EE as a Blue Jay .257 .317 .462 .780 44 HR's 917 AB's He is a 1B/DH, there is talk he may move to LF.
Zach Stewart 53 IP 4.56 ERA 1.38 WHIP and coming off the game of his career thus far.
Josh Roenicke horrible in TOR, currently doing well in COL albeit in only 11 IP.
EE can make the biggest impact if he can move to LF. EE since the ASB: .299 .389 .522 .911
There were plenty of posters that wanted to see EE in LF. He had some injury issues with his wrists that limited his production in TOR early on, and he scuffled a bit in the first half of this year. But he's going to end the year with 40+ doubles and nearly 20 HR's. He's got a cannon for an arm and he's an athletic player. Transitioning him to LF shouldn't have been a problem.
I hated to see Stewart traded. I get why he was included, but since I'd have not made the trade, He'd be competing for a rotation spot with the Reds. Or possibly the future closer.
This trade was short term thinking because though it addressed an immediate need, it addressed it for only one season. That Rolen is signed long term compounds the error. Here is the line Reds 3B have posted this season: .242 .297 .388 .684 That's pretty awful. Rolen had a very good year in 2010: 471 AB's .285 .358 .497 .854 20 HR's. EE in 2010: 332 AB's .244 .305 .482 .787 21 HR's. Not quite as good, especially when considering the dropoff defensively at 3B, but then consider this... What if 2011 saw EE in LF for the Reds and a platoon of Frazier and Francisco at 3B? Heisey is the 4th OF. Gomes is never signed.
What If? was one of my favorite comics as a kid
LF offense is improved, greatly. 3B? maybe a crapshoot, but likely better offensively. Stewart adds that much more needed depth to a rotation decimated by injuries. And his presence allows the Reds to say Chapman is starting the year in Louisville as a starter.
So maybe 2010 doesn't happen, but instead happens in 2011. And does so in such a way that sets the offense up for the next 5 years. Maybe having EE in LF allows the Reds to make a bigger push for Cliff Lee. Stewart, Wood, Alonso and Sappelt for Lee?
or maybe none of that happens.
But going forward, how much can anyone REASONABLY expect from Rolen, Stewart and Encarnacion?