Bronson Arroyo looks to be a cap casualty after 2013, especially if we resign Choo, which I am praying happens.
"Bronson Arroyo is entering the final year of his Reds contract and the veteran realizes it could be his last year in Cincinnati, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports. "When you have a team as we do, where everyone is coming into their own kind of at the same time, and add the fact we have a couple of monster deals already in place, it's going to be tough for me to stick around here if I have [a] successful season," Arroyo said."
I know that it's normally a crazy idea to trade a solid SP at the 1/4 mark of the season. However, Mike Leake has been looking extremely solid, and the Reds have Tony Cingrani waiting in the wings. Having watched Cingrani's 6 ML starts, he appears 100% ready to "make the leap" and hold down our #4/#5 starter spot this year.
With LF Ryan Ludwick perhaps out for the season, it's no secret that the Red's could use a right-handed/power-hitting/left-fielder in the lineup (to bat either #2 or #4). This would help the team in a number of ways (including allowing us to drop Zack Cozart back down into his appropriate #7/#8 hole).
Now, we must keep in mind that due to Arroyo's "10 and 5 Rights" (Players who have accumulated ten years of major league service time can't be traded without their permission if they have spent the last five years with their current club). Also, If the Reds trade the right-hander, deferred payments would be voided and paid up-front by his new team.
"Bronson Arroyo tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald that he enjoyed pitching for the Red Sox and wouldn't mind returning: "Even though I can safely say that I’ve cemented myself in Cincinnati for a while, [Boston] definitely still feels like home and in the back of my mind I know that there is no better place to play than in Fenway Park." Arroyo said when his three-year extension with the Reds runs out after the 2013 season, he would be interested in pitching for the Rays (to play close to his family), returning to the Red Sox, or staying in Cincinnati."
A couple of names that might fit the bill in Boston are Shane Victorino (switch hitter, would be great in the #2 spot, probably too big of a contract though at 3yrs/$39M), Jackie Bradley Jr. (#2 prospect in their system,looks like a stud cf/lf, but unfortunately is left-handed), and Bryce Brentz (#6 prospect in Sox system, power-hitting RH, plays both RF & LF). Here's Boston's top prospect list: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/pro...d=bos#list=bos