Reds trade Juan Francisco to Braves for RHP J.J. Hoover

[Benihana]

He might start out of the bullpen becuase of need and his success there.

He could convert back to a starter next year.

Or maybe he'll be on the Chapman "plan"

[Ron Madden]

I don't think this does Chapmans development or long term future any good.

[REDREAD]

I could see Hoover being bullpen insurance this year.. much like many of the other guys (brackman, etc) that they picked up over the winter.

If Hoover has 3 options left, he's backup at SP/RP for the next 3 years.. That's probably more valuable than an out of options Franscico would've been, especially since the Reds seemed to have soured on him.

[RedlegJake]

I like Hoover, more as a good reliever than a possible starter but this kid can pitch pretty well. If he had one real "out" pitch to go with his stuff he'd be an ace. Seriously, if just one of his pitches edged up a notch he'd be a star - he has the control, and the temperament, its simply a case that nothing he throws is so devastating that it blows hitters away - everything is just "good" nothing is "wow". That says middle reliever to me and that isn't bad. That's a guy who can reliably go through a lineup one time and on any given night and be very effective - its the second time through that he'll start getting knocked up once they'd drawn a bead on his velocity and movement. That's a solid, "get you from the 5th-6th to the eighth inning set up man" kind of reliever that can take the middle innings away from the opposing clubs reliably and save many a five inning job by a short starter. That's the role I see for Hoover and I think he's likely to be better at it than anyone on the Reds roster.

With a couple of the injuries in the pen I don't see how anyone can look at Hoover's acquisition and not see a bullpen role inked in for him this year. Whatever they do - I love the trade. I much prefer Frazier to Francisco, especially after Francisco showed me how committed he was to baseball showing up fat and out of shape.

[Tom Servo]

So on this off day, how about some love for Walt?

[Kc61]

One guy has 23 outings, the other has under 200 PAs. And Francisco has a 95 OPS+, not terrible, playing sporadically.

Tad premature on this one, Tom. Hoover certainly looks good but let's give it some time.

[Tom Servo]

One guy has 23 outings, the other has under 200 PAs. And Francisco has a 95 OPS+, not terrible, playing sporadically.

Tad premature on this one, Tom. Hoover certainly looks good but let's give it some time.

I'm certainly not ready to call it a steal, but for 2012, I'd say it's been a success. We've gotten an arm that has contributed to our pen well, and it helped pave the way for Frazier.

[757690]

I'm certainly not ready to call it a steal, but for 2012, I'd say it's been a success. We've gotten an arm that has contributed to our pen well, and it helped pave the way for Frazier.

The last part is the key. Hoover is nice, but the Reds had a redundancy backing up third, and they seemed to have picked the right one to trade.

[Slyder]

So on this off day, how about some love for Walt?

I think the big part of this is that the Reds KEPT Frazier more so than it was trading Francisco for Hoover. Its a case of the Reds picked their horse and rode it. How many threads thought that Frazier was trade bait the last year or so? I remember a number of times.

[PuffyPig]

One guy has 23 outings, the other has under 200 PAs. And Francisco has a 95 OPS+, not terrible, playing sporadically.

Tad premature on this one, Tom. Hoover certainly looks good but let's give it some time.

If we had kept Francisco it would have had to be on the major league roster,and would have kept Frazier in the minors.

Francisco had less than zero value to us this year. His only value was what he could bring in a trade.

Great trade.

[Kc61]

If we had kept Francisco it would have had to be on the major league roster,and would have kept Frazier in the minors.

Francisco had less than zero value to us this year. His only value was what he could bring in a trade.

Great trade.

Talk to me in five years. Don't know how one evaluates a trade in less than a season.

It worked out so far, that's the best you can say. That's important, sure but it's not conclusive.

We'll see Francsico's role and how he does with the Braves after Chipper retires.

[PuffyPig]

Talk to me in five years. Don't know how one evaluates a trade in less than a season.

It worked out so far, that's the best you can say. That's important, sure but it's not conclusive.

We'll see Francsico's role and how he does with the Braves after Chipper retires.

You missed my point.

There's no way the Reds should have kept Francisco on the roster at the expense of Frazier.

Francisco had to be traded becuase we had better personal to play.

[Kc61]

You missed my point.

There's no way the Reds should have kept Francisco on the roster at the expense of Frazier.

Francisco had to be traded becuase we had better personal to play.

I didn't miss the point, it's still premature.

Over time we'll see how Francisco does, how Frazier does, how Hoover does. It may well be that you're right.

But I wouldn't judge it yet. Francisco may get a big opportunity with Chipper retiring.

Wouldn't judge a trade of young players based on less than a season.

[M2]

Francisco is never going to find first base. Hoover a quality arm for the bullpen. Trade your tragically flawed coulda-shoulda-wouldas for someone useful as often as possible.

[Kc61]

Francisco is never going to find first base. Hoover a quality arm for the bullpen. Trade your tragically flawed coulda-shoulda-wouldas for someone useful as often as possible.

You guys can tell the future better than me.

I'll wait and see.