The Reds are willing to listen to trade offers for virtually any player on their roster, according to a pair of reports from C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. While there was some hesitation to embark on a complete fire sale prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, sources tell Rosenthal that owner Bob Castellini is now on board with the idea that a more dramatic retooling of the roster is needed.
“I don’t know if we’re in a position to say there’s any untouchables,” president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty told Rosecrans. “There’s certainly guys who would be much more difficult to move, but we have to be open minded to whatever we can do to improve the club for the long term.” Jocketty said the Reds have made it “pretty explicit” to other teams that they’re open for trades.
Jocketty told the pair of reporters that at entering the season and even this summer, the Reds “wanted to be somewhat protective of our club,” but the year didn’t pan out as hoped. Asked by Rosenthal if he was ready to trade Aroldis Chapman and Jay Bruce after backing down on trade scenarios involving that pair prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, Jocketty responded, “I would say probably.”
The availability of Chapman and Bruce has been widely expected, but Rosenthal further tweets that the Reds will even be open-minded on third baseman and reigning Home Run Derby champion Todd Frazier, who is under control for two more seasons.
Frazier, 30 in February, had a monstrous first half (.284/.337/.585, 25 homers) but slumped badly following the All-Star break (.220/.274/.390, 10 homers). His cumulative season batting line was still strong, and when paired with his plus defense at third base it led to a strong overall year worth about four wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs. But, the second half was a nonetheless disappointing outcome for Frazier, who looked to be on the verge of a superstar-caliber breakout.
Frazier will earn $7.5MM in 2016 — the second season of a two-year contract signed to buy out his first two seasons of arbitration. The former supplemental first-round pick can’t become a free agent until after the 2017 season, so any club interested in trading for him would be picking up two years of club control at a highly reasonable rate.
Chapman is controlled for the 2016 season only, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $12.9MM salary in his final trip through the arbitration process. Bruce is owed $12.5MM in 2016 and has a $13MM club option ($1MM buyout) for the 2017 season.
Those three players represent the Reds’ most logical impact trade chips, as the remaining $199MM on Joey Votto’s contract is daunting even after his MVP-caliber rebound season in 2015. Votto’s contract also comes with a full no-trade clause, further complicating the thought of trading him. Brandon Phillips would make a logical trade candidate, as he, too, enjoyed a nice rebound season, making the remaining two years and $27MM on his contract look fairly reasonable. However, Phillips has 10-and-5 rights (10 years of service time, including five straight with his current team), thus affording him full trade veto power as well.
While Jocketty, of course, won’t tip his hand as to what he’d seek in return for pieces such as Chapman, Bruce and Frazier, it seems that the idea in Cincinnati is to aim for a quick turnaround as opposed to a lengthy Astros/Cubs-style rebuild. Said Jocketty to Rosecrans and Rosenthal:Â “…I think we really started at the deadline knowing that ’16 was going to be a transition year and ’17 and ’18 will be the timeframe we think will be able to be stronger and more competitive.”
I’d like the Mets to call in on Cozart.
would cost ceccini and montero, still interested? granted the reds would probably be willing to throw in a small piece to match it up a little more.
Doubtful that package would work for either team. I just don’t see the Mets bringing in an everyday SS this offseason. Flores is liked by UZR over 242 games and his bat is no joke. He’s 25 and has plenty of time to improve. We aren’t looking at a finished product here.
Flores will play second base. He’s not a SS.
White Sox should be all over The ToddFather
the white sox should be doing the rebuild as well. melky, laroche, and duke tied ties their hands this offseason lol. id go to the mets and offer abreu for duda, cecchini, wheeler and montero. add duke from the sox and eat the money so the mets can have their lefty specialist. then you get to trade quintana. logically to the cubs or red sox. this rebuild would have them competitive in 2 years when they are out of laroche’s deal. and allow them to still have sale, rondon, wheeler, johnson. and tyler danish/ carson fulmer as 5th starter or a f.a and use the young guys out of the pen.. frankie montas and montero out of the pen. cecchini or tim anderson at short and 3rd. micah johnson at 2nd. notice i didnt name anyone from the quintana deal. pick 4 red sox bat prospects. if 2 dont bust you are gold.
I would agree if they were in the NL Central, but the AL Central is very winnable. If Chicago got Frazier and signed one or two of the big name FA SPs they’d be in business. They do not need to rebuild, they’re only a couple pieces away from contending. Rodon is going to blow last years numbers out of the water in 2016.
I definitely agree with you CJCron. The white sox biggest need is 3rd base above all, there are many relatively low cost solid SS available on the market and the white sox could put any of their young players at 2nd considering the options they have there. All they might need is a solid LF since things seem to indicate that LaRoche will be cut or traded so Melky can slide into DH.
Please – NL Central records are bloated by woeful Brewers and Reds. AL Central plenty tough. That said, Frazier is overrated- OPS around .660 in the 2nd half and really bad road splits.
they don’t have the money for that lol, all that came off the books is alexie and they need to fill short with that money, add in raises to players already on the books… every team is only a big bat and 2 big name sp’s away from “contending” lol
There’s no way they trade abreu with the AL wild card positions pretty much up for grabs, The royals have the AL central locked down for a couple years. But Getting Frazier and somehow signing Alex Gordon away from the Royals would be perfect for them. With Melky Sliding into DH and LaRoche being cut or traded.
so punt the future in hopes of a 1 game playoff? secondly that still leaves a huge hole in rf, ss, 2b, and catcher. and would already be over budget….
Absolutely not. .664 2nd half OPS. Mediocre road splits entire career. ONly 2 years of control. pass.
Headlines like these always make me think of the alternative to listening on all the players. Are there a few Reds players out there there for whom Walt Jocketty has his hands clamped over his ears while he shouts “Na Na Na Na I can’t hear you Na Na Na Na!”
I feel like there saying would lisen to anything. But we want your whole farm system. Like for example chapman he’s a free agent at the end of the year he’s not going to bring a top 5 maybe top 10, since at the end of the year you’ll get a draft pick.
What do you mean by top 5? Do you mean top 5 prospect in the entire minors, no he won’t. But you can bet your rear-end he’s bringing back some organization’s top 5 prospect – probably more than one.
he will be traded during the season. its been proven that trading during the season of relief pitchers yields the highest return. see last years deadline as an example.
Royals Get Jay Bruce In the outfield. They would have to trade Duffy and maybe a couple good prospects.
What the heck would the Reds want with Danny Duffy? He’s already in his arbitration years. He’s costlier, older, and no better than internal rotation options.
Look he wasn’t healthy and he is a good relief or starting option and when he’s healthy he’s an ace
There is nothing to say Danny Duffy is or can be an ace other than 1 outlandish season where he significantly outpitched his FIP.
Mix that with the fact he only has 2 years of control left, and the Reds hang up on that phone call.
Bruce doesn’t have a ton of value, hes not going to get a major top prospect, but Danny Duffy isn’t a starting point.
Think Jorge Bonifacio or Bubba Starling.
jay bruce isnt a royals type player. not happening. strikes out a ton and bad d. literally the opposite of a value find.
Bruce is one of the best RF in the NL and has been worth about 6 runs saved per year in his career. Strikes out a ton, yes, but way off base with your second claim.
last 2 years he’s rated negatively, he was a better defender when he was younger and had more speed sure. thats why they say d is the first thing to decline.
Bruce is one of the best RF in the NL and has been worth about 6 runs saved per year in RF.
Bruce could be a fit in KC, not sure if the Reds would want Duffy for him though, they’re looking for AA/AAA type near-ready prospects, like they sought after and acquired Brandon Finnegan. Bruce wouldn’t demand a guy of Finnegan’s quality, but early 20’s AAA guy who put up good numbers last year. Something like that.
The best indicator of what kind of pitchers the Reds would look to acquire is WHO they acquired in the past year – DeSclafani (25), Lamb (25), Finnegan (22), Cody Reed (22), and Keury Mella (23). Three of them were out of the Royals’ system.
Acquiring an older guy who’s already arbitration eligible would be totally inconsistent. If they want a guy with ace upside they’ll go with a younger prospect than bet on Duffy taking a big step forward…
“Jocketty, of course, won’t tip his hand as to what he’d seek in return for pieces”
In Reds country it’d be no surprise to see the Reds target close-to-MLB-ready hitting prospects, as that is what the farm system lacks. Most of the Reds’ prospects are pitchers. LF Winker, 2b Blandino, SS Suarez, and OF Phil Ervin are arguably the only noteworthy young hitters at AA or higher. If Bruce or Frazier are traded, the organization doesn’t really have an in-house replacement.
While some pitching might be in any deal, the primary return the Reds will seek is hitting. The players the Reds can offer a contender are worthy of solid young position players.
What would Cozart or Suarez cost?
I’d be somewhat surprised to see a team trade for Cozart until they see how his knee responds in spring training. No one is untouchable, but the Reds aren’t likely to trade an inexpensive, young controllable shortstop such as Suarez. He’s the kind of player Cincinnati seeks in return. If they can trade Phillips, Suarez could move to second if Cozart returns at shortstop.
Could also give him work in left field and see how he does. Since we don’t plan on contending in 2016, why not see if he can handle the spot?
I wish he could slide over to 2nd but I have a hard time seeing BP authorizing a trade.
Agreed. That wouldn’t surprise me at all and Suarez said he’s open to playing where he is asked..
Suarez could also handle 3b (if Frazier is traded) while not really sidetracking him much as a shortstop.
I think Suarez to LF would be a big mistake, though. He needs work in the infield, and LF is only open until Winker gets called up.
How about Votto to Boston? Seems like a Dombrowski-like pickup. Reds could take back decent salary and Red Sox have plenty of prospects to give up.
Would love to get Rafael Devers and/or Manuel Margot. Andrew Benintendi is from Cincinnati and the Reds drafted him out of high school. They also drafted Deven Marrero out of high school. Travis Shaw is from Ohio and his dad played for the Reds. Maybe Sam Travis comes back as part of the deal as potential replacement for Votto. I’m not saying all of these players should be in a potential trade, of course, but the prospects Boston can offer is impressive without touching their big league roster.
I don’t think Boston is going to jump ship on Hanley, especially with Shaw right there as a fallback option. DD might not be on the same spending budget as he was with Detroit. Votto is an upgrade over Hanley/Shaw but Boston is in severe need of upgrading other areas, like pitching.
And what happens to Hanley Ramirez and his terrible contract? No way Boston makes that deal to give them three bad contracts (Panda, Hanley and Votto) unless one of Panda or Hanley is sent back to Cincy
I hate to be nitpicky, but I noticed it in the post about the Reds GM hiring and here again: Walt Jocketty has been the Reds President of Baseball Operations since 2008 (Link below). He was also serving as the GM until just recently, so it makes sense to assume that Jocketty was also recently promoted to the position of President of Baseball Operations, but he has carried that title for 7 years.
cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/c…
Thanks for that. I’ll amend the wording.
I’m sorry but the Reds NEED to do an Astros/Cubs style rebuild. They are headed in the same direction as the Phillies right now and the Cardinals, Cubs and Pirates aren’t going to stop being as good as they are any time soon.
i said this last trade deadline, and people were up in arms over the idea of trading frazier. hes really their only super valuable piece. chapman just wont bring back the return people expect. remember the andrew miller for erod deal? erod was a 5-10 org prospect who just had a velocity spike that probably pushed him to 3-5 before the deal but was essentially a lottery ticket as to him maintaining it. so 2 back end top 150 guys and a short season pitcher is really what you are looking at
Enquirer —“We still wanted to be somewhat protective of our club last year and we had some offers on certain guys we just didn’t want to move because we still wanted to be… It didn’t play out as good (as we’d hoped),” Jocketty said.
Still Can’t Believe They Promoted This Guy!
I’d like to see the Jays pick up Votto, hometown guy probably wouldn’t mind coming home, his contract might be a bit heavy the last couple years, but GG MVP players don’t come cheap. I think he’d be great for Canadian baseball in a lot of ways. The Left handed bat would look nice in the middle of next years line up, and the cost of acquiring him with his contract wouldn’t be high, or shouldn’t be.
I then trade Tulowitzki to the Mets or San Diego, for pitching help, Ryan Goins takes over at short, no loss of defence, and he showed an improved approach in the second half last year. I resign Darwin Barney as infield back up, he’s defence looks really good, perfect for an back infielder. Tulo for Sheilds and either Ross or Cashner and a high touted low A ball prospect? To the Mets for Niese, Wheeler, plus a prospect or two.
Other than Tulo who seemingly your GM cleaned out what was left in the farm system for, exactly who are you trading for Votto?
And, how much a HotDogs going to cost when you take on another $199 Million in salary as your dreaming if you think the Mets or San Diego are taking on Tulo’s contract at this point with multiple team needs. Management is too cheap for he Mets and he Rock Star GM in San Diego has zero chance of convincing his team ownership to take on major dollars after the 20115 season failure there.
Finally, if I was you I’d be more than a little worried about exactly who’s in your starting pitching staff in 2016.
Jays fans aren’t going to like hearing this, but they really do not look good for 2016 and long term. 2015 was their one shot. Boston, New York and Tampa are near-locks to be better in 2016 – and NY was already really good last year. You are right, they have no one to trade for Votto and need pitching more than anything. Stroman, Dickey and then a bunch of question marks is not the best place to be in, rotation-wise.
I agree with Boston being better, the moves made last year really set them back, terrible baseball moves. I think Dombrowski will turn things around a bit this year though. New York? Improved? As far as I can see, they are on the brink of disaster unless they get a lot mor younger and more athletic, and there not a snowballs chance they trade any of the big ham contracts. Sabathia, Beltran, Rodriguez, Texiera, there’s a great chance none of them contribute much in 2016 other than towards the luxury tax. Tampa well yes, I like the pitching, but it’s just hard to get excited about them though isn’t it lol
I didn’t think it would cost much to get Votto, 199$ million for a first baseman(DH in the latter years) would you really have to give up a lot if you took on his salary?
I forgot to mention the benching of Ellsbury in the playoffs last year, that’s going to be something to watch going forward, I’m sure he really wants to play for Joe Girardi now, lol good luck with that. Not saying Jacoby won’t be a pro, but good luck getting heart and soul out of him now.
The farm system is not cleaned out, albeit, a lot thinner than it was. (Alford, Pompey, Harris and Greene) If the Jays traded Tulo, (which, it sounds like he doesn’t want to be in Toronto so he should waive) the salary difference between him and Votto is basically a wash, except the last couple years. Encarnacion and Bautista will most likely not be back after next year, maybe Edwin will be, based on the fact he is younger, and will cost less as he is a DH. But those two salaries, and production will be gone.
Both the Mets and San Diego are looking for a shortstop, and offence, so how about the best one in baseball? For a fit in San Diego and New York the jays have to take back some salary (Sheilds) and the Mets (Niese), which starts to address their pitching. If you think of what the Jays gave up for Tulo, the market to trade him shouldn’t be much different now, hence an extra high upside young arm Cashner, Ross, Wheeler, and a prospect or two either way.
As far as starting staff, Stroman, Sanchez, Hutchison, Dickey, plus maybe Estrada if he accepts, the definitely need some depth at the major, and minor league level for pitching, we shall see what LaCava and Co. can do.
The Mets have zero interest in Tulo and they would not trade Wheeler for him.
Really? No interest?
No interest for the cost of Wheeler. Tulo…when healthy…is great, but he hasn’t been healthy. Wheeler is coming back from TJS, so his value is at an all-time low. He has #1 potential and is cost controlled, so trading him for an often injured pricey veteran is a no-go.
If the Blue Jays view moving Tulo as a salary dump (or if he is unhappy in TOR), then a package of Niese + Nimmo or similar is more appropriate. It would be a dump, so TOR wouldn’t get full value, but they need pitching and adding a prospect or two could be worthwhile for them.
An all star, gold glove, silver slugger shortstop is not a salary dump. They need some arms, and Goins can play shortstop. They traded a “potential” number one starter in Hoffman, a promising bullpen arm in Castro, and a A ball high upside lottery ticket prospect, plus a salary dump, and u for some reason think Wheeler is worth all that why?
What about something headlined with Polanco for the Todd Father?
That’s a pretty good idea actually. Pirates are in win-now mode and have a need at 3B, Polanco is very good and cost-controlled and there’s plenty of outside options on the FA and trade market to fill RF for them, either temp or long-term. Liking this idea.
Thanks thats what i was thinking too, tho I think if im the Pirates id plug Fraizer in at 1B, or at least when Kang comes back. In fact, if they can get Todd and im the pirates I look to deal Walker immediately for pitching. most likely.
Pre Kangs Return:
1B Morse
2B Harrison
SS Mercer
3B Todd
Post Kangs Return
1B Todd
2B Harrison
SS Mercer
3B Kang
Plus, adding Todd for the next couple of years will allow Bell to go back to the outfield.
They wouldn’t move Frazier from 3B, he was a gold glove finalist and is actually pretty mediocre playing 1B.
This is the right move for the Reds. They have a great farm and need to clear out all veterans. Trading everyone over the age of 27 should be the first order of business for them this offseason. That would mean: Chapman, Hoover, De Jesus, Bruce, Frazier, Cozart, Diaz, Mattheus, Villarreal, Votto and Phillips – with Bailey and Mesoraco gone after they’ve proven health. Let the kids play in 2016 and bottom out, get a top 5 draft pick then the franchise will be sitting pretty starting in 2017.
Astros definitely should consider trading for Frazier and Chapman. Then all they need is a starter and they’re good to go. And we all know they have the prospects to make a deal like that
Maybe this goes without saying, but I’d hope that any GM is willing to listen on any of his players. I would be willing to trade anyone, even mike trout, if a rediculous enough offer came up
How much salary would they have to eat to get anything in return for Votto? I know he is one of the best hitters around but nobody would sign a 32 year old 1B for 200M on the open market, let alone give up anything of value and take on the contract.
I really do not think they’d have to eat much. Votto is in his prime and is an elite hitter. His career OBP is 1st of all active players, and #14 all time. His OPS is 3rd of all active players and 18th all time. Elite players are easily worth $25M a season and he should hold that value for 3-4 more years. After that yes, the contract likely starts going downhill, but his skill set and position age well, it’s not like his value is derived from being a speedy middle infielder or CF.
Exactly, well said.