On trading Bronson...
As much as I like what Arroyo's done here, I think he's the guy you have to trade if you want to make a run this season. Trading prospects for FA's-to-be would be unwise, as this is still a flawed team with most of its core players several years from their respective primes. It's not worth wasting Jay Bruce's best years because you went all-in on a 2009 team whose best possible outcome is a one-and-done in the playoffs.
But, the division is there for the taking. You never know how often these kind of chances will come around, so you have to do something, right?
If this team is to go to the playoffs without mortgaging the future, the most probable scenario (really, the only scenario in my mind) is to add a bat, get Volquez back healthy, and have some combination of Bailey/Maloney/Ramirez cobble together enough quality innings to maintain the strong pitching we've enjoyed thus far. That last part is a lot easier to do when all you need to do is equal the 5.16ERA Bronson's given you to this point. You can't ask rookies to replace Harang's production.
So, where to send him? I look at Minnesota; a .500 squad in a division that's eminently winnable, with a 109 OPS+ and a 93 ERA+ as a team. They have 4 outfielders with at least 170 PA's, plus a DH who's a nominal LF. One of those OF's happens to have a career 109 OPS+ (Bronson has a career 106 ERA+), happens to have a contract that pays him $16.5mil over the next 2 seasons with an $11mil option for 2011 (compared to Bronson's $22mil over the next 2, plus an $11mil 2011 option), and happens to bat righthanded.
Bronson Arroyo and $3mil to the Twins for Michael Cuddyer?
After calling up Drew Stubbs and demoting Willy Taveras (riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight) we'll be able to roll out this lineup:
CF Stubbs R
1B Votto L
LF Cuddyer R
RF Bruce L
2B Phillips R
3B Encarnacion R
C Hanigan/Hernandez
SS Shit, what's that one guy's name?
Playoffs?
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9 comments
Comments
FWIW
Edinson Volquez had a setback today. An MRI showed swelling in his arm (or something). They are going to shut him down until it’s gone. He definitely won’t be back before the All Star Break.
Does that change your willingness to trade Arroyo?
"It seems like we're not hitting because we're not getting hits." - Dusty being Dusty
by Slyde on Jun 24, 2009 7:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
No
Wear something sexy to my funeral.
by Pops Daniels on Jun 24, 2009 7:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If I can get Cuddyer....
probably not. I think we have a bigger need in LF than in the rotation going forward, and, since Arroyo and Cuddyer are locked up for the same amount of time, the short-term status of Volquez wouldn’t change my opinion on that. They’re similarly valuable players, and Cuddyer better fills our needs. If I were trading for a FA-to-be or a short-term fix, obviously that changes. But Cuddyer helps the team going forward, so I’d still do the deal.
"Karma - there it was. The meaning of life, straight from Carson Daly's lips to my morphine-laced ears." -Earl Hickey
by BLee2525 on Jun 24, 2009 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
minus Volquez, AGon, EE, a struggling Bruce and Votto, and the pitching staff is struggling.......time to think about next year
by Dude Rock on Jun 24, 2009 9:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Homer to the rescue!
Reds fan for 40 years!
by gejoe on Jun 24, 2009 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Now what we need
is a guy who can give up five runs before recording an out. Call Cincinnati! Hey, will they let us have Danny Graves?
Where have you gone, Johnny Vander Meer?
by jgoodfri on Jun 25, 2009 1:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Start trimming payroll with trades, get some more good prospects, and bring up the young guys
Time to see what Maloney (lefthanded Arroyo) and Bailey can do permanently. We’re not going anywhere with Harang and Arroyo. And we’re not going anywhere with AGon, EE, and Volquez on the DL and Votto and Bruce struggling.
But we might do something next year if we’d make some adjustments this year.
by Dude Rock on Jun 27, 2009 1:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs



























