Please. We had one of the highest scoring offenses in the league last year, and what did it get us? Arroyo is a decent, if imperfect, pitcher, and hopefully some of these games will be 6-4 wins instead of 7-9 losses.
ohiobobcat
Perhaps Williams becomes the LOOGY?
2006: The Year of Second Basemen and #4 Starting Pitchers.
(What happens when AK and JR go down with injuries?)
Cary
Not sure what threat Wilson coming back poses to anyone with an ERA under 6 in the rotation.
iMonk
If Wilson ever wins 10 games again for the Reds I’ll eat my hat between two pieces of bread. He’s toast. And it’s looking increasingly like Milton may be toast as well.
Pena was the best trade bait the Reds had with the least amount of real damage to the team. He’ll look great dropping pop flys in Fenway. Point: Reds management.
greg
They’ve been trying to get real value out of him for three years now. The most anyone will give up for a masher is a #3-4 starting pitcher.
Chad
I’m unimpressed. Give Krivsky credit for trying something to get pitching, but Arroyo is terribly overrated. He’s a #4 starter. I suppose there is some value in that, but I’d rather see what Wily Mo’s upside is, all in all.
I don’t think the Reds are better today than they were yesterday. I don’t think they are worse…they just aren’t better.
Sean
Are you guys kidding me? Wily Mo is unproven. Sure, he COULD hit 50 in hitter-friendly Great American, then again he could tank. He was a liability defensively, and the last thing we need is more offense.
We need pitching. Bottom line. Arroyo is a move in the right direction. And no, the Casey trade was not worthless or pointless. I don’t like it any more than you do, but bottom line is, pitching wins championships.
Arroyo is, right now, better than anyone we’ve got.
LC Fiore
MLB Radio was saying there were 3 or 4 other teams interested in Pena…does anybody know who they were or what other players were being dangled?
The numbers don’t seem to support this trade–yes, Arroyo can eat innings, but his groundball / fly ball ratio is under 1 and his k/9 dropped by nearly 3 last year….
One more complaint (I swear that deep down I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy)…our defense was among the league worst last year, and Dunn moving back to LF doesn’t help us there at all.
Nathan
I actually like this trade. As said we don’t need more offense. Arroyo is league average, or better – which is a step up. Wilo Mo (while I love the guy) was a liability.
What I wish is that they’d leave Dunn at 1B, play Freel in LF, and alternate Womack and Aurilia at 2B.
Glenn
Interesting trade. It clears a lot of things up. 1.It shows how little we got for Casey (1.e. salary dump). 2.Paul Wilson better be a world beater when he comes back or he’s done as a Red. 3. Freel probably gets his chance at being the everyday left fielder. 4. Womack’s the second baseman. 5. Pena probably irked management with his participation/non participation in the WBC.
All in all, the Reds still have a starting staff of #3 and #4 starters.
The park is a homerun park. If you give up flyballs you are going to give up homeruns. If you give up homeruns you are going to give up runs. Once again the Reds find themselves with another flyball pitcher.
Milton? SUCKED
Ortiz? SUCKED
Williams? Probably going to suck (his GB/FB is essentially 1 over his career)
Arroyo? WILL suck, he’s another flyball pitcher in a park that eats them ALIVE.
Mike C
It’s worth a shot. I’m tired of the Reds sitting on potential 50 HR guys, afraid of pulling the trigger by trading for potential SP.
If Dunn is back in the OF then that is an upgrade defensively, not the other way around. Though I like the idea of Freel being an everyday LF.
I like Wily Mo’s potential, but this is a risk worth taking. I’m tired of the automatic 74-88 season and this team will be no better than that until they get guys who are major league pitchers. Arroyo has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in this rotation. That’s not saying much, but it’s a lot better than what they had yesterday.
As far as not getting enough value for Wily Mo, when have you ever seen a team give up “great” starting pitching for an unproven outfielder that can’t field?
Ken
I think Arroyo makes the pitching considerably better than last year – enough to offset the lost offense – bc league average (Arroyo last year) is so much better than our #s 3-5 SPs in 2005. I like the fact that he’s signed for three years at a relative bargain ($12 mm) and that he’s entering his prime. His K rate really went down last year (from 7.1 to 4.4), hopefully that was more of an anomoly and will rebound as he switches to an easier league for pitchers.
IF Arroyo keeps it in the yard and IF Griffey and Kearns stay relatively healthy, this is a great trade. Pena may very well never live up to his hype. I thought it would’ve been better to wait until the trade deadline to pump up his value, but that could’ve backfired if he slumped. A cautious thumbs-up to Wayne K on this one.
Tyler
You all seem to be forgetting that we’ll have Edwin Encarnacion for a full season, which should offset the offense we lose with Hatteberg. Of course, we wouldn’t have to lose ANY offense if we started Freel in CF (sorry folks, but Griffey doesn’t have the range to play CF anymore) and kept Dunn at 1B. Even so, it’s a good trade, as Pena’s on-base liabilities prevent him from being seen as a true hitting star. He might develop into a complete hitter, but it’s more likely he’ll have an undistinguished career.
Joe
Sox fan here. I like the trade from our standpoint but Reds’ fans should also like it. Arroyo is a guy who gives you three good starts then gets creamed. He doesn’t let it bother him though and he bounces right back.
Stevie Sox Fan
Speaking as a Sox fan, I’m excited to have Pena and not too disappointed about giving up Arroyo. But that’s only because we had seven starting pitchers and no outfield depth. The Reds had the opposite problem – too many outfielders and not enough pitching. Pena has potential but the gaping flaws in his game and his failure to stick as a regular mean that Cincinnati fans should be pretty psyched to get an established starter at a bargain price. Arroyo is now your second-best starter, and when he has his control, he could be your best. While that says more about the Reds staff than it does about Arroyo, it’s something to keep in mind.
al
great points by GregD in this thread!
i like this move a lot because it’s exactly what Castellini said he was going to do: improve now and for the future.
Arroyo makes us better right now. his #2 Comp is harang and we could use another harang.
but this trade is going to look amazing when we’re paying 3 million in 2008 for a fifth starter whose putting up a 4 ERA. Hopefully bailey will be up, and we’ll have aquired a top tier starter with the money saved from wilson and milton to go infront of harang and claussen. ’08, that’s the year we’re building for.
but right now we should be above .500, and i think it’s possible for arroyo to put up a sub 4 ERA with the league switch and the move to a better pitcher’s park (over all).
Tom G
I don’t buy a lot of the hype on WMP – he doesn’t walk enough for me to be able to digest all those K’s – but I just have a hard time believing that Bronson Arroyo is the best Krivisky could have gotten for him.
Lucas
Something no one has mentioned is Bronson pitched both out of the pen and as a starter for Boston. He could really come in handy if Milton or Wilson return to form and then we have an extra starter. Bronson could move to pen for long relief.
As far as WMP’s offensive numbers go, consider this: If EE plays regularly he will easily put up similar if not better numbers than WMP would have put up and with a higher avg. I don’t see the reds losing much in the way of offense here. The only real problem I have with this trade (and it seems to be the problem most people here have) is seeing Dunn move back to outfield so the Mad Hatter can play first. This is a terrible idea.
mpt
I take this to mean tht the new Reds management team looked at Pena and did not see what all the fuss was about. The assumption is that he’ll be a 50 HR guy, but he’s undisciplined at the plate. Probably always will be. He’s a defensive weak spot, a guy made to be a DH. Time will tell, but I see this trade as a plus.
Brian B.
I’m having a hard time understanding why so many people think that a player doesn’t have value if he hasn’t “proven” himself in the major leagues. Does potential future mean nothing to you at all? Should we just trade Jay Bruce for Julian Tavarez now because “it makes us a better team”? How is it possible that Arroyo will be more valuabe in two years – to the Reds on the field or in trade value – than Wily Mo Pena?
Tom
Since Junior came over in 2000, the Reds have been pitching poor with a lot of rehab arms for Gullett to work with until last year. WMP can hit, no doubt, but poor defensive skills will limit his starting as an outfielder. He’ll fit better in the AL as a DH. This is a good trade for the Reds because it’s the beginning of the two keys to winning – pitching and defense.
Please. We had one of the highest scoring offenses in the league last year, and what did it get us? Arroyo is a decent, if imperfect, pitcher, and hopefully some of these games will be 6-4 wins instead of 7-9 losses.
Perhaps Williams becomes the LOOGY?
2006: The Year of Second Basemen and #4 Starting Pitchers.
(What happens when AK and JR go down with injuries?)
Not sure what threat Wilson coming back poses to anyone with an ERA under 6 in the rotation.
If Wilson ever wins 10 games again for the Reds I’ll eat my hat between two pieces of bread. He’s toast. And it’s looking increasingly like Milton may be toast as well.
Pena was the best trade bait the Reds had with the least amount of real damage to the team. He’ll look great dropping pop flys in Fenway. Point: Reds management.
They’ve been trying to get real value out of him for three years now. The most anyone will give up for a masher is a #3-4 starting pitcher.
I’m unimpressed. Give Krivsky credit for trying something to get pitching, but Arroyo is terribly overrated. He’s a #4 starter. I suppose there is some value in that, but I’d rather see what Wily Mo’s upside is, all in all.
I don’t think the Reds are better today than they were yesterday. I don’t think they are worse…they just aren’t better.
Are you guys kidding me? Wily Mo is unproven. Sure, he COULD hit 50 in hitter-friendly Great American, then again he could tank. He was a liability defensively, and the last thing we need is more offense.
We need pitching. Bottom line. Arroyo is a move in the right direction. And no, the Casey trade was not worthless or pointless. I don’t like it any more than you do, but bottom line is, pitching wins championships.
Arroyo is, right now, better than anyone we’ve got.
MLB Radio was saying there were 3 or 4 other teams interested in Pena…does anybody know who they were or what other players were being dangled?
The numbers don’t seem to support this trade–yes, Arroyo can eat innings, but his groundball / fly ball ratio is under 1 and his k/9 dropped by nearly 3 last year….
One more complaint (I swear that deep down I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy)…our defense was among the league worst last year, and Dunn moving back to LF doesn’t help us there at all.
I actually like this trade. As said we don’t need more offense. Arroyo is league average, or better – which is a step up. Wilo Mo (while I love the guy) was a liability.
What I wish is that they’d leave Dunn at 1B, play Freel in LF, and alternate Womack and Aurilia at 2B.
Interesting trade. It clears a lot of things up. 1.It shows how little we got for Casey (1.e. salary dump). 2.Paul Wilson better be a world beater when he comes back or he’s done as a Red. 3. Freel probably gets his chance at being the everyday left fielder. 4. Womack’s the second baseman. 5. Pena probably irked management with his participation/non participation in the WBC.
All in all, the Reds still have a starting staff of #3 and #4 starters.
The park is a homerun park. If you give up flyballs you are going to give up homeruns. If you give up homeruns you are going to give up runs. Once again the Reds find themselves with another flyball pitcher.
Milton? SUCKED
Ortiz? SUCKED
Williams? Probably going to suck (his GB/FB is essentially 1 over his career)
Arroyo? WILL suck, he’s another flyball pitcher in a park that eats them ALIVE.
It’s worth a shot. I’m tired of the Reds sitting on potential 50 HR guys, afraid of pulling the trigger by trading for potential SP.
If Dunn is back in the OF then that is an upgrade defensively, not the other way around. Though I like the idea of Freel being an everyday LF.
I like Wily Mo’s potential, but this is a risk worth taking. I’m tired of the automatic 74-88 season and this team will be no better than that until they get guys who are major league pitchers. Arroyo has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in this rotation. That’s not saying much, but it’s a lot better than what they had yesterday.
As far as not getting enough value for Wily Mo, when have you ever seen a team give up “great” starting pitching for an unproven outfielder that can’t field?
I think Arroyo makes the pitching considerably better than last year – enough to offset the lost offense – bc league average (Arroyo last year) is so much better than our #s 3-5 SPs in 2005. I like the fact that he’s signed for three years at a relative bargain ($12 mm) and that he’s entering his prime. His K rate really went down last year (from 7.1 to 4.4), hopefully that was more of an anomoly and will rebound as he switches to an easier league for pitchers.
IF Arroyo keeps it in the yard and IF Griffey and Kearns stay relatively healthy, this is a great trade. Pena may very well never live up to his hype. I thought it would’ve been better to wait until the trade deadline to pump up his value, but that could’ve backfired if he slumped. A cautious thumbs-up to Wayne K on this one.
You all seem to be forgetting that we’ll have Edwin Encarnacion for a full season, which should offset the offense we lose with Hatteberg. Of course, we wouldn’t have to lose ANY offense if we started Freel in CF (sorry folks, but Griffey doesn’t have the range to play CF anymore) and kept Dunn at 1B. Even so, it’s a good trade, as Pena’s on-base liabilities prevent him from being seen as a true hitting star. He might develop into a complete hitter, but it’s more likely he’ll have an undistinguished career.
Sox fan here. I like the trade from our standpoint but Reds’ fans should also like it. Arroyo is a guy who gives you three good starts then gets creamed. He doesn’t let it bother him though and he bounces right back.
Speaking as a Sox fan, I’m excited to have Pena and not too disappointed about giving up Arroyo. But that’s only because we had seven starting pitchers and no outfield depth. The Reds had the opposite problem – too many outfielders and not enough pitching. Pena has potential but the gaping flaws in his game and his failure to stick as a regular mean that Cincinnati fans should be pretty psyched to get an established starter at a bargain price. Arroyo is now your second-best starter, and when he has his control, he could be your best. While that says more about the Reds staff than it does about Arroyo, it’s something to keep in mind.
great points by GregD in this thread!
i like this move a lot because it’s exactly what Castellini said he was going to do: improve now and for the future.
Arroyo makes us better right now. his #2 Comp is harang and we could use another harang.
but this trade is going to look amazing when we’re paying 3 million in 2008 for a fifth starter whose putting up a 4 ERA. Hopefully bailey will be up, and we’ll have aquired a top tier starter with the money saved from wilson and milton to go infront of harang and claussen. ’08, that’s the year we’re building for.
but right now we should be above .500, and i think it’s possible for arroyo to put up a sub 4 ERA with the league switch and the move to a better pitcher’s park (over all).
I don’t buy a lot of the hype on WMP – he doesn’t walk enough for me to be able to digest all those K’s – but I just have a hard time believing that Bronson Arroyo is the best Krivisky could have gotten for him.
Something no one has mentioned is Bronson pitched both out of the pen and as a starter for Boston. He could really come in handy if Milton or Wilson return to form and then we have an extra starter. Bronson could move to pen for long relief.
As far as WMP’s offensive numbers go, consider this: If EE plays regularly he will easily put up similar if not better numbers than WMP would have put up and with a higher avg. I don’t see the reds losing much in the way of offense here. The only real problem I have with this trade (and it seems to be the problem most people here have) is seeing Dunn move back to outfield so the Mad Hatter can play first. This is a terrible idea.
I take this to mean tht the new Reds management team looked at Pena and did not see what all the fuss was about. The assumption is that he’ll be a 50 HR guy, but he’s undisciplined at the plate. Probably always will be. He’s a defensive weak spot, a guy made to be a DH. Time will tell, but I see this trade as a plus.
I’m having a hard time understanding why so many people think that a player doesn’t have value if he hasn’t “proven” himself in the major leagues. Does potential future mean nothing to you at all? Should we just trade Jay Bruce for Julian Tavarez now because “it makes us a better team”? How is it possible that Arroyo will be more valuabe in two years – to the Reds on the field or in trade value – than Wily Mo Pena?
Since Junior came over in 2000, the Reds have been pitching poor with a lot of rehab arms for Gullett to work with until last year. WMP can hit, no doubt, but poor defensive skills will limit his starting as an outfielder. He’ll fit better in the AL as a DH. This is a good trade for the Reds because it’s the beginning of the two keys to winning – pitching and defense.