Joel Sherman of The New York Post had some interesting Cincinnati Reds related tidbits within his article about the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon. He noted that last year they were interested in acquiring Freddy Galvis, but opted to go with Troy Tulowitzki first. He later speculates that the team could be interested in Tucker Barnhart, as well.
Let’s break all of this down a little bit. The first thing to point out is that the New York Yankees could have picked up Freddy Galvis in August simply by taking on his contract, and they didn’t. He was put on waivers and made it to the Reds – which means every team in the American League passed on him first. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t or won’t be interested in trading for him. One reason they could have passed in August was that they had Didi Gregorius. The Yankees may attempt to re-sign him, but as Sherman notes (and has been noted plenty of other places), the Reds are also going after Gregorius. As the only true shortstop on the market, if the Reds were to land Gregorius, the Yankees would need a shortstop to replace him and Cincinnati would have a reason to move Galvis.
With Cincinnati also being interested in Yasmani Grandal, if they were to land the former All-Star backstop it could open up the possibility, or even likelihood that the Reds would potentially look at moving on of Tucker Barnhart or Curt Casali. While rosters are expanding to 26 players for the 2020 season, making it easier to carry three catchers on the roster – Kyle Farmer could be the 3rd catcher and allow the Reds to try and trade one of the other two for some value. Sherman ponders whether the Yankees could potentially acquire both Barnhart and Galvis in one deal.
For the Reds, making that trade probably means that their offseason has gone quite well. Not that there’s anything wrong with Tucker Barnhart or Freddy Galvis, but if Cincinnati is trading them that means their plans went quite well in acquiring a new catcher and shortstop.
What do the Yankees have that the Reds could use? That’s a tougher question to answer, at least with a specific player(s). Right now the needs could be different than what they are by the time the teams could be talking – free agency or even other trades can alter that. But perhaps Cincinnati wouldn’t be looking to fill an immediate need, either. The Yankees have a very deep farm system, giving the Reds plenty of options to look at if they wanted to go that route.
Give the Yankees Castillo along with Galvis and Barnhart, (and throw in Votto for good measure), for Torres.
Still bothers me that the Reds basically gave Chapman to the Yankees.
The Reds gave away a lot of players
Still bothers me that he did what he did to lead to the trade.
That’s often forgotten about Aroldis.
What did he actually do though? He wasn’t arrested, no charges filed, he made a statement that he never put his hands on her, neither his girlfriend or witnesses made statements to claim he did, no Florida gun laws were violated (according to Washington Post). Did he use his best judgment? No. But again, what did he do other than get in an argument and chose a poor coping skill?
Alfredo Simon was accused of rape while with the Reds, and settled in a civil suit , yet they brought him back.
Yep the Chapman trade still irks me too, but to be fair, the Reds were in a really though spot. Chapman really screwed the Reds with his shoot em up incident in his basement. They basically had a deal done with the Dodgers, at the winter meetings, if memory serves, for Kenley Jansen and some other pieces. The Dodgers pulled the plug on the trade after that. Then the Reds didn’t know what kind of a suspension he would get, if he would be out for all season or not, and basically what kind of value he would have, if any at all, before the Reds would lose him to free agency. So the Yankees swooped in and took a flyer and made out very well and the Reds got what they could get for him. So it was really all Chapman’s fault.
Hotto, If he did nothing why did he accept a 30-day mlb suspension, which cost him $1.7 million, agreeing not to appeal. The lack of arrest was about likely hood of conviction rather than guilt.The incident was Chapman choked his 22-year-old girlfriend, Cristina Barnea, and fired eight shots in the garage of his Davie, Fla., home. Prosecutors announced that they had decided not to prosecute , citing conflicting accounts and insufficient evidence that would have made a conviction unlikely.
Did he have a choice? He could have appealed but MLB is judge and jury here. Not just no conviction, but police on the scene did file charges. He stated he did not put his hands on her. No statements given by anyone else say he did. Innocent until proven guilty, no?
*did not file
BK, that’s a fair point. But that point alone doesn’t make him guilty. Accepting a suspension, when no one has received one, fought it and had their suspension revoked doesn’t make him guilty. He says he didn’t do anything but have an argument and then took out his frustration by shooting his garage wall. While pretty stupid (In my opinion) doesn’t make it illegal nor does it make him guilty.
The court of public opinion ruled, and the Reds FO cowered before it. It wasn’t a morality issue for the Reds, because they later resigned Simon. It was a PR issue for the Reds and they in turn made a bad business/baseball decision.
No one on here was there, we can just read reports and form an opinion. That’s what I’m doing, and that’s what you’re doing by saying the facts aren’t difficult to discern. Only Chapman and the other party know what actually happened, and only Chapman is talking. Why assume guilt?
The facts are he wasn’t charged or convicted by law enforcement, only by public opinion. Public opinion swayed the Reds FO.
BK, I appreciate the conversation. I’m sure he could have fought it. Not sure he’d have changed much either way. Maybe the fact he didn’t is damning enough. I’m not so sure it was about putting it behind him and getting out there for a contract year.
The last thing I wanna do is defend the actions of an abuser. It’s despicable behavior. But I don’t know for sure what he did, and that’s part of my point. Some seemed convinced he’s guilty at first report. I think it would be prudent to withhold judgment without knowing all the facts. I don’t know if all the facts have been made public.
You say there’s more public evidence out there that suggests he has some level of guilt. I haven’t seen it but would appreciate the opportunity to be more informed.
If a trade with the Yankees were made, the haul back to Cincinnati should be good. I would not be in favor of adding anything like one of our top pitchers or prospects. That is of course if our off season does go well.
Maybe Cashman and Dick Williams will chat at the GM meetings this week. 🙂 Galvis and-or Barnhart won’t bring a top prospect, but they could bring someone on the big-league roster in a position of need for the Reds, such as outfield (maybe this guy? https://www.mlb.com/player/mike-tauchman-643565; 5 years of team control remaining, 3.6 WAR this season, reassigned to minors already) or relief pitching. The Yankees have a boatload of the latter.
Yes, he is young controllable, blocked positionally in NY. Plus, I think that there is a lot of upside to him too. Any trade with the Yanks should strongly consider him.
I still contend that if you do Sign Grandal that you can really save some $$$ by trading both Casali and Barnhart. Grandal will start 5 times a week or so and the other 2 starts per week could be T. Stephenson. Kyle Farmer is your 3rd catcher if needed. I agree with above that any trade with Yankees should target getting Clint Frazier to the friendly confines of GABP. I would target him for LF though, Winker is not going to live up to expectations it appears to me whether it is injury or just not good enough to me he has been a disappointment even when healthy which has been rare.
Mark –
“Winker is not going to live up to expectations…” What? How can we come to that conclusion at this point in his career? Winker just turned 26 years old and his OPS+ the past three years in the majors are: 132, 125, and 111 during his age 23, 24, and 25 seasons. I understand that we want him to play 150+ games per year, but to say that “he has been a disappointment even when healthy” seems a little bit harsh to me!
I just don’t understand the concept of trading Castillo. Washington and Texas played in the WS in large part because they had stud pitching staffs. The Reds have built a first rate starting rotation and people want to tear it down right away. Trade Castillo, Bauer opts for free agency, as does Disco, and in 2021 your pitching staff is Gray and four guys who have proved nothing. That’s what leads to 68 win seasons. Keep Castillo and Gray, treat them right and they become your Cole and Verlander, or Strasburg and Scherzer. I haven’t seen the Nats or Astros trading away their top of rotation pitchers for prospects.
This entire team had a down year offensively. There are several possible reasons:
1. Chance/Fluke – it is entirely possible that everybody just had a down year. In that case, they are closer offensively to what they were in 2018, which already puts them closer to the division leaders.
2. Turner Ward – whether he was good or bad, it is possible that there was too much change too quickly. Peraza dropping 60+ points on BA, Senzel turning from productive to terrible trying to change in mid-season, Winker, and a handful of others whose AAA stats were incredibly inflated compared to their MLB stats. Ward? Not Ward? Who knows, although the Reds apparently thought a lot was Ward?
3. This season was the true measure of a bunch of players who have performed better in the past, and all of them decided to bottom out in the same year. This would defy the “ plays to the back of the card” mantra.
4. Injuries – probably the biggest part.
I think making wholesale changes would be a mistake, at least for 2020. Judicious upgrades, sure. But trading away the core stars, more likely disaster than smart.
+1…I completely agree Doc!! #keepthepitching
I value players that play every day more than players who play every five days. If the Reds can trade for a talented hitter for an equally talented pitcher, than do it.
Scotly. Did you watch the most recent World Series?
If prospects in return is not worthwhile, the obvious way to make this trade with the Yankees is to add a 3rd team for the return.
Still, if they’re in a position to make these moves, prospects may be the better return.
The Yankees have Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge on the Corners and E5 at DH. Get Frazier, Sign Didi, Scooter,Betancies and D’Arnaud (I would love Grandal but it just won’t happen). As a bonus go all in and sign Will Smith.
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They were lucky to get someone to take Scooter why want him back. He had little defensive range before the injury and it won’t get better after. He is a defensive liability and did not prove he recovered or can recover to come close to previous offense.
Did we ever learn the PTBNL from the Giants? Not listed in Scooters BBRef page.
Pretty sure 37 year old Howie Kendrick has worse range than Scooter but is being talked about… If Scooter can hit like he did before the shoulder injury he is fine at 2B, not as good as Brandon Phillips but few are, but good enough if you are considering Kendrick to play a bunch of games there instead. Scooter is much younger and has played well before and would probably sign for less.
I believe that the PTBNL became cash. Not much. The new school equivalent of a bag of balls and a fungo bat. Gave the Reds a chance to see others at 2B and gave Scooter the chance to be in a pennant race and revive after his injury. I’m sorry it didn’t work for him, but he is not likely to repeat his 4 WAR season.
The Reds recently released Schmidt’s brother Clay.
Yankees have Torres to play short. Why would they want Galvis? Yankees dont trade for bums.
Reds Front Office…why not try to trade for Clint Frazier? He’s a very good outfielder that can hit with pop in his bat, right?