Just heard on ESPN news. Soriano and Hernandez were not involved. Reds get 5 players. I just caught Gary Majewski and Royce Clayton from the Nats and Kearns and Lopez adn Ryan Wagner from the Reds. Why the Reds would trade Lopez is beyond me?
The Reds had moved Wily Mo Pena in the offseason to make room for Kearns, and now they trade him. Huh? Felipe Lopez has similar numbers to Royce Clayton, except he has more power and speed. And is younger. Huh?
Kurkjian on ESPN said that Clayton is much better defender than Clayton and the Reds needed the pitching desperately. I havent seen the trade hit the net yet to see the other players involved.
From ESPN The Cincinnati Reds swapped Austin Kearns and two other players to the Washington Nationals for Royce Clayton and four other players on Thursday. Headed to Washington in addition to Kearns are shortstop Felipe Lopez and right-hander Ryan Wagner. Headed to Cincy are right-hander Gary Majewski, left-hander Bill Bray, shortstop Royce Clayton, infielder Brendan Harris and right-hander Daryl Thompson. Majewski, Clayton and Bray are expected to report to Cincinnati in time for the game against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Harris will report to Triple-A Louisville and Thompson to Sarasota in the Gulf Coast League. Last season for Washington, Majewski recorded a 2.93 ERA while leading the pitching staff with 79 appearances, a franchise record for a rookie. During the first half of this season he went 3-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 46 games. Bray, 23, made his Major League debut this season and has posted a 3.91 ERA in 19 relief appearances. This season for the Nats, Clayton is hitting .269 with 22 doubles and 8 stolen bases in 87 appearances. Harris, 25, has appeared in 17 games for the Nationals and hit .283 with five home runs and 32 RBI in 59 games for New Orleans. Thompson, 20, was selected by the Expos in the eighth round of the 2003 first-year player draft. This season for Vermont in the Class A New York-Penn League he went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 4 starts. Kearns, 26, this season for the Reds hit .274 with 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 87 appearances. Lopez, 26, hit .268 with nine home runs and 30 RBI in 85 games during the season's first half. Wagner, 23, has spent the entire season in the minor leagues at Louisville, where he has posted a 6.34 ERA in 35 relief appearances. The Reds recalled outfielder Chris Denorfia and infielder William Bergolla from Louisville to fill the roster spots of Kearns and Lopez on Thursday night.
Reds get: Bill Bray Gary Majewski Royce Clayton Brendan Harris Daryl Thompson Washington gets: Austin Kearns Felipe Lopez Ryan Wagner
On the surface it looks like the Nats got the best of the deal but the Reds D gets much better and so does their Bullpen which were the 2 biggest holes the Reds had. GM, Soriano will still be traded but dont be suprised to see him head out west.
because defense isn't a weakness unless you're playing multiple guys out of position, or you have guys with horrible range at several positions. and you certainly don't trade for it. they gave up way too much to get a couple arms back.
The 2 biggest names were also the 2 best players in the deal. As I said, Lopez is a younger Clayton with speed and power, and Kearns has been a solid OF. Majewski is a pretty good relief pitcher, but now he's going to be a pretty good relief pitcher who has to pitch home games in a bandbox. The other pitcher they got is an untested LOOGY, not a rarity.
Oh come on now. That deal was about getting a troublemaker off the roster and getting back what they could.
