Trevor Bauer To The Reds? Thoughts On The 3-Team Deal With Padres And Indians

The epic hoarding problem in baseball continues. Multiple contending teams with starting pitching needs sat on their ass and watched Trevor Bauer get traded… to the Reds. Cincinnati, a team that really has already been eliminated from the race. This is the 2nd type of trade to happen this week with Marcus Stroman getting sent to the Mets just days prior. It was Cincinnati that struck a deal for Trevor Bauer. It happened to be a 3 way trade between the Indians and Padres. Let’s take a look at some overall thoughts as we try to wrap our head around this.

• Cincinnati acquires Trevor Bauer via Indians
• Cleveland acquires Yasiel Puig and Scott Moss via Reds and Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, and Victor Nova via Padres
• San Diego acquires Taylor Trammell via Reds

Indians: Trading Trevor Bauer was just a reality. He was set to earn around $20 million in his final run through the arbitration process next year. Bauer is also on record for wanting to sign one-year contracts for the rest of his career to boost his earning potential. Smart stuff. Cleveland had to do this in order to keep a bright future. Just a reality for a small market team. Trading Bauer stings but you have to like what they did. Franmil Reyes has big boy power. Reyes, 23, has 27 bombs on the season and is controllable through 2024. To acquire that kind of power for a player that they had to trade is great value. Reyes can also slide in as the DH in an offense that has serious run scoring problems. Cleveland ranks 20th in runs scored in 2019. That’s not good enough to be considered a legit contender. It’s hard to envision a better piece than Reyes being available. A proven young major league ready contributor with power. What’s not to like?

Cleveland also picks up Yasiel Puig which fortifies their outfield. Puig is a guy that shines brightest in big spots. While he may be a rental, Puig has a lot to proven as an impending free agent. That’s the kind of guy you want to close down a pennant race. Puig also has 22 home runs on the season. It’s the first time in baseball history a team acquired two 20 home run guys in the same trade. That’s what Cleveland just did. Cleveland had offensive issues. Now they get two big bats. The old group looked like Jordan Luplow, Oscar Mercado, Tyler Naquin, and Greg Allen as the 4th guy. Jake Bauers as a DH of sorts. Now that group looks like Puig, Mercado, Naquin, and Franmil Reyes as the DH. That’s a massive upgrade.

From a pitching perspective, Cleveland actually is set up well to handle a Bauer loss. Take out Carlos Carrasco for a second. It’s so brutal that he’s deal with Leukemia and I wish him the best possible recovery. Corey Kluber should be back at some point this year. Shane Bieber has emerged as an ace. Mike Clevinger is a excellent number 3 in any staff. Young gun Zach Plesac looks like a potential All-Star thus far. Danny Salazar has a proven major league track record and was just activated from the IL. Now Cleveland also adds Logan Allen who was a top 100 prospect coming into the year. Maybe he’s a 5th starter. Who Cares? There are not many pitching staffs I’d rather have.

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Cleveland also landed two lesser name prospects Scott Moss and another throw in from San Diego. Keep in mind, Cleveland also added Hunter Wood and Christian Arroyo from the Rays for basically nothing. Tampa gave them away because of a 40 man roster crunch. Cleveland took advantage. I truly think it’s possible that Cleveland is a better team today. This offense just got a new face lift. Cleveland also has the pitching to sustain losing Bauer. There chances of running down the Twins got better. Something I didn’t think was possible two months ago. Bravo, Indians. Hell of a job.

Reds: What are the Reds doing? Look, I can’t knock them for being aggressive. Maybe they win 75 games now. That’s the issue. Giving up a top 20 prospect in the sport for a pitching that might help you next year but can’t help this year doesn’t seem wise. Cincy is pretty much out of the race. The Reds are 8 games back of the division and 6.5 out of the wildcard with 6 teams to pass. It’s not happening. Losing Puig who is a rental anyway is fine. This comes down to Taylor Trammell. If Trammell becomes a star, the Reds made an enormous mistake. If Trammell becomes anything less than a big league regular, the Reds won this trade. Plain and simple. Prospects are prospects. You never know for sure. By this time next year, the Reds will be trying to recoup what they gave up for Bauer. They will have to trade him again a year from now. Can they do better than Taylor Trammell? Can they win the NL Central in 2020? I’m dubious of both but make no mistake. Bauer has ace like stuff. ANY time you get your hands on one, it’s a good thing.

Padres: Speaking of Taylor Trammell. The team I actually have the biggest issue with here is the Padres. This is another classic example of a National team getting screwed for the sole fact that they are in the National League. It doesn’t seem fair. The Padres felt like they had to trade Franmil Reyes because he’s a liability in the outfield. Can’t move him to first base either with Eric Hosmer on the books for a long time. They also might have an exact or close version of him already on the roster with Josh Naylor. Still handing over a cost controlled player like Reyes who has 27 big flys on the season is BRUTAL! San Diego better hope Trammell turns out as good or better than Reyes.

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Trammell, 21, is currently in AA. So far this season, he is hitting just .236. Not a great sign for a player that only has 6 homers on the season. It’s possible that the Reds saw another Lewis Brinson type of player coming. Brinson, of course, was the player the Marlins really wanted for Christian Yellich. The problem was Brinson couldn’t hit. Right now, Trammell isn’t hitting. The speed and defense is there. They better hope the bat comes. If it doesn’t this could be disastrous for the Padres who were building serious moment. Losing on a trade like this is something that will alienate Fernando Tatis Jr. Not something that will make him want to stick around. Incredible risk here. The Padres has a proven young major league piece with elite power. They gave him up for an unproven one with the hope that they upgraded. AJ Preller doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. He hasn’t won a single thing with the Padres since taking over in 2014. NOT A SINGLE THING.