So the Reds picked up a new pitcher today - Bronson Arroyo - from the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, they traded Wily Mo Pena to do it. I'm not saying the Reds don't need pitching help - Ian has made the remark he could start for the Reds and do no worse, and I tend to agree. However, Wily Mo was 24 years old, and I think the Reds should have traded someone else to keep him around (possibly Austin Kearns). Wily's an up-and-comer, and I think you'll hear big things out of him in Boston.
Arroyo is OK - nothing special out of him. He's a decent pitcher, but gives up a lot of hits and doesn't give a lot of innings. Maybe that's because he was in Boston where they have a glut of pitching. He's only 29, so he's not over-the-hill yet. And we did get a little cash to defer his salary over the next three year ($11.25 million).
In the end, the Reds had too many outfielders and now they are freeing up some space. They have picked up two pitchers that are supposed to provide some help to the starting rotation - Arroyo and Williams. Mostly likely they both stink (which is why the Reds got them) but at least the Reds are making some deals and trying! I'm hoping for a .500 season.
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3 comments:
Here are my thoughts:
Now that I have had time to think about this deal, I think it was a good move. What do the Reds need? Pitching. What do we do well already? Score runs.
This deal gets us decent pitching, without sacrificing too much. Pena was a complete liability in the field, and that is putting it kindly. He has tons of potential, but he has an even greater chance of becoming a total bust. At least we got something out of him now, while his stock is relatively high. Arroyo is automatically our 2nd or 3rd best pitcher. He's from the AL, so hopefully his ERA will drop. He isn't a #1 or #2, but honestly, could we really have gotten much better? Possibly we could have gotten better prospects, but I am sick of prospects, I want to do well now! We aren't going to win the pennant, but at least we can compete with most teams most of the time. Of course when Milton pitches every knows we are already starting the game in the hole.
All in all I think this was a good deal. Could Pena become a right-handed David Ortiz in a year or so? Possibly. However, there is also the chance he could become the Post-Steriods testing version of Sosa. Baseball is about taking calculated risks, and I think Krivsky did as well as he could.
I wouldn't have a problem with this if the Reds hadn't just traded their captain, Sean Casey, so that Adam Dunn could move to first allowing Griffey, Kearns, and Pena to play outfield.
We got Williams in return for Casey and he is good for at best 14 wins and a mid-4 ERA. Arroyo is probably the same, plus now we have to put up with his shitty band as a side project.
I hope the Reds offense is as potent as advertised, because they aren't going to be in may 1-2 run games.
But as soon as I finish reading Moneyball I plan on submitting my resume to be the Reds GM and I can start bailing water from this sinking ship...
What is this "baseball" you guys speak of?
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