According to Jerry Crasnick, baseball writer at ESPN.com, Chris Heisey has been traded to the Los Angels Dodgers. John Heyman, baseball writer at CBS.com and MLB Network correspondent, reported later that the Reds will be receiving relief pitcher Matt Magill for Heisey. Magill has only appeared in two career games in the majors, both coming back in 2013. He has a career 3.92 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 157 games in the minors (114 starts). In 2014, he posted a 5.21 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 36 games (12 starts) all at AAA. Magill was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 31st round of the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft from Royal HS (Simi Valley, CA).
From Steve Mancuso’s article yesterday Will the Reds non-tender Ondrusek and/or Heisey:
Chris Heisey turns 30 in two weeks and the Reds have two years’ control of Heisey. He has a career line of .247/.299/.422 over 1452 plate appearances. He has played strong defense at all three outfield positions. Heisey has also been successful as a pinch hitter. In 299 PA last year, Heisey earned 1.0 WAR (average of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference) and was paid $1.76 million. On the other hand, the Reds have Jay Bruce and Billy Hamilton coming back and Skip Schumaker signed to a 2015 contract. They are also seeking another OF this offseason and have Donald Lutz, Jason Bourgeois and possibly Jesse Winker who would play for nearly $2 million less than Heisey.
Anyone who knows me or follows me on Twitter knows that I am a big Chris Heisey supporter. Back in June, I wrote The Curious Case of Chris Heisey, stating that I felt Heisey was undervalued and under-appreciated in the Reds organization. This move certainly seems like a move in preparation to acquire a left-fielder, and the Reds are probably looking to shed some payroll.
I however don’t really like the move. I think the Reds should have certainly kept Heisey on the roster over a guy like Skip Schumaker, because Heisey is much more valuable because of his power and defense (Heisey would have only made about $0.5 million more than Schumaker). This move doesn’t come as too big of a surprise though, as I alluded back in my article in June, that this organization has never really believed in or given Heisey a legitimate chance to play everyday. So long Chris.
UPDATE: The Reds officially announced the Heisey trade, and also announced that Logan Ondrusek and Curtis Partch have been non-tendered, making them both free agents.