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Reds Acquire Trevor Bauer In 3-Team Deal With Indians, Padres

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Last night’s stunning three-team trade is now official.  The Indians have traded star right-hander Trevor Bauer to the Reds, who sent back right fielder Yasiel Puig and lefty pitching prospect Scott Moss.  Cleveland also added a trio of players from the Padres: outfielder Franmil Reyes, young left-hander Logan Allen, and rookie-level infielder Victor Nova.  On the San Diego end of the swap, the Friars have landed much-hyped outfield prospect Taylor Trammell from the Reds.  Amazingly, the finishing touch on Puig’s brief Reds career was his involvement in a dust-up with the Pirates, which actually went down after the trade agreement was reached.  That finale may have edged out Bauer’s last impression as an Indian from Sunday.

At 49-55 and 6 1/2 games out of wild-card position, Cincinnati’s chances of earning a playoff spot this year appear close to dead. Nevertheless, the poor win-loss results the team has achieved this season didn’t deter president of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Krall, whose goal is to make a more serious playoff push in 2020. The Reds may be in position to do that by picking up Bauer, who – barring more deals – could team with Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani and Tyler Mahle to give the Reds one of the game’s best rotations next season. Cincinnati’s starting staff has been a formidable group without Bauer this year, but it could lose one or two veterans by Wednesday’s trade deadline. Tanner Roark and Alex Wood look like possible candidates to wind up on the move, but even if they stay put through the season, they’re not under contract beyond then.

The 28-year-old Bauer has been a quality, albeit somewhat frustrating, starter since he entered the pro ranks as the third overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2011. He went to the Indians in a three-team trade in 2012 (which also involved the Reds) and has since pitched to a 3.89 ERA/3.95 FIP across 1,044 1/3 innings and 180 appearances (170 starts). Bauer was at his best last year, during which he earned Cy Young consideration on the strength of a splendid 2.21 ERA/2.44 FIP over 175 1/3 frames.

While Bauer hasn’t been as effective this season, he has still notched a solid 3.79 ERA/4.17 FIP with 10.63 K/9 against 3.62 BB/9 through a league-leading 156 2/3 innings. That was eminently valuable production to a Cleveland team which has been without Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger for significant parts of the season, but the Tribe nonetheless deemed Bauer expendable. In his final act as an Indian, Bauer fired a ball from the pitcher’s mound over the center field wall Sunday after a frustrating outing in Kansas City.

Clearly, Bauer’s on-field tantrum last weekend didn’t have an adverse affect on his trade value. The Indians are bringing back a major haul for Bauer, who’s making $13MM now, will earn an arbitration raise next season and has said he plans to go year to year in free agency thereafter. As a 62-44 team that holds the American League’s top wild-card spot and trails the AL Central-leading Twins by 2 1/2 games, the Indians were only going to trade Bauer if it helped them stay in contention this season. It appears this deal will enable them to accomplish that. It’ll also shave quite a bit of salary from the Indians’ 2020 books while giving them multiple potential long-term pieces.

Puig is only under control through this season, during which he’s making a $9.7MM salary, but will team with Reyes to help give the Indians the right-handed outfield/DH punch they’d been seeking on the trade market. With the Puig and Reyes acquisitions, the Indians have become the first team to ever land two 20-home run hitters in one midseason trade, Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out.

The 28-year-old Puig joined the Reds last winter in a previous blockbuster involving the Dodgers. Although Puig got off to a horrible start this season, his production has taken off over the past several weeks. Puig now owns a .252/.302/.475 slash with 22 home runs and 14 stolen bases (19 attempts) across 404 plate appearances. Long a capable defender in right field, Puig has also performed well in that aspect this year.

One of the key elements of this deal for Puig is that it completely wipes out the possibility of him receiving a qualifying offer after the season. Puig only looked like a borderline candidate for a QO, but now that he’s off the Reds, he’s on schedule to reach free agency unfettered over the winter.

Just as Bauer’s Indians stint ended in bizarre fashion, so did Puig’s days with the Reds. He was involved in a brawl during the Reds-Pirates game Tuesday when news of the trade came down. Puig may have to serve a suspension early in his Tribe tenure as a result.

There are no such concerns centering on Reyes, who has emerged as one of the game’s foremost power bats since he debuted a year ago. Although Reyes has struggled to consistently get on base this season, his first full campaign in the majors, the big-bodied 24-year-old has still batted .255/.314/.536 (117 wRC+) with 27 home runs in 354 PA. Given his prolific home run totals, Reyes could eventually rake in sizable sums via arbitration, but that isn’t something the Indians will have to worry about for the foreseeable future. Reyes isn’t on track to reach arbitration until after the 2021 season, and he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until the conclusion of the 2024 campaign.

Not to be forgotten, the Indians are also getting three less established players in this deal in Allen, Nova and Moss. The 22-year-old Allen entered the season as a top 100-caliber prospect. He has since struggled in a 25 1/3-inning major league sample and in 57 2/3 frames with Triple-A El Paso of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However, Allen was still regarded as one of the many high-end prospects in a jam-packed Padres system. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen ranked Allen as the Padres’ eighth-best farmhand back in May, writing that he “comfortably projects as a No. 4 starter.”

Nova, 19, was not grouped in with the Padres’ premier farmhands, but Longenhagen tweets that the infielder’s “an interesting, bat-first flier.” The Dominican Republic native has held his own this year in rookie ball, where he has batted .330/.421/.451 (136 wRC+) with seven steals in 109 PA.

Now 24, Moss became a Red when they used a fourth-round pick on him in 2016. The former Tommy John patient has since put up appealing results in the minors, including this year. In his first experience in Double-A ball, Moss has thrown 102 innings and recorded a 3.44 ERA/3.52 FIP with 10.85 K/9, though he has walked just over five hitters per nine. Moss ranked as the Reds’ 12th overall prospect at MLB.com, which notes he has a “somewhat limited” ceiling but could turn into a back-end starter or swingman at the MLB level.

The highest-ranked prospect in this trade is Trammell, whom Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (subscriptions required) placed near the top of the sport in their most recent updates. BA rates Trammell 41st, while Law’s even more bullish (No. 14). This hasn’t been a hugely effective season for the 21-year-old Trammell, who has batted .236/.350/.338 (108 wRC+) with six homers and 17 steals in 377 PA during his initial taste of Double-A action. However, youth and injuries have played a part in Trammell’s unspectacular output, explains Law, who contends the youngster has the tools to become “a good regular or a star” in left field.

The Padres, of course, surrendered a substantial amount to acquire the unproven Trammell. But trading Reyes will somewhat enable the club to alleviate its current logjam in the outfield. With Reyes out of the mix, the Padres still have two starting-caliber corner outfield options in Hunter Renfroe and the maligned, expensive Wil Myers. They also have rookie Josh Naylor, Travis Jankowski and Franchy Cordero as 40-man options who are either in the minors or injured at present.

Weighing all the pieces in this trade, it’s all the more surprising the Blue Jays couldn’t reel in a greater return for righty Marcus Stroman this past weekend. At $7.4MM, Stroman’s cheaper than Bauer, under control for the same period and has arguably been the better of the two this season. Nevertheless, in a trade with the Mets, the Jays were only able to secure two non-elite prospects – pitchers Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson – for Stroman. There was plenty of chatter afterward that teams were clinging to their prospects and unwilling to give up truly outstanding young talent anymore, but this three-way deal shows that isn’t the case.

Jeff Passan of ESPN broke the news of the deal. Additional players involved were conveyed by Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Dennis Lin of The Athletic, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Yasiel Puig

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7:05pm: There are “mixed opinions” in regards to Atlanta’s interest, per Heyman, who names the Indians and Rays as teams that seem to be eyeing Puig. He’s not the first right-handed slugger Cleveland and Tampa Bay have been connected to in recent days.

6:45pm: The Braves, known to be on the lookout for outfield help, have shown interest in the Reds’ Yasiel Puig, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

The outfield may not have been a significant concern for the Braves until they lost starting right fielder Nick Markakis to a fractured wrist over the weekend. Markakis will likely be on the shelf until sometime in September. In the meantime, the Braves will continue trying to maintain their lead in the National League East. They currently hold a 4 1/2-game advantage over the Nationals, who were 7 1/2 back just a couple weeks ago.

As things stand, the Markakis-less Braves have Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley, Ender Inciarte and Adam Duvall as their top four outfielders. Aside from the great Acuna, there’s no surefire producer in the bunch. The rookie Riley began his career with a flourish, but his numbers have plummeted as the season has progressed, and they’ve been especially woeful in July. Inciarte, normally a solid all-around player, has been rather poor at the plate this season. And though Duvall (acquired from the Reds last summer) was a 30-home run hitter twice in a row in Cincinnati from 2016-17, he was so subpar between Cincy and Atlanta in 2018 that it took Markakis’ injury for him to earn a call-up to the Braves’ roster this year.

Enter Puig? The Reds are reportedly open to dealing the ex-Dodger, whom they acquired in the offseason. Puig’s a pending free agent, so unless the out-of-contention Reds plan to extend or qualify him, it would make sense to trade the 28-year-old this week. The mercurial Puig got off to a terrible start this year as he began his Cincy tenure, but he has been far better over the past several weeks. In all, Puig owns a .254/.304/.478 line with 22 home runs and 13 steals (18 attempts) across 401 plate appearances. Meanwhile, Puig has continued to serve as an asset in right (3 Defensive Runs Saved, 0.7 Ultimate Zone Rating), per defensive metrics. He’s also reasonably priced, albeit not cheap, with a $9.7MM salary.

Yasiel Puig, Scooter Gennett Among Reds Who Are “In Play”

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Along with the previously reported Raisel Iglesias and Tanner Roark, Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig and second baseman Scooter Gennett are “in play” as Wednesday’s trade deadline nears, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required).

The Reds have all but faded out of the playoff race, but they could still buy as well as sell in the next few days, Rosenthal writes. It would be logical to deal anyone who’s down to his last year of control, which includes Roark, Puig and Gennett. Puig’s the only member of the trio who’s a potential qualifying offer candidate, so the Reds could consider holding the ex-Dodger if they’re dissatisfied with the offers that come in for him. Alternatively, the club could attempt to extend Puig – something general manager Nick Krall has suggested they’re open to doing.

After a glacial start to the season, his first as a Red, Puig has come much closer to resembling his usual self over the past several weeks. Puig owned a sub-.650 OPS at the beginning of June, but the number has climbed about 150 points since then. The 28-year-old now owns a .260/.309/.489 line with 22 home runs and 13 steals on 18 tries. Puig has also once again graded out respectably in right field, where he has accounted for 3 Defensive Runs Saved and a 0.7 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Puig’s collecting a $9.7MM salary, while Gennett’s making a bit more at $9.775MM. That looked like a reasonable figure entering the season for Gennett, who transformed from waiver fodder into one of the game’s most valuable second basemen from 2017-18, yet this has been a nightmare of a campaign for the 29-year-old. It began inauspiciously at the end of March when Gennett suffered a severe groin strain – one that kept him out of action until June 28.

While it’s a small sample size, Gennett has come back to hit a stunningly subpar .185/.211/.222 with zero homers (he combined for 50 from 2017-18) over 57 trips to the plate in the past month. That production has been good for a single-digit wRC+ (9), owing in part to a horrid K:BB ratio of 17:1. There’s time for a rest-of-season turnaround for Gennett, but his trade value has surely dropped to a considerable degree this year.

Reds GM Nick Krall On Deadline Approach, Yasiel Puig

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Reds GM Nick Krall chatted with Jon Heyman and Josh Lewin on the Big Time Baseball Podcast (audio link), providing some information on the team’s approach to the swiftly approaching trade deadline. He largely echoed the recent comments of his boss, president of baseball operations Dick Williams, but put a slightly different spin on things.

Krall was somewhat less committed to the characterization of the Cincinnati outfit as a buyer. Williams said the club is in the “buyer category,” while also noting that the focus would go beyond the present season. Krall left a bit more wriggle room in the buying characterization and put a bit more emphasis on the longer-term picture. Over the coming weeks, he says, the Reds will “figure out how we want to improve it for the long run … not just for the next two months.”’

That’s not to suggest there’s any internal discord; it’s just added information that helps build out an understanding of the team’s stance. Krall’s phrasing seems to indicate a bit more more hesitancy to push future-oriented chips in when the division picture could change for the worse in a relatively short period of time. It appears he’s inclined to see how things look when the deadline is fully upon us.

“[I]f you can add somebody to bolster your team to help you make a run that would be awesome,” he said. “I think we’d love to do something like that and we’ve gotta just keep figuring out what the deals are and where we stand and keep moving.” While Krall said that “you’d love to be able to buy this year,” he went on to qualify things: “We’ve got a couple more weeks of games before we get to the actual deadline … you want to see if we can get some consistency.”

After wrapping up a win tonight against the division-leading Cubs, the Reds sit at 5.5 games off the pace. They’re not much closer to the Wild Card. It’s sub-optimal, but about as good as could be hoped having reached this stage of the season with a 43-48 record.

Krall suggests that the team believes its roster has performed somewhat better than its results would indicate. The team’s run differential has been in good shape lately, he notes. But the club needs to find a way to “turn those runs into wins.”

One key for the Reds is the play of pending free agent Yasiel Puig, who has been on a welcome tear at the plate. Krall says the sides have not held any discussions about a contract to keep the 28-year-old in Cincinnati beyond the present season. But he seemingly hinted that could be of interest. “He’s been great,” Krall said of Puig, calling the occasionally polarizing performer “a great teammate” and “high-energy guy” for the organization.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Yasiel Puig

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Looking to return to relevance and break their five-year playoff drought in 2019, the Reds operated aggressively on the trade market during the offseason. The club swung multiple noteworthy deals, including a swap with the Dodgers in which they netted outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp and left-hander Alex Wood. So far, though, that trade hasn’t delivered the on-field value the Reds wanted. They released Kemp in early May after he got off to a miserable start, while Wood hasn’t taken the field at all because of a back injury. That leaves Puig, who was perhaps the Reds’ biggest acquisition of the offseason. To this point, however, the 28-year-old has been a bust in Cincinnati.

Having signed a seven-year, $42MM contract with the Dodgers back in 2012, when he left Cuba for the majors, Puig already cashed in once earlier in his career. Although Puig was inconsistent in LA, he lived up to his pact as a member of the Dodgers, with whom he slashed .279/.353/.478 (129 wRC+) and totaled 108 home runs, 60 steals and 16.7 fWAR over 2,765 plate appearances from 2013-18.

The Reds were surely expecting Dodgers-esque production from Puig, but instead, he has managed a terrible .212/.256/.385 line with 11 HRs in 242 trips to the plate. His 63 wRC+ is eighth worst among 170 hitters who have amassed at least 200 PA.

Unfortunately for Puig and the Reds, his massive downturn in offensive production isn’t simply a byproduct of bad luck. Sure, Puig’s measly .230 batting average on balls in play is likely to climb, and his weighted on-base average (.270) sits far below his expected wOBA (.312). Nevertheless, Puig ranks around the middle or lower half of the league in xwOBA, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage and hard-hit rate, according to Statcast. The right-hander’s also walking at a career-worst rate, striking out more than ever, chasing way more pitches outside the zone, not making nearly enough contact and, for the first time, getting stymied by same-handed pitchers. Relative to last season (heatmaps via FanGraphs: 2018, 2019), righties have been operating less in the middle of the plate against Puig, who hasn’t been able to come up with an answer.

When Puig has put the bat on the ball this season, the majority of his connections have ended up in the air. However, while many players have benefited from elevating the ball more, the opposite has been true for Puig. He’s racking up far more flies and far fewer grounders than he ever has, but that isn’t a great approach if you’re not hitting the ball with authority. Puig’s exit velocity on flies and line drives has fallen from 93.7 mph to 91.7 since last year, while his mean FB distance has dropped from 328 feet to 316.

It’s clear Puig’s offensive game is suddenly rife with red flags, though he has remained a capable defender and base runner in Cincinnati. Since his MLB career began, Puig has logged 44 Defensive Runs Saved with a 12.5 Ultimate Zone Rating, including four and 1.3 in those categories as a right fielder this season. Meanwhile, even though his sprint speed has decreased, Puig has swiped nine bases on 11 attempts.

Although it’s nice that Puig can flash the leather and run the bases, his ability to produce at the plate has been his calling card thus far. And if Puig doesn’t rebound in that aspect soon, it’s going to further drive his trade value into the ground as the July 31 deadline approaches. Worsening matters for Puig, it could make it difficult for him to secure anything more than a one-year, prove-it deal upon reaching the open market in the winter. With Marcell Ozuna, Nicholas Castellanos, Avisail Garcia, Corey Dickerson and perhaps Kole Calhoun also among corner outfielders set to hit free agency, Puig will have serious competition off what could go down as a nightmarish platform season for him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Injury Notes: Astros, Puig, Yankees, Rosenthal

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Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is eligible to return from the 10-day injured list Tuesday, but that won’t happen, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Instead, Altuve – who has been on the IL with a strained left hamstring since May 11 – will embark on a rehab assignment in the coming days. Altuve’s injury forced the Astros to turn to Aledmys Diaz at second, which worked out initially during a Diaz hot streak, but the latter has been dealing with his own hamstring strain since Friday. Fortunately for Houston, Diaz could return early in the upcoming week, per Rome.

  • Continuing with the Astros, outfielder George Springer left the team’s game Sunday with lower back stiffness, according to Rome. Astros doctors will examine Springer on Monday. In the meantime, all the Astros can do is hope Springer won’t miss any time. The 29-year-old has already posted 2.9 fWAR, the same total he accrued in 140 games last season, on the strength of a .313/.396/.654 line (179 wRC+) with an American League-leading 17 home runs.
  • Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig is hoping to avoid an IL stint after suffering a sprained right shoulder Sunday, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Puig incurred the injury against his former team, the Dodgers, on a leaping catch, though he doesn’t think it’ll lead to an absence from Cincinnati’s lineup. Regardless, Puig’s off to a rocky start in his first season outside of Los Angeles, having hit .206/.253/.358 (58 wRC+) in 178 plate appearances.
  • There were concerns over banged-up Yankees starters James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka on Saturday, but both are making good progress, Sarah Langs of MLB.com explains. The same holds true for reliever Dellin Betances, who hasn’t pitched this season because of a bone spur in his right shoulder.
  • Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal is close to returning to the majors, manager Dave Martinez told Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post and other reporters Sunday. Rosenthal went to the IL on April 26 with a viral infection, which came on the heels of an embarrassing start to the season for the former Cardinals closer. The 28-year-old Rosenthal didn’t record an out until April 10, his fifth appearance of the season, and has allowed 12 earned runs on seven hits and nine walks (against three strikeouts) in three innings.

MLB Announces Archer, Puig Suspensions

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APRIL 14: Archer will begin serving his five-game suspension today, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets.

APRIL 9: Major League Baseball announced several suspensions today arising out of a review of Sunday’s bench-clearing brawl between the Pirates and Reds. You can take your own look at the incident in question right here.

Pittsburgh right-hander Chris Archer was hit with a five-game ban, with the league determining that he intentionally threw at an opposing player (Derek Dietrich). Cincinnati outfielder Yasiel Puig received a two-game suspension while skipper David Bell will sit out one contest.

All of the punishments also came with undisclosed fines. It is not yet clear whether Archer will appeal, but Puig and Bell are planning to begin serving their bans beginning with this evening’s contest.

NL Notes: Arenado, Pirates, Puig, Walker

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Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado chatted with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post in advance of Spring Training, saying his shoulder is at full health and that he’s eagerly anticipating the 2019 season. That’s good news for a Colorado club that’ll need its best player operating at full strength to make a run in the NL West. Of course, the big question as camp nears is whether there’s any possibility of a long-term deal to keep Arenado around for the long haul. At a minimum, he and the team need to bridge a $6MM arbitration gap. Arenado says the contract matters aren’t a distraction for him; rather, his “agent is taking care of all that.” The Rockies star said that there’s no tension or anger stemming from the arbitration talks. However, there’s yet to be any indication that the two sides will be able to see eye to eye on a long-term agreement with Arenado just months from reaching free agency.

 Here’s more from the Senior Circuit…
  • The Pirates announced earlier tonight that they’ve added outfielder JB Shuck on a minor league contract, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that they’re still looking for outfield additions on minor league pacts. Among the names Pittsburgh is currently eyeing are Cameron Maybin and Brandon Guyer — a pair of veteran right-handed bats who have considerably longer track records than Shuck. Of course, both Maybin and especially Guyer are coming off underwhelming seasons at the plate. Maybin would bring an element of speed to the Pirates’ bench, while Guyer is typically more of an on-base threat and has handled lefties better in his career. Either could pair with Lonnie Chisenhall in right field — Guyer and Chisenhall have previously platooned together in Cleveland — while the Pirates await Gregory Polanco’s return from shoulder surgery. Polanco is expected to be sidelined for the first couple months of the 2019 campaign.
  • New Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig was primarily a right fielder with the Dodgers, but he said Wednesday evening that he’ll be prepared to play center field if his new organization asks him to do so, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Cincinnati has a clear need in center field and has been rumored to be seeking additions both via free agency and on the trade market. Puig won’t hesitate to play either outfield spot and said his primary focus is on being in the lineup on a daily basis and helping a rebuilt Reds roster push for a postseason berth. Puig also discussed the mixed emotions he felt upon learning he’d been traded and his relationship with hitting coach Turner Ward, among other topics.
  • Neil Walker spoke with Marlins reporters about his one-year deal with the team (link via Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald), explaining that this offseason he put an emphasis on being signed before Spring Training began. Walker noted that he had interest from other clubs, but some were playing the waiting game for other free agents (including a few clubs who were first waiting to see what happened with Manny Machado before adding an infielder). Walker candidly called the beginning of his Yankees tenure the “worst month-and-a-half of [his] career” — not in reference to the team but rather referring to his own performance. Walker felt that his lack of a full Spring Training was a significant detriment, and he had no intention of waiting into March to sign once again. Walker hit .247/.346/.442 in the season’s second half after a disastrous start to the 2018 season.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed yesterday at 1pm ET, and there has been a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track those settlements from the National League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Rounding out contract numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals, Dominic Leone will take home $1.26MM, Chasen Shreve will make $900K, and outfielder Marcell Ozuna will earn $12.25MM in his last season before free agency, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Ozuna has the most high-impact potential as he looks to rebound from a still-productive season in 2018 that saw his power output hindered at times by a balky shoulder. He still managed 23 home runs and a .280/.325/.433 slash line while playing just about every day outside of a 10-day DL stint late in August.
  • The Diamondbacks came to terms with a slew of players, per Feinsand (via Twitter), including Matt Andriese for $920K, Steven Souza Jr. for $4.125MM, shortstop Nick Ahmed for $3.6625MM, and potential closer Archie Bradley for $1.83MM.
  • The Rockies and starting pitcher Jon Gray have come to an agreement on a $2.935MM deal, per Feinsand (via Twitter). Gray had an up-and-down 2018 that is generally considered to be more promising than the optics of his 5.12 ERA make it seem.
  • The Pirates have come to terms on one-year deals with both of their arbitration eligible players, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Left fielder Corey Dickerson signs for $8.5MM, and reliever Keone Kela takes home $3.175MM. It’s a small arb class for the Pirates, whose list will grow next season as players like Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon, and Joe Musgrove, among others, reach their first season of eligibility.
  • The Dodgers signed a couple of their remaining arbitration-eligible players yesterday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Utility man Chris Taylor has a $3.5MM deal, while outfield Joc Pederson settled at $5MM.

Earlier Updates

Read more

MLBTR Poll: Who Won The Dodgers/Reds Trade?

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds recently agreed to a seven-player trade that shook up the National League and set the rumor mill afire. In case you missed it, the deal sent the quartet of Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood, and Kyle Farmer, plus $7MM cash to the Reds in exchange for Homer Bailey and two prospects: Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs, the Reds’ 13th and 8th ranked prospects, respectively, per Fangraphs. Reactions and analysis have landed on both sides of the ledger, though any subsequent transactions stemming from the payroll and roster changes on either side will give further cause for debate down the line.

The Reds have been vocal about upgrading no matter the cost this winter, especially for pitching, and while the additions were to presumably come via increased spending in free agency, here they explore a more creative means of adding talent. Having seen enough of Homer Bailey over the years, President of Baseball Ops Dick Williams put the $28MM owed Bailey to good use in acquiring three proven major league contributors. Under different circumstances, Williams might be praised for not handcuffing the team with future payroll obligations, but given that this deal feels in part driven by Cincinnati’s inability to attract major free agents, the one-year contracts of Puig, Kemp and Wood only highlights the lack of guaranteed long-term value in the return.

The primary critique here for the Reds is that they surrendered twelve total years of control in Downs and Gray, who slot in as the Dodgers’ new #7 and #16 ranked prospects, per MLB.com. The complete absence of guaranteed future value puts a lot of pressure on the team to capitalize in 2019, a real challenge coming off a 95-loss season. Should Puig, Kemp and Wood walk at the end of the year, they will have surrendered legitimate future talent for a trio that’s not likely to pull them from the depths of the NL Central. Even if the Reds do surprise this season and leapfrog the Pirates, Cardinals, Cubs and Brewers, they still could lose this trio to free agency and be worse off for the future than they were before their acquisition.

On the other hand, attendance has waned at Great American Ballpark. Puig’s power and personality both ought to play well there and give fans something to root for. Further, if for instance, they’ve been unable to get much traction on this year’s crop of lefty free agent starters, then having a one year head start with Wood might be the best way to sign him long-term in Cincinnati. Prospects are high-risk assets, and it could be the Reds don’t believe the future value of Downs and Gray is all that high. Or, they might be banking on getting better prospect value in return at the trade deadline should the Reds fall out of contention early. There’s a lot of speculation above, but the fact is the Reds front office found a way to turn Homey Bailey into two exciting, productive players/trade chips (plus Matt Kemp).

For the Dodgers, they jettisoned 6 fWAR from their 2018 pennant winning team for $28MM in dead money and a pair of prospects. If they don’t turn around and use the cost savings in free agency, that’s a lot of talent to send away just so their billionaire owners can avoid paying the luxury tax. For all Puig’s antics, he brought real fire to the club, and in his six seasons with the team, not only did he accumulate 16.8 fWAR, but they won the NL West in each of those six seasons. As for Wood, one could argue there’s a lot of uncertainty around the lefties remaining in the Dodger rotation: Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu have not been fully healthy, Rich Hill, 38, is a full decade older than Wood and Julio Urias, 22, may be ready to step into the rotation, but after missing almost all of 2018, he’s far from a sure thing. Wood has his own injury history, but he is a proven asset when healthy, which he has been of late, and he carries a career 3.29 ERA (3.36 FIP, 3.49 xFIP, 3.66 SIERA). As the adage goes, you can never have enough pitching.

On the other hand, the Dodgers added two pretty decent prospects and slipped below the tax line (for now) while dealing from areas of depth. The outfield was log-jammed anyway with Kemp and Puig. Without them, there should be enough at bats to go around for Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, Andrew Toles and Cody Bellinger. Plus, top prospect Alex Verdugo, still only 22, may finally have the opportunity to shine at the big league level. As for the rotation, add Walker Buehler and Kenta Maeda to the names above and the Dodgers have enough top-of-the-line starting pitching to enter 2019 even if they decide to pocket the savings from this deal. Kemp and Puig were fun, but they were volatile on-field assets who were going to siphon at bats from the younger, higher upside outfielders (namely, Bellinger and Verdugo) already on the roster.

The elephant in the room, of course, is Bryce Harper. Heads were immediately sent spinning with the possibility of this move being a precursor to the Dodgers signing Harper in free agency, and what’s worse – that makes a lot of sense. They cleared payroll space and positional opportunity, in doing so creating the market/payroll/need fit that previously didn’t seem to exist for Harper. The White Sox and Phillies are ready to spend, but they likely can’t compete with a fully armed Los Angeles payroll. The Cubs are said to be watching, the Nationals haven’t given up on him in theory, and nobody believes the Yankees when they say they aren’t interested, which is, in-and-of-itself, a testament to how classic a suitor they really are.

This blockbuster has the makings of a touchstone moment that will, in part, define this winter’s dealings, but it’s time to see where MLBTR readers land on judging the returns. Does the flexibility this deal affords the Dodgers make them the winners? Or did the Reds take advantage of the Dodgers desire to shed some payroll and walk away with the better return? Let us know your Dodgers grade, your Reds grade, and who you think “won the deal” in this poll.

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