Red Reposter - Catching up

MLBTradeRumors thinks Ramon Hernandez is one of the most attractive trade chips right now
With the Reds' depth at catcher and the serious lack of quality at the position league-wide, they are in a most enviable position. He makes only $3 mil this year, is only signed for the one year, and will probably be a type-A free agent at the end of the year. And with Devin Mesoraco crushing throats in AAA, the Reds can very likely stand to move Ramon without hurting their playoff chances.

The real question though is whether or not they will move him at all. I'm of a mind to actively shop him, and that right soon. His value will never be higher than it is at this moment, with him slashing .316/.379/.526 and so many contenders looking for production from the catcher position. We all know this is not the real Clutch-Man-Monie, as good as he is. He's 35 and has bad knees, so he could tail off or land on the DL at any moment. Dusty has done a fantastic and laudable job in keeping him fresh, so I'm not really worried about his health, but rather my point is that he's at his absolutely peak right now. He's never going to be better and more valuable as a trade chip.

I don't think the Reds will do it though. He's by all appearances a clubhouse leader, valued teammate, and most importantly, a known-quantity. The Reds are not going to take a risk with Mesoraco as long as they are in the race. And while that may not be the best dollars-and-cents baseball decision, it's certainly a defensible one.

One of the best things about having two good catchers on the Major League roster
is that when one of them has an achy back, the other can easily shoulder the load. Ryan Hanigan has been bothered by back spasms for the last week and sat last night in deference to Ramon Hernandez. "We're doing what we can to let it calm down," Hanigan said. "It's spasming. I could play if I had to. We're letting it cool down because it hasn't been getting better."

P-Doc is heartened by Mike Leake's performance last night
but is still curbing his enthusiasm. "Is he a guy to lead the Reds back to 1st place? Nope. That guy is J. Cueto. Is he someone The Club can count on for six decent innings every time out? Not yet. Could he be? Yup. Since returning from ‘Ville, Leake has made seven starts, gone 4-2 and pitched at least 6 innings every time. He has walked just 8 hitters in 47 innings. Can he be some glue for an underachieving rotation? We’ll see."

Hiroki Kuroda could be a potential target for the Reds if they are looking to improve the starting rotation
Unfortunately, he has a no-trade clause and according to lil' Kenny Rosenthal he will require "compensation" to waive it. He is making $12 mil this year in LA and even though they may be looking to dump payroll, the extra "compensation" would probably push him out of the Reds' price range. Or at the very least, make him cost-prohibitive for them to acquire. He's a good pitcher, but he's probably not worth the $6 mil or so plus a prospect to make it happen. The Reds could ask the Dodgers to pick up the money, but with them in bankruptcy currently I highly doubt they would be inclined to do so.

The more attractive target, in my opinion, is the man taking the mound against the Reds in tomorrow's tilt, James Shields. If the Rays are mired in 3rd place at the end of July they could look to move him. He's probably the only true-ace pitcher that could possibly hit the market this summer, and so would cost a butt load to get. Fortunately, "butt load" is the precise modifier most GMs are using to describe the Reds' quantity of prospects at the moment.