To be fair, Kearns never even had a full season with the Reds to hang his hat on. 05 was okay in between the whole getting sent down to AAA ordeal and he seemed poised to take a big step forward in 06 based on his first half, but by that point most Reds fans and the front office saw him only as trade bait. I think his career may have turned out quite differently had we not traded him when we did. Not that he would have turned into the superstar people thought he'd be, but I think he could have at least been around the Cody Ross level.
I, for one, still root for the guy to this day.