Cincinnati Reds: Simulated offseason begins with a mock trade

FanSided’s MLB Division is conducting a simulated offseason and Blog Red Machine is charged with taking the role of GM for your Cincinnati Reds.

Every offseason, FanSided’s MLB division puts on a Mock Winter Meetings, where we, as site experts, get to pretend to take over the role of general manager for a week. There are several rules and guidelines to make all the moves and signings as realistic as possible. Essentially, Blog Red Machine will be playing the role of the Cincinnati Reds GM.

As the faux GM of the Cincinnati Reds, Blog Red Machine made their first move of this simulated offseason and made a trade with the Kansas City Royals. In a theoretical move that will give two players a change of scenery, the trade sends Homer Bailey to KC in exchange for veteran starter Ian Kennedy.

Cincinnati fans have grown tired of Bailey over the last few seasons and his $21-million salary last season netted him only one win. Bailey went 1-14 last season with a 6.09 ERA. Over the last three seasons, Bailey’s played in only 44 games, going 9-26 with a 6.29 ERA and an ERA+ of 69.

In this mock trade, the Royals will take on Bailey and his $23-million contract for 2019 and the $5-million buyout that goes along with it. In return, the Cincinnati Reds take Ian Kennedy and the remainder of his 5-year/ $70-million contract. Kennedy is owed $16.5 million in 2019 and 2020.

This should be a breath of fresh air for both Bailey and Kennedy. Bailey has not been healthy since 2013 when he started 32 games. Since that season that saw Bailey go 11-12 with an ERA of 3.49, he has been a shell of himself.

Kennedy, on the other hand, had been an ironman until last season saw him go onto the disabled twice with an oblique injury. Before that, Kennedy had started 63 games the previous two seasons in Kansas City, pitched in almost 350 innings and had an ERA of 4.43.

Back in 2011, during his stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kennedy had a Cy Young-worthy season. He went 21-4 through 33 starts, had an ERA of 2.88 and an ERA+ of 137. While it would be crazy to expect those kinds of numbers again from Kennedy, he is still a capable pitcher when healthy.

Kennedy will be able to plug into the starting rotation for the Reds, likely as a solid No. 3 starter. No doubt, Luis Castillo and Anthony DeScalfani will be rolled out before Kennedy. Perhaps Kennedy can provide the veteran leadership among the starting pitchers that seemed to be lacking when Bailey was in the clubhouse.

In the end, this mock trade allowed both the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds to move forward without the baggage that both of these players had in their previous organizations. It’s never easy for an organization to trade a player, but in Bailey’s case, I think most of Reds Country will make an exception.