Cincinnati Reds Winter Meetings, Day 2: Nothing Yet

No trades, huh? Got ya bummed? Don’t know why. If so, you have been warned for at least the past two weeks that the Reds were not likely to be active at the Winter Meetings.

That said, outside of hearing about the possible re-signing of Ryan Ludwick, I honestly wouldn’t expect more.

BUT WHAT ABOUT A LEAD-OFF HITTER, YOU MORON?

Oh, that. Well, I do have a positive there.

While it looks like those wanting Shane Victorino are even more depressed than yesterday (Nick Cafardo tweets that the Red Sox have reportedly offered him a deal for three years, $38MM), Reds GM Walt Jocketty has said if the Reds could land “that lead-off guy”, it would most likely be through a trade.

Remember at last year’s Winter Meetings when we all thought Walt was sitting on his hands? Seemed like nothing was going to happen. Generally speaking, the Winter Meetings these days are a little more about free agent signings than trades. Since the Reds weren’t in the market for that big name, big money guy, the market needs to play itself out some.

Keep this in mind, though. Last year, the Winter Meetings ended on December 8th. What followed actually happened.

Sep 22, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Latos runs off of the field at the end of the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park. The Reds would win 6-0 and clinch the NL Central title. (Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports)

December 17, 2011 – The Cincinnati Reds trade Yonder Alonso, Brad Boxberger, Yasmani Grandal and Edinson Volquez to the San Diego Padres for Mat Latos.

Got a feeling that the groundwork for this deal was most likely made at…the Winter Meetings. The deal garnered its fair share of comments and criticisms. Mostly criticisms. Now whatcha think?

December 23, 2011 – The Cincinnati Reds trade Travis Wood, Dave Sappelt and Ronald Torreyes to the Chicago Cubs for Sean Marshall.

Refer to the Latos deal. Got a feeling the beginnings of this trade were also laid at the Winter Meetings. Some say the Reds gave up too much for Marshall. Of course, that could be because of dealing a total of seven players for two does seem a little off from a mathematical standpoint.

January 13, 2012 – Reds sign free agent Ryan Ludwick

Little did we know what $2MM could buy. This was arguably the best free agent signing from last off-season.

The Reds were hot after Josh Willingham. Willingham himself said the Reds were his second choice. Usually, second place can suck. While Willingham had a monster season for the Twins, the Reds were treated to a re-birth of Ludwick…at a fraction of the cost.

February 8, 2013 – Reds sign free agent pitcher Ryan Madson

Okay, this didn’t quite work out, did it? But at the time it was announced, Reds fans were ecstatic. All the pieces were now in place for 2012.

Now I cannot say that the two free agent signings were the results of the Winter Meetings because Ludwick wasn’t high profile like Madson. And as I mentioned, the Reds were more on Willingham at the time. The Madson signing was largely due to a fallout from a reported four year deal with the Phillies.

So, if during these meetings the Reds make no noise other than re-signing Ludwick, do not completely lose all hope. There is still time to get work done.

After all, it is only three days until Redsfest and 72 days until pitchers and catchers report…

As I was ready to finalize this post, these John Fay tweets hit my Twitter timeline…

Don’t know why Kubel was mentioned unless that’s a backup plan in case Ludwick cannot be re-signed. Parra is interesting. He did serve as the Diamondbacks lead-off hitter in some games last season. The results in 38 games (172 PA) were a triple slash of .307/.374/.464. I agree that Upton is out of the price range.

Plenty of time to get these worked out.