in starting rotation next year
Somewhere where teams handle pitchers well….St.Louis, Oakland, Houston
he has indicated not wanting to go to Houston but it does seem like they would be a good match in a trade.
Show him the Money ” Yankee Dollars does strange things to people “
The Angels could use Bruce’s bat in their line up.
The Yankees could use Trout’s bat in their line up.
Cool, the Yankees aren’t even discussing Mike Trout until 2021 when hes a FA
haha…maybe in the year 2050, he should be about their speed then.
Phils grab Him , Local Kid Grew up watching the Fighting Phil’s !
with what the Angels are putting out there, just about anybody hitting over .200 could help them.
They seem to be doing OK since the GM resigned.
Angels could had a V-8 , With Bennie the Jet Revere, But God Forbid , Phillies wanted something of Real Quality back for their Player !
How Pedro Alvarez has avoided becoming the Mariners DH at some point over the last couple years is very surprising to me.
You are just ahead of Jack Z there, he will replace Morrison next year
Does Strike out a lot though, Maybe the Dude got unaware of sight problems, A Young Adam Dunn , Maybe , if he’s Lucky !
If the Reds do the right thing and trade as many over 27 year old players on their team, they will be contending so much faster than the Phillies ultra-slow/haphazard rebuild.
Also, Frazier is 29, they should 100% trade him now.
Their ticket sales would plummet if they traded Frazier, the fans adore the guy. He offers way more value to Cincy than the handful of marginal prospects that may never pan out he would bring back.
Frazier is a very good offensive third baseman in his prime with two years of team control remaining. If he was made available he would bring back a lot more than a handful of marginal prospects.
Just a side note dave, hes also above average defensively at third base with a 2.8 UZR/150 and 2.8 DEF. Never going to win a gold glove, but hes not a defensive liability.
And his range will decline with Age, Trade him now, Stock up Minors with Quality Prospects that can help Reds in Five / six Years.
But he isn’t going to net you any front line prospects, is he? He’s 29 already and while a good offensive 3B, he’s not quite a Super Star kind of bat. He’d probably get a couple of B level guys, but again, he’s worth more to the Reds than that.
Frazier might be 29, but he’s also under control through 2017. He might not put up Trout numbers but he’s certainly an elite slugger, who isn’t a liability on defense. He’d cost way more than a few B prospects.
You have no idea what Frazier will fetch on the open market George. Also, why assume it would be prospects that the Reds receive back. The market is constantly changing and its a mistake to look back at a 2012 deadline deal and extrapolate that to 2015.
Hes 29 already……so he’s in his prime now and next couple years. Who would want that?
He would fetch top prospects and no they should not trade him. You cant trade all your best major leaguers when paying Votto all that money only to surround him with garbage
Reds going Down , With or without Jersey Joe Frazier. Made Mistake with Votto now going to make the same mistake with extension with one dimensional ( Power ) Player who plays in a Band Box. Sell High or Live to regret it !
PR nightmare trading Frazier this year. Just not going to happen. Maybe this time next year when reds fans really start wrapping their heads around what it’s going to cost to resign him. But not this year.
Is there something about Singleton and his .188 average that we don’t know?
Singleton is a project. I don’t see a team like the Pirates having interest as he would almost be a downgrade.
No one in their right mind is taking that votto contract. If you think one year of Chapman is enough leverage to force team to take votto your crazy. The reds need to rebuild starting yesterday. The fact is they are barely the fourth best team in the central. The pitching is leaving might as well get some useful pieces now to accelerate the process
Why in the world would the Pirate’s want Singleton?! Certainly not for his strikeout rate or his batting average. Its worse then Pedro’s! Parmelee is a fringe Major League talent. Lind is the only one who makes sense, but the Pirate’s FO usually avoids picking up talent like that, and would be happy with Parmelee.