The Reds and Nationals just completed a trade, and I am at a loss to understand it from a Reds perspective.
The Nats traded Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris and Darryl Thompson for Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, and Ryan Wagner.
In other words, the Reds traded away their chances to make the playoffs and acquired a collection of mediocre young talent and washed-up veterans. Majewski's an okay middle reliever, but hardly worth dealing for. Harris has been up and down from the minors all year, Bray is a middling young pitcher who might be able to be a somewhat effective middleman, and Royce Clayton - Royce Clayton's the type of player that makes you say, "He's still playing?" (In fairness, he's put up decent numbers this season - .270, 27 RBI, 8 steals, 36 runs, but hardly in Felipe Lopez's class.)
This is an interesting trade, meanwhile, as far as the Nats are concerned. First of all, for anyone not living in DC, the fans here are the most fickle I've ever seen. They all abandonned the team after their horrid April, had them in the post-season after a good three week period in May/June, and then were ready to sell off every last player after losing six of seven recently. This is not a good team, and I fully expected them to trade Soriano, Vidro, Livian Hernandez (assuming anyone would take him), and Jose Guillen. But with this trade it seems they are at least vying for a wild card spot this year. And even if they fall short, they've added some fine young players that will be a good core to build around along with Zimmerman, Patterson, and Cordero.
So, anyone want to explain what Cincy was thinking with this trade?
Original Story:
http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASA....
The Nats traded Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris and Darryl Thompson for Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, and Ryan Wagner.
In other words, the Reds traded away their chances to make the playoffs and acquired a collection of mediocre young talent and washed-up veterans. Majewski's an okay middle reliever, but hardly worth dealing for. Harris has been up and down from the minors all year, Bray is a middling young pitcher who might be able to be a somewhat effective middleman, and Royce Clayton - Royce Clayton's the type of player that makes you say, "He's still playing?" (In fairness, he's put up decent numbers this season - .270, 27 RBI, 8 steals, 36 runs, but hardly in Felipe Lopez's class.)
This is an interesting trade, meanwhile, as far as the Nats are concerned. First of all, for anyone not living in DC, the fans here are the most fickle I've ever seen. They all abandonned the team after their horrid April, had them in the post-season after a good three week period in May/June, and then were ready to sell off every last player after losing six of seven recently. This is not a good team, and I fully expected them to trade Soriano, Vidro, Livian Hernandez (assuming anyone would take him), and Jose Guillen. But with this trade it seems they are at least vying for a wild card spot this year. And even if they fall short, they've added some fine young players that will be a good core to build around along with Zimmerman, Patterson, and Cordero.
So, anyone want to explain what Cincy was thinking with this trade?
Original Story:
http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASA....
