Reds Trade Puig and Trammel For Trevor Bauer

Well, if you were looking for excitement, you got it. If you were looking for controversy, you got it. The day was rife with speculation with what the Reds would do. Would they trade Roark before his start? What about Puig? Leading up to today’s game nothing happened and the horizon of the league’s only trade deadline is coming up tomorrow. During the game news started to break that the Reds pulled the trigger on a huge deal.

They traded for Trevor Bauer. The often criticized, highly controversial, and very talented right handed pitcher from the Cleveland Indians. He’s made enemies just about everywhere he’s went, and he’s kept himself constantly in the headlines. Just the other day, he did this thing.

If you watch the video he seemed pretty apologetic immediately for losing his cool, and he did apologize publicly. But, issues like this are a just one small example of a trend over Bauer’s career. However, all that angst comes with a lot of talent.

To get Bauer, the Reds traded impending Free Agent, Yasiel Puig, and arguably their #1 prospect in the minors, Taylor Trammell. This is the part that will sting.

All signs point to Puig not being around in 2020, but the guy was fun and fans loved him. We’ll miss him. This also just gives more playing room for Phil Ervin, Josh VanMeter, and possibly even Aristides Aquino who has hit 28 home runs in AAA and is a former top prospect.

Taylor Trammell is good. Like, he’s really good. He was one of the most sought after prospects in baseball. His slash line his first time though AA is only .236/.350/.338. That’s not good. But, he was walking 14.3% of the time. He’s been hurt this year and has been struggling for much of it. However, scouts rave about the power and speed potential that Trammell brings with an advanced approach at the plate. When it comes to prospect, the Padres got a steal by sneaking into this deal.

That’s one things I didn’t bring up. The Padres receive Trammell and are sending players to Cleveland. I’m not focusing on that because it has nothing to do with us. Reds get Bauer, Indians get Puig, and Padres get Trammell.

Bauer himself is good though he’s not having the same kind of year he did in 2018 where he was in the running for an AL Cy Young. In 2019, Bauer sports a 3.79 ERA in 156.2 innings. He’s giving up more hits and way more dingers, but he’s striking out 10.63 batters per nine innings and walking 3.62 batters per nine. Bauer is a highly skilled pitcher. There is no denying that. At his best he’s one of the best pitchers in the game. He’s a hard throwerthat has a litany of off speed pitches to frustrate hitters. Honestly, he has the potential to completely dominate the National League. A 2020 rotation with Castillo, Gray, and Bauer at the top is arguably one of the best in all of the National League. In my mind, it’s certainly the best in the Central Division.

But... did the Reds give up too much? Is Bauer the right guy to be targeting? What does this spell for 2020? It’s certainly harks to the “get the pitching” of Bob Castellini. But, it also points to something more. The Reds are looking to be all in in 2020 and we’ll just have to see how they plan to go about that. Now that they have the pitching they need to refocus on the offense.

Before I post this article, I do want to point out that there are rumors that the Reds are actually giving up more in the deal. I don’t want to slow down the posting of this, but I’m sure the story will change.