Is it outside the realm of possibility that the Reds hold on to Cueto & take the compensatory pick, rather than giving him up for the best prospect available? I believe there will be a fair amount of demand for Cueto, so I think somebody will overpay for the rental (and the possibility that he'll re-sign).

I would reach out to Houston and see how interested they are in both Cueto and Chapman. See if you could package them for a package around Domingo Santana and Brett Phillips. The Astros have a lot of young talent and have an excess of OF bats with Springer, Tucker (P), Santana, Phillips, Kemp, Rasmus, and the newly drafted Tucker (K), and Cameron.

 

 

@AverageJoesGym, what do you think the Astros would be willing to part with for a Cueto/Chapman package?

 

I think the Astros would be a dream trading partner for the Reds. They are loaded with offensive talent in their minor leagues and really, really need pitching. A Cueto/Chapman package would be extremely attractive because it would allow them to go for it this season and still help them out next year. It is hard to say exactly what they would part with--that would depend on how highly they think of Cameron and Tucker. I would think that Phillips would definitely be a possibility. He's got a really nice slash line. It is a little bit inflated given the friendliness of his home park but his OBP is very solid for someone his age.

 

Of all the teams that the Reds could deal with the Astros could net the best haul--especially if they are willing to trade Chapman.

Problem with the Astros/Reds deal is that Luhnow and Jocketty can't stand each other. Luhnow was the reason Jocketty and the Cards parted ways and I've heard that negotiations could sputter because of it. Maybe that is garbage but Jocketty is an old school guy and Luhnow is new school and it's amazing the divide that can create in sports.

 

The Astros are filthy rich with OF talent...

Problem with the Astros/Reds deal is that Luhnow and Jocketty can't stand each other. Luhnow was the reason Jocketty and the Cards parted ways and I've heard that negotiations could sputter because of it. Maybe that is garbage but Jocketty is an old school guy and Luhnow is new school and it's amazing the divide that can create in sports.

 

The Astros are filthy rich with OF talent...

 

If that really would hinder a potential deal than Jocketty is an even worse GM than I thought. Sack up, be a professional, and do what's best for your team.

Is jmo but the one that needs before anyone is Price. That one move wouldn't solve all the Reds problems but would be a helluva start. I believe that a team, this team needs a manager that has confidence in himself and what he's doing and one that will "light a fire" / "bruise some egos" when needed to get a team or player to give everything they have every time out. I don't think that Price is confident in himself, his decisions a lot of the time so how can a player have confidence in him ? That's just the impression that I get anyway.

Is it outside the realm of possibility that the Reds hold on to Cueto & take the compensatory pick' date=' rather than giving him up for the best prospect available? I believe there will be a fair amount of demand for Cueto, so I think somebody will overpay for the rental (and the possibility that he'll re-sign).[/quote']

 

Very logical they take the pick, Leake is more likely to go. But both could be gone in a few weeks.

Hoover is pitching out his butt. I wouldn't mind seeing him on the trading block.

Hoover is pitching out his butt. I wouldn't mind seeing him on the trading block.

 

He'll likely be the new closer...I'd trade him if we could get anything of value in exchange.

It doesn't matter who gets dealt or not. Until they bring in a manager and not a joker, they'll continue to be, as you all call it, "rebuilding".

Has any team traded a top-five prospect in all of baseball in recent years?

 

I'm pretty sure Wil Myers was one of the top prospects in baseball when he was traded from KC to Tampa Bay.

I also think that Jean Segura was one of the top prospects in baseball when he was traded to Milwaukee for Zach Greinke.

Is it outside the realm of possibility that the Reds hold on to Cueto & take the compensatory pick, rather than giving him up for the best prospect available? I believe there will be a fair amount of demand for Cueto, so I think somebody will overpay for the rental (and the possibility that he'll re-sign).

 

Yes, I think that's outside the realm of reasonable possibility. They will get multiple prospects of varying degrees for Cueto in a deadline deal, and at least one that will most likely be a year to two years tops away from the majors. You take the pick and you're basically looking at almost 4 years before realistically seeing the benefits. IMO, it doesn't make sense.

Trading for a milb prospect that has already been evaluated against professional pitching is less risky than taking a comp pick. Even if the prospect isn't of the elite top 50 variety Id much rather taking my chances with him versus a comp pick assuming he has shown positive flashes of potential. It's no given that a trade for a milb prospect is going to pan out anymore so than a comp pick but at least you have a scouting report to go by and you know sort of what you're getting. A comp pick is likely 4-5 years away from contributing depending on if they are from the college ranks or the HS ranks it could be longer. Todd Frazier panned out but look how long it took him. I'll take an milb prospect or hopefully two maybe three before I take a comp pick all day everyday.

All this young talent trade talk scares me. People act like its a sure thing that the young talent will turn out well and we could be back in contention in a few years. I seem to remember a lot of waiting for young talent to develop from 1996 until we finally made the playoffs again. It took over 13 years before we actually had young talent that did develop to be good players. So yes I get needing to trade some players because they do need to retool some. However I am not one who says lets trade them all. Cueto has to go obviously, and probably Chapman either this year or next and maybe Bruce if they get a team who wants a talented but inconsisted player and the deal is right for the Reds. However I try to mix some of the guys like a Frazier and others with some of the young talent to have a better chance of success sooner, rather than risking possibly ten years of failure if the young talent doesn't develop to its potential.

It doesn't matter who gets dealt or not. Until they bring in a manager and not a joker, they'll continue to be, as you all call it, "rebuilding".

 

That manager probably has a winning record this year if his GM didn't give him a terrible bullpen to work with. Price has made some dumb decisions, but they look even worst than they really are because of the pieces that Walt gave him to work with. Joe Madden could be managing this team and this team probably would be barely better than what they are, because the bullpen still would suck for him too because their bullpen is just bad all the way around.