I say... Sell at the deadline.

[Z-Fly]

From what I understand, the payroll is busting at the seems. I would hate to unload anything of value for Ben Zobrist or even Stanton (because he will not be around long term). I know the Reds are only 1.5 games back, but that feels like a small miracle. In my opinion, they are aways off from a title. I say unload players that have upcoming expiring contracts, and in turn load up on salary flexibility and prospects.

Here are a few semi-recent deadline deals. Some worked out, but some didn't. I would hate to be on the short end of unloading a bunch of super prospects for little return.



July 19, 2000: Texas Rangers trade Esteban Loaiza to the Toronto Blue Jays for Darwin Cubillan and Michael Young.

July 26, 2000: Philadelphia Phillies trade Curt Schilling to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee and Vicente Padilla.

July 30, 2001: Pittsburgh Pirates trade Jason Schmidt and Jon VanderWal to the San Francisco Giants for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong.

June 27, 2002: Montreal Expos trade Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew.

July 29, 2002: Philadelphia Phillies trade Scott Rolen and Doug Nickle to the St. Louis Cardinals for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin and Bud Smith.

July 23, 2003: Pittsburgh Pirates trade Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to the Chicago Cubs for Jose Hernandez, Matt Bruback and Bobby Hill.

November 14, 2003: San Francisco Giants trade Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser to the Minnesota Twins for A.J. Pierzynski.

June 24, 2004: Kansas City Royals trade Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros in a three-team deal, which also sent Octavio Dotel from the Astros to the Oakland A’s, Mike Wood and Mark Teahen from the A’s to the Royals and John Buck from the A’s to the Astros.

July 30, 2004: The New York Mets trade Scott Kazmir and Joselo Diaz to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato.

July 31, 2004: New York Yankees trade Jose Contreras to the Chicago White Sox for Esteban Loaiza.


http://www.scoresreport.com/2008/07/...last-10-years/

[RedFanAlways1966]

My opinion is do not sell. And do not buy. Stay put. There us nothing out there (for the price required) that excites me. Almost like this past off-season. Nothing gets me going in terms of what is available (for what this team really needs). This might be called "a Jocketty" by the knee-jerk crowd. Oh well.

[MikeThierry]

I don't know if teams can say "screw this season" with the advent of the 2nd Wild Card.

That said, I think they need to extend the trade deadline by 15 days.

[kbrake]

With Cueto, Latos, Simon, Bailey, Broxton, Chapman this team can win in October. I think it would be a big mistake to not even try to acquire someone to help for the next 6 weeks or so until BP and Votto get back.

This team has bounced back all season when people said they were done or not even that good to begin with. To bail on them now seems a bit insane to me.

[NeilHamburger]

Honestly, if anything of value would require Winker or Stephenson (this is my guess) I'm okay with just standing pat.

This offseason is when the heavy lifting will occur. Unless both Cueto and Latos are resigned, then one almost has to be traded.

[M2]

Is this supposed to be a comedy thread?

A) Not one, but two Esteban Loiaza trades get listed.

B) The Schilling and Rolen trades are two of the biggest star-talent-for-a-bunch-of-meh deals in baseball history. The D-Backs won a World Series the next season and the Cardinals became the best team in the NL in the mid-2000s (and won a World Series in 2006).

C) The Reds, when they can field most of the team, have played the best baseball in the NL this season. No way the Reds are selling.

[OGB]

I think a good bench bat and another bullpen arm can be had for an acceptable return. That's what I'd target.

[villain612]

From what I understand, the payroll is busting at the seems. I would hate to unload anything of value for Ben Zobrist or even Stanton (because he will not be around long term). I know the Reds are only 1.5 games back, but that feels like a small miracle. In my opinion, they are aways off from a title. I say unload players that have upcoming expiring contracts, and in turn load up on salary flexibility and prospects.

[Z-Fly]

That picture was pretty funny, when I first saw it 3 years ago. Thanks for adding to the thread.

[villain612]

That picture was pretty funny, when I first saw it 3 years ago. Thanks for adding to the thread.

1.5 back in the division race.

One of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

Team is playing .651 ball since May 30th.

Thanks for adding to the comedy.

[Z-Fly]

Is this supposed to be a comedy thread?

A) Not one, but two Esteban Loiaza trades get listed.

B) The Schilling and Rolen trades are two of the biggest star-talent-for-a-bunch-of-meh deals in baseball history. The D-Backs won a World Series the next season and the Cardinals became the best team in the NL in the mid-2000s (and won a World Series in 2006).

C) The Reds, when they can field most of the team, have played the best baseball in the NL this season. No way the Reds are selling.

I pulled it off the quoted article. There weren't many good ones, that weren't slide shows.

It was just another way of looking at it. Maybe I wrong. Hopefully I am. It seems like there is a ton of pitching talent coming up through the pipeline, but I think the Reds have squeezed all of the production that there is out of this current collection of players. I don't think it would be wise to unload prospects for a middle of the road infielder.

- - - Updated - - -

1.5 back in the division race.

One of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

Team is playing .651 ball since May 30th.

Thanks for adding to the comedy.

I guess we will see how it plays out. I am willing to make a fun wager, if you are.

[AmarilloRed]

Yes-don't quite think they'll play .650 ball the rest of the way. Nice to have a little optimism though.

[kaldaniels]

I say pick your spots and make moves that help your team in the long run, at whatever time you can.

I can wiggle a little on a short term fix, but if it is likely to set you back long term, pass.

[swaisuc]

Even if I thought 2014 was not going to work, there is basically nobody we can sell that doesn't drastically affect our chances in 2015.

[M2]

Yes-don't quite think they'll play .650 ball the rest of the way. Nice to have a little optimism though.

Though if they play .570 ball from here on out - which is entirely possible - they win 90 games and probably a spot in October baseball.