Didi Gregorius

[Sea Ray]

Sure. I don't disagree.

But based on one month of the 2013 season I'm not ready to say Gregorious is a guy I want for ten years. Lets be a little more patient...

I don't think anybody's saying that. If you got that impression from me, I apologize. I know Didi's not a .400 hitter

[DocRed]

Dang rental player....;p

[Always Red]

Dang rental player....;p

Yeah, I like Choo too.

[Red Swagger]

I would have tried to keep Arizona out of the deal and offered the Indians Stephenson, Corcino and Heisey to acquire Choo and Donald. That way we could have held onto Gregorius and had a HUGE insurance policy in case Cozart was struggling, not to mention we could have Didi on the roster. After 2013, we could package Leake and Cozart and get a valuable piece back. With the injury to Ludwick, Stubbs would have hit 8th and played CF, with Choo sliding over to LF. I think Clev would have taken that package without a 2nd thought. Our line up could be:

Choo
Gregorius
Votto
Phillips
Bruce
Frazier
Mesoraco
Stubbs

Cozart
Hanigan
Hannahan
X Paul
Robinson

[RedEye]

I would have tried to keep Arizona out of the deal and offered the Indians Stephenson, Corcino and Heisey to acquire Choo and Donald.

How do you know Walt didn't try that? But more importantly -- that seems like an overpay to me. Stephenson and Corcino are a lot to give up just to keep a SS who is already blocked by a solid major leaguer. I think people are overreacting to a few AB's by DiDi. He's not chopped liver, obviously -- but he's not this good either.

[Patrick Bateman]

I would have tried to keep Arizona out of the deal and offered the Indians Stephenson, Corcino and Heisey to acquire Choo and Donald. That way we could have held onto Gregorius and had a HUGE insurance policy in case Cozart was struggling, not to mention we could have Didi on the roster. After 2013, we could package Leake and Cozart and get a valuable piece back. With the injury to Ludwick, Stubbs would have hit 8th and played CF, with Choo sliding over to LF. I think Clev would have taken that package without a 2nd thought. Our line up could be:

Choo
Gregorius
Votto
Phillips
Bruce
Frazier
Mesoraco
Stubbs

Cozart
Hanigan
Hannahan
X Paul
Robinson

That is horrendous value. Both Stephenson and arguably Corcino were in the same class of prospects as Did. He's had like 8 good at-bats and he's A-Rod???!?!

Okay.

[757690]

Lets get history straight.

The Choo trade conversations started when Az asked the Reds about Didi. Az didn't have what the Reds wanted, so Jocketty called around to find a third team who did have the what the Reds wanted, and found Cleveland with Choo. Jocketty had talked to Cleveland about Choo numerous times, but never found a match, until Az entered with their desire to acquire Didi.

Trade never even gets off the ground without Didi. Period. End of story.

[Red Swagger]

Corcino will be nothing but a middle RP, he is getting crushed in AAA. Just watch Gregorius become a star, it'll come. Stephenson is good SP prospect, but with a full rotation for the next few years, where does he fit in? Much rather have Didi instead of Cozart

[dougdirt]

Corcino will be nothing but a middle RP, he is getting crushed in AAA. Just watch Gregorius become a star, it'll come. Stephenson is good SP prospect, but with a full rotation for the next few years, where does he fit in? Much rather have Didi instead of Cozart

So would the D'Backs, which is why they have him instead of Cozart.

They wanted a shortstop. They traded pitching away in the deal to get him. They didn't want or need pitching.

[reds44]

Corcino will be nothing but a middle RP, he is getting crushed in AAA. Just watch Gregorius become a star, it'll come. Stephenson is good SP prospect, but with a full rotation for the next few years, where does he fit in? Much rather have Didi instead of Cozart

I mean, if we're going by minor league numbers, Didi had a .717 OPS in the minors last year.

Doesn't really scream "star" does it?

[Patrick Bateman]

Corcino will be nothing but a middle RP, he is getting crushed in AAA. Just watch Gregorius become a star, it'll come. Stephenson is good SP prospect, but with a full rotation for the next few years, where does he fit in? Much rather have Didi instead of Cozart

What have you done for me yesterday.

Fun fact: Did had a 288. OBP in 200 AAA at-bats last year. Where were you calling him the "sacred one" during that stretch last year?

He also hasn't had an OBP above .350 since rookie ball. The guy aint an OBP machine. He's a guy who can defend at SS very well, has some pop, and some speed. He's a potential above average SS, and like many prospects, he very well might not reach that upside.

He's far from can't miss. He doesn't have amazing upside. He's had 33 at-bats in the big leagues. Let's stop the hyperbole. Trading Stephenson, a prospect considered in most circles to be better then Didi, and Corcino, a guy that has generally had strong minor league results with the exception of a few starts this season in addition to being a well heralded prospect, rather than keeping Didi was not an obvious, nor a particularly smart move on paper.

Arizona wanted Did more than the Reds. Cleveland wanted Bauer more than the Diamondbacks. Cincinnati wanted Choo more than the Indians.

Sounds like a recipe for a trade. These things are SUPPOSED to work for everyone. It's not about who can make the other side feel violated.

[mikdavrut]

Maybe this has already been mentioned earlier in the thread (I admittedly did not read every page), but speaking of Didi doing quite well very early here for the D'backs, I seem to remember Cozart doing pretty darn well when he first came up for the Reds in the 2011 season, prior to getting hurt.

Now maybe my mind is playing tricks on me and I am remembering Cozart doing better than what he factually did, but I remember reading several posts at the time that were all over Cozart's jock. Now that he has cooled off rather greatly, several are all of a sudden pining away for Didi based on few at-bats, early in the season.

Sure, Didi may end up being a GREAT and very consistent player and his few early season at-bats could very well indicate the exact kind of player he is going to be for many years. Then again, once the league adjusts, he could also end up cooling off greatly, much like Cozart did.

Bottom line, we got EXACTLY what we needed as far as a lead-off hitter is concerned in Choo and in retrospect, I make that trade all day long and twice on Sunday.

[Superdude]

Cast hall of fame ballot for middling prospect after forty at bats. Recreate trade with random players that have underperformed four months after the fact. Genius.

[Vottomatic]

39 at-bats and a hot start for Gregorius and the board goes nuts for Didi.

Dude was an average to mediocre minor league player. He'll come back to earth. 1 BB in 39 at-bats. His slugging has dropped into the .700's. On his way to reality.

[UK Reds Fan]

Didi put put up the following minor league numbers at the plate:

2012 .324 OBP, .393 Slg, .717 OPS
2011 .324 OBP, .429 Slg, .753 OPS
2010 .326 OBP, .373 Slg, .699 OPS
2009 .341 OBP, .367 Slg, .708 OPS

I'm not a big fan of Cozart (he is Paul Janish with a bit more power which makes him a bottom third SS in NL to me) but Didi doesn't translate into more more at the plate. At best you can argue Didi will out OBP Cozart by 30-40 points, but Cozart will likely SLG Didi by 20-30 points. In the field...I'd have a hard time seeing Didi as better than Cozart.

So we got a year of Choo for a nominal downgrade (short term) at SS. Plus we walked away from Stubbs contract which was getting higher and higher for his below average production. So looking at :

Stubbs/Didi vs. Cozart/Choo + 4 Million in extra salary. I'll take Choo's production + salary + Cozart for this year and hopefully the shot at keeping for a few more.