Are You Expecting a Reds Trade?

We see the deals under “Transactions” on various websites or read bout them on Twitter through a link to a story and we ask…”When’s Walt gonna make a trade?” Not to be a buzzkill, but there’s a good chance we will not see one. In fact, history dictates that we won’t.

For the past two seasons, the Reds have been viewed as contenders and, to a an extent, buyers, yet no trades. Nary a significant move to speak of.

In 2010, the “big” moves were signing a pair of former Cards and hoping they could contribute. Jason Isringhausen, a former Cards closer (and a good one), and Russ Springer were brought in hoping to solidify the Reds bullpen. Didn’t quite work out that way, and honestly, that cannot all be placed on Jocketty except for the fact he went back to the well. Izzy as shit down while he was in Louisville and Springer’s return to the bigs lasted a while 1.2 innings before an injury took him out for the remainder of the season which led to his retirement.

And we will never forget the deal sending Chris Dickerson to the Brewers in exchange for yet another former Cardinal Jim Edmonds, a deal in which I continue to nibble on some crow.

It was floated about that Walt did put a deal on the table for Cliff Lee. Lee eventually went to the Texas Rangers.

Last year…nothing.

The only mid-season deal (trade or signing) Walt has made (for the non-waiver deals) that anyone would constitute as being successful would be the Scott Rolen deal. Yet, for every home run Edwin Encarnacion smacks, that trade looks closer and closer to being considered a draw if it isn’t already in the eyes of some.

We’ve heard and seen the Reds linked to no less than 10 players. But let’s look at some things here. For the Reds to acquire any of those ten, they would have to surrender some good prospects and/or MLB players. The past two years, the Reds had a vast supply of prospects, yet none were utilized. In the off-season, we saw five prospects (two with MLB experience) and two MLB arms “removed” from the Reds roster via trades.

This year, the depth in the farm system is there, but it’s not as deep and it’s not MLB ready. The most likely of potential trading partners will be from teams that have little minor league depth (provided there are prospects involved) and looking the re-build their farm system from Double-A on down. In essence, that’s exactly what we witnessed in the two major trades the Reds made in the off-season.

No one can deny that there are holes. One trap we as fans cannot get caught up in is the old trap of making a trade merely for the sake of making a trade. Any trade MUST make sense for the Reds and their pursuit of a division title and leading up to a shot at a World Series crown.

Making a deal under any other terms is counterproductive.