Reds columnist sparks outrage with half-baked Hunter Greene trade proposal

Baseball fans tend to get a little carried away sometimes, don't they? From the comfort of our couches, it's easy to come up with off-the-wall trade scenarios or lineup tweaks that, as fans, we believe could change the fortunes of our favorite team. Some of these ideas might seem a bit harebrained, while others might be considered borderline genius. But on occasion, there's an idea that's just so dumb that it needs to called out for what it is.

Following the Cincinnati Reds 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night — a victory that pulled Terry Francona's club to within one game of the New York Mets in the chase for the NL Wild Card — Jason Williams, a columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, published a piece entitled Why do Reds need Hunter Greene to keep pitching? So they can deal him.

Right away, you can tell that this was designed to incite the Reds fanbase — which is exactly what it did. Many fans in the comments section of the Enquirer's social media post lambasted the notion of trading Greene — regardless of the return the Reds might receive. Moreover, the details of this potential blockbuster make the trade proposal even more absurd.

Reds columnist sparks outrage with half-baked Hunter Greene trade proposal

The idea, of course, is to trade Greene during the upcoming offseason in order to maximize the return for one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball. Greene has been injury prone throughout his career, but when he's healthy, the right-hander is a Cy Young contender on one of the biggest bargains in the sport. Greene is under contract through at least 2028 at an average annual salary of $8.83 million.

While trading Greene might bring back what Williams called "a proven run-producer", he also suggested packaging Greene for a big-league starting pitcher and an MLB-caliber prospect only to turn around and use the savings from Greene's deal to sign — wait for it — Middletown's own Kyle Schwarber.

Is he serious? Has Williams watched the Reds this season? Does any rational fan actually think that Cincinnati will target a bat-only player entering his age 33 season? Furthermore, does anyone actually think that Bob Castellini and the Reds' ownership are going to pay what it will take to bring Schwarber home to Cincy?

Reds fans must let go of the idea of Kyle Schwarber signing in Cincinnati

Schwarber is a three-time All-Star and will likely finish in the top-3 of the NL MVP race. He's going to command a deal worth about $30 million per season. Schwarber also can't play a lick of defense, and is little more than a designated hitter — albeit a very good one. That's definitely not the type of player that Francona typically values.

The Reds are on the cusp of making it to the postseason this year, and a big reason why is their starting pitching. Cincinnati's lineup has been below-average this season, and they're receiving sub-par performances from Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Tyler Stephenson, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Yet they're one game back of the final NL Wild Card spot.

Trading away one of the best pitchers in MLB (who's making a fraction of what he would on the open market), only to turn around and sign a DH to the largest free agent contract in team history is one of the dumbest things imaginable.

By the way, the Reds will be off the hook for a whooping $21 million with Nick Martinez's salary coming off the books this offseason. If you want to invest some money into a free agent like Schwarber or another big-bat, that might be the best place to start.

Reds fans understand that baseball is a business and that in order to compete with the big-market clubs, it's going to take some gutsy, high-risk moves. But this isn't gutsy. It's just plain stupid.

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