When the Reds traded Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers in December, it was hardly a blockbuster deal. Hamilton was a reformed addict with fewer than 300 major league at-bats, and Volquez was an erratic young flamethrower with a 3-11 career record. A trade of potential, sure, but certainly not a trade of stars.

   
Tony Gutierrez/AP (Hamilton), Getty Images (Volquez)

Now that Hamilton is the leading candidate for AL MVP and Volquez is the leading candidate for NL Cy Young, it looks like the biggest trade of the past year. Conventional wisdom says that both teams profited from the swap, and given the great luck both guys have had, I agree with that. But curiosity is probably leading many of you to wonder if the Reds made the right move; indeed, I've read several comments pondering what the team would look like if we still had Hobbs.

So I set out to learn how good the Reds would be had The Big Trade never happened. What I found, if you'll indulge me after the jump, is that we're better off with the stud we have than the stud we had. Part of the reason is, as The Hardball Times says, "A run saved is not equal to a run scored." The other part of the reason is the pitchers we have to replace Volquez wouldn't be doing a lot of run-saving. Meet me after the jump...

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David Kohl/AP

• Josh Roenicke made his Triple-A debut, and Todd Frazier went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Daryl Thompson goes today for the Bats.
• No word yet on NL Player of the Week, but MLB.com has a centerpiece story up about him. In it, his agent, Matt Sosnick, calls Bruce a "once-in-a-lifetime player for me."
  

  "Josh Hamilton might win the Triple Crown this year, but Jay is better," Sosnick said. "I'll take it to the grave."

  (note: Josh Hamilton just switched agents from Sosnick, so he might have some axe to grind. Or it might be that Josh switched after hearing these quotes. Who knows.)
• Bob Nightengale reports the Reds have their own nickname for Jay: "Babe Bruce." Trent has also picked that as his favorite and derides "The Boss" as an ESPN creation. It started here, Trent!
• Hey fellas, how about this for a T-shirt idea?
• Check out this story from The Courier-Journal in Louisville about Homer getting the call in the middle of the Bats game. He didn't see it coming.
  
• Doug has a Casey Kelly profile up at redsminorleagues.com. Kelly is the son of Reds GCL manager Pat Kelly. By all accounts Kelly would be a stretch at No. 7, and I think we took our shot on a stretch pick last year. If we don't get a college star on Thursday I'm going to be really disappointed.
  

That's all for now. We're Philly-bound this week -- starting tonight -- with some crazy good pitching matchups.