Reds-Nats 8 Player Swap

[Chisox73]

Nationals acquire Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez and Ryan Wagner as part of eight-player deal with Cincinnati
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060713&content_id=1554994&vkey=pr_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was

The Washington Nationals today acquired outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez and right-handed pitcher Ryan Wagner from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed pitcher Gary Majewski, left-handed pitcher Bill Bray, infielder Brendan Harris, shortstop Royce Clayton and right-handed pitcher Daryl Thompson. Nationals Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.

Kearns, Lopez and Wagner are former first-round selections-none of whom is older than 26 years-old. Kearns and Lopez are expected to join the club tomorrow at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, as the Nationals kick off the season's second half with the first of three games against Pirates. Wagner will be optioned to New Orleans of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Kearns, 26, was hitting .274 (89-for-325) with 21 doubles, 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 87 games for Cincinnati at the time of the trade. Currently in his fifth big league season, Kearns is a career .267 hitter (426-for-1593) with 92 doubles, 71 homers and 263 RBI in 452 games with the Reds.

Kearns-who currently stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 245 lbs.-was tabbed as the Reds' top selection (seventh overall) in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft. In 2002, Kearns hit .315 with 24 doubles, 13 home runs and 56 RBI in 107 games for the Reds and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting.

Since arriving in the big leagues in 2002, Kearns' 71 home runs rank third among Reds. Only Adam Dunn (167) and Ken Griffey Jr. (94) have hit more. Kearns, however, offers more than power, as his .358 on-base percentage indicates. Kearns' career has been well chronicled since he was named Reds Minor League Player of the Year following the 2000 campaign. Since then Kearns was named Cincinnati's No. 1 prospect entering both the 2001 and 2002 seasons, and in 2003, he garnered the Joe Nuxhall Good Guys Award, which is given annually by the Cincinnati Chapter of the BBWAA.

Lopez, 26, was batting .268 with 14 doubles, nine home runs, 30 RBI and a career-high 23 stolen bases in 85 games for the Reds at the time of the trade. Lopez is currently on pace to establish career highs in walks, stolen bases and runs scored. Currently tied for fourth in the NL in stolen bases, Lopez's 47 walks pace all NL shortstops, and his nine home runs are tied for 2nd among NL shortstops behind only Khalil Greene (12).

A career .259 hitter (477-for-1843) with 93 doubles, 17 triples, 54 home runs, 216 RBI and 56 stolen bases in 505 career games, Lopez is coming off his finest offensive season. Last season, at the age of 25, Lopez hit .291 with 34 doubles, five triples, 23 home runs, 85 RBI and 15 stolen bases in 148 games. For his efforts, Lopez earned his first Silver Slugger award, given annually to the league's top offensive shortstop. He also earned a spot on his first NL All-Star team.

Originally Toronto's first-round (eighth overall) selection in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Lopez was acquired by the Reds as part of a December 15, 2002 four-team deal that sent, among others, Elmer Dessens to Arizona and Erubiel Durazo to Oakland. Lopez-who hails from Bayamon, PR-will form an all-Puerto Rican double-play combination with Nationals second-baseman Jose Vidro (Mayaguez, PR).

Wagner, 23, was Cincinnati's first-round selection (14th overall) in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. The University of Houston alum later became the first player from the 2003 Draft to appear in the big leagues (edging current Nationals closer Chad Cordero for the distinction), and the first Reds top pick to debut in the big leagues the season he was drafted. Wagner justified his position on the fast track by posting a 1.66 ERA in 17 games for Cincinnati as a rookie in 2003.

Wagner is 8-4 with 26 holds and a 4.69 ERA (62 ER/119.0 IP) in 108 games spanning three big league seasons. He was pitching for Indianapolis of the Triple-A International League at the time of the trade.

With a roster spot opened up with the trade, the Nationals are expected to purchase the contract of right-handed pitcher Roy Corcoran from New Orleans. Corcoran, 26, is currently 2-3 with seven saves and a 2.45 ERA in 16 Pacific Coast League contests this season. He has posted a batting average against of .169 and fanned 11.8 batters per 9.0 innings since being promoted from Double-A in early June.

[Blue56]

Washington stole it!!!

[Chisox73]

I like to know what Cincinnati's thinking here?:confused:

[yagsy]

So would I, Eric!
Wagner is a stud pitcher! What are the Nats thinking in sending him down to AAA? :confused: He's got an excellent curve ball!

I guess the new Nats owners are now going to make some really good moves. Expect to see this club start to really show promise quickly.

[Blue56]

The nats need pitching too, LIvan has just disappeared completely.

[Panzram]

Wow! What a steal for the Nats!

[Blue56]

Is it just me or does Bowden only makes trades with Cincinnati?

[Baseball Guru]

Umm yeah, what everyone else says:notme:

[rockin500]

a bit odd, but ive seen worse.

[Eva]

Why in the world did the Reds trade Kearns AND Lopez. I can understand Kearns being moved, but Lopez, too?

[Rockin Robin]

Oy. I don't like the idea of Lopez being in our division. :(

[PopTop]

Man, oh man! :confused:

Maybe we're all just missing something here, but it amazes me having surfed through about a half-dozen boards today, I haven't heard one person say anything good about the deal from the Reds' end. And that always bugs me, the cynic in me maybe, because whenever it looks too easy, a lot of times it is too easy.

But it's just impossible to not come away thinking that at least one of the three --- Kearns, Lopez, Wagner --- won't eventually turn into a pure stud. Lopez, ok, not much with the leather, but then neither is Soriano. I saw Wagner pitch when he was with UH, and he struck me immediately as a guy who would become a top quality major league arm. And Kearns, thre's no question that he can poke 30, drive in 100 and bat .300 for a few years running.

Majewski and Clayton are B-, C+ players at best. Bray I don't really know much about, along with Daryl Thompson, though that name rings a bell with me for some reason so I will have to check him my files out a bit.

This trade is, in some ways, like the trade the White Sox made back in the late 90s, like '97-'98. White Sox gave up Roberto Hernandez and Wilson Alvarez when they were sort of a middling team, sent them to San Fran for several relative no-names. Other people involved, think Chicago sent more than just Hernandez and Alvarez, but I know they got Keith Foulke and some others in return and ended up on the sweeter end of the deal as far as the talent went eventually. But Chicago was criticized for throwing in the towel when they were still in the race, and that's almost what it feels like Cincinnati did here.

[rockin500]

to be fair, willie, kearns has always been a bit of a bust as he was by far the weakest link in the outfield with Cincy. Not to mention the Reds do have a good offense without kearns and have a coupla guys in the minors who may produce just as well as kearns. Wagner has lost a good amount of velocity on his fastball and hasnt been the same this year as previous. Lopez has had some defensive issues, though I think he will be the one that the reds will miss the most in the long run.

and also to be fair to the reds, the bullpen of the reds is one of the worst around. its godawful bad. They overpaid, yes. But thats what happens when you have so many teams competing.

Its NOT a good deal, really for the reds as i dont particularly care for the guys they got, but its really not as terrible as people are making it sound.

[PopTop]

Whether or not Cincy overpaid in the long run will be determined. All I'm saying is I'd have a tough time pulling the trigger on a deal like this because in the back of my mind I would be convinced that at least one of those three guys I'm trading is going to have a solid few years in front of him. Kearns' health has always ben an issue in the past, and a guy his age I'd would be afraid to trade away just because of that. Lopez, you're probably right, he's the one I might be least likely to deal of the three. Wagner, that's probably an even swap right now for Majewski in my mind.

Houston probably overpaid for Huff's services, at least in the long term. The Zobrist kid could be good and Talbot could turn into a #3-#4 starter for Tampa. Chances of resigning Huff would appear slim to me right now. If the Astros do resign him, it means they probably will have dealt or not re-upped someone like Ensberg, Lamb. The reason Houston and Ciny probably both overpaid is there are more buyers than sellers at the moment.

[rockin500]

yep. there are probably still only about 5 teams that are really sellers right now. cubs being one of them :sigh:

so lots of overpaying!

[Mr. Met on Pot]

Not sure if somebody spoke for the Reds yet, but it works in their favor in a few ways. They already have a beastly offense and it doesnt take much to score in their park.

As everybody knows, their bullpen is absolutely horrendous with Bray, who I don't know but maybe they see him as a left-handed specialist while Majewski is a pretty good setup man. Their bullpen has improved much with a few decent pitchers and maybe a rejuvenated Eddie Guardado as the go-to-guy.

Their defense is also pretty terrible with a lot of guys that pretty much just slug the ball. I think Clayton, who isn't too talented with the bat could be like a Rey Ordonez (had to include him) type player for the Reds but with a better bat.

The Nats got the better end, but it helps to strengthen the Reds' weaknesses.

[BigRedMachine]

The Nats probably got the better end on paper, but Wayne Krivsky decided we want to win now. We needed bullpen help, and we got it. We needed help defensively, and we got it. Lopez was going to demand a ton of money, same with Kearns. Our offense is still one of the tops in the NL. Chris Denorfia is a VERY VERY talented ball player and he will be taking Kearns place in right. I wouldn't expect our offense to miss a beat. IMO, this was a very good trade, although I am very sad to see Lopez and Kearns my favorite player, it's all for the good of the ballclub. The Reds are going to be in it for the long haul this year, and I am very excited!

[Baseball Guru]

I would asume now that Lopez is gone that Freel will get most of the playing time?

Freel is a fun player to watch and the Reds may not lose a beat playing him...They get just as much speed and probably a guy that can get more out of his speed because I think he can get on base more than Lopez... When I 1st heard this deal I thought the Reds got raped! But now thinking about it, as long as Denorfia can come in and play well I think this deal will be ok for the Reds... I think Freel will have a big impact playing more...

[redsfan]

I would asume now that Lopez is gone that Freel will get most of the playing time?

Freel is a fun player to watch and the Reds may not lose a beat playing him over Lopez... They get just as much speed and probably a guy that can get more out of his speed because I think he can get on base more than Lopez... When I 1st heard this deal I thought the Reds got raped! But now thinking about it, as long as Denorfia can come in and play well I think this deal will be ok for the Reds... I think Freel will have a big impact playing more...


According to the Reds, Freel and Denorfia will share time in right field with Wise to give them breaks- Freel just can't catch a break. Clayton will take over as the starting SS with Castro giving him days off. Phillips is staying put at 2B for now. He was rumored to take over SS or 3B since that side of the infield was like the grand canyon.

I did not like this deal when I first heard it. I still don't like it today because Lopez was one of my favorite players on the team, but it may help them this year. They really needed bullpen help and they seem to have gotten the arms they needed. I didn't care about losing Kearns because he was on the Dl all the time. It has been about 5 years and he has not lived up to his potential.

[Baseball Guru]

They need to teach Freel how to play SS... Or move Phillips there and just put Freel at 2B... They really should find a way to get Freel into more games.. JMO:)