New Poll: Winter Meetings

With a couple of days left in the Winter Meetings, there are still many Reds fans waiting for some positive news. There have been only a handful of rumors surrounding the Reds. Does this bode well? On the surface, it really is hard to tell.

Well, here’s a poll for you. What move should the Reds make?

Let’s examine all of these choices…

1. Trade with Tampa Bay for James Shields
How many times will we go over this one? We know the Rays would much rather deal Wade Davis or Jeff Niemann instead of Shields. Shields is an absolute horse. He led all of MLB with 11 complete games and tied for the AL lead with 4 shutouts. Hard to believe his 249.1 innings didn’t lead the AL.

The Rays would want a package with Yonder Alonso as a piece. We were “alerted” that the Rays do have interest in Alonso yesterday. He wouldn’t need to be moved to find a position as the Rays do have a need at first base. The tricky part might be working on the other psrts of the deal. At one time, it was thought that Edinson Volquez could be included in such a deal. Not sure if that would still be in order considering other news we’ve heard.

2. Sign free agent left fielder Josh Willingham
I believe this is still in play regardless of what other moves the Reds make especially if Alonso is included in a trade. Willingham’s righty bat should play well at GABP. His comps on Baseball Reference aren’t all that flattering…Ryan Ludwick, Jay Gibbons, Craig Monroe, Brad Hawpe, Jose Bautista, Nick Esasky, Henry Rodriguez, Jayson Werth, Corey Hart, Jason Kubel.

Okay…Bautista and Hart do look good. The Reds were linked to Ludwick last summer as well. Having to “battle” nine teams (well, three others anyway: Twins, Red Sox, and Indians).

3. Trade with Atlanta for Jair Jurrjens
This seems to have lost some steam according to Mark Sheldon. It could be a “backup plan” if the Reds cannot deal for Shields or another arm. A tweet from Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated stated the Reds were “very interested”. Reds.com writer Mark Sheldon paints this picture as not being the case as “Atlanta and Cincinnati don’t appear to match up well for a trade”.

There is a matchup issue as the Braves want a power hitting outfielder, something the Reds don’t have…unless you consider Alonso an outfielder.

4. Trade with Oakland for Gio Gonzalez
I’m not sure exactly how much steam this really has. I would think there would be interest in (again) Alonso as his name was revealed in a potential deal for Andrew Bailey, a deal the Reds did not do. Maybe Gonzalez has been their target all along.

There’s also the issue of control. Gonzalez has posted BB/9 of 6.62, 5.11, 4.13 and 4.05 in his furst four MLB seasons. Walks may not hurt in Oakland, but they do in Cincinnati. The plus side is that Gonzalez is a ground ball pitcher as his GB/FB has never been lower than the 1.05 he posted in 2008, his first season.

5. None of the above
You have to have this choice as you might have another deal in your head. If you do, leave that in the comments and it just might be discussed…

Follow Blog Red Machine on Twitter (@blogredmachine) and “Like” us on Facebook!