Reds name PTBNL from Keppinger Trade

[Jharb74]

From Fay:

From Reds Director of Media Relations Rob Butcher:

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty today announced IF Drew Sutton as the player to be named later in the March 31 trade that sent IF Jeff Keppinger to the Houston Astros.

Sutton will report to Class AAA Louisville. To make room on the Reds' 40-man roster, IF Danny Richar was outrighted to Louisville.

Sutton, 25, last season was named Class AA Corpus Christi's Most Valuable Player after hitting .317 with 20 HR and 69 RBI. He was named a Texas League mid-season and post-season All-Star and led all Astros minor leaguers in batting average, hits (165), runs (102), walks (76), doubles (39) and extra-base hits (63).

Prior to this season, Sutton was named the Astros eighth-best prospect by Baseball America. In 5 games so far this season at Class AAA Round Rock he was hitting .267 with 2 RBI.

Sutton originally was selected by the Astros in the 15th round of the June 2004 draft.

Prior to the trade, Keppinger hit .140 with 1 RBI in 21 games for the Reds this spring.

[bgwilly31]

eighth best prospect within the astros organization>? Is that good>?

[Lockdwn11]

Sounds like a great trade for the Reds

[schmidty622]

This is absolutly outstanding.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Welcome aboard, Drew.

[reds1869]

Outstanding return for Kepp. This turned out to be a very good deal. Sutton had a real shot at making the 'Stros roster this year and will be at worst an improvement on the backup infielders we already have. Regardless of how you feel about the front office, the upside of Sutton is way better than that of Keppinger.

[Newman4]

Anyone know what kind of glove Sutton brings? Can he play SS?

[bgwilly31]

so i really hope he plays SS or 3b otherwise he's pretty much a wash.

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by Newman4

Anyone know what kind of glove Sutton brings? Can he play SS?

He's been a bit error prone in the past but has apparently taken it as a personal mission to improve his fielding and footwork. I hope that is the case because the kid can flat out hit.

[gedred69]

Sounds like another Valaika/Frazier. Above avg. bat, suspect glove. Man, there must be a lot of guys fitting that description out there! Valaika is less than a season away from being a good MLB hitter with Frazier right behind him. Now, looks like we got another. Hate to get on that wagon with so many others, but maybe it's time to consider Phillips moving to SS to make room for one of these hitting prospects. (Dang, can't believe I just typed that)........

[Boston Red]

Originally Posted by Jharb74

Prior to the trade, Keppinger hit .140 with 1 RBI in 21 games for the Reds this spring.

So it's only natural that Keppinger is OPSing 1.450 for the Astros. I know, small sample size.

[TheBigLebowski]

Very nice return. 24 is a bit high to only be in AA - now he's 25 and will be in AAA so we'll see how he does there. Much better than what I expected for Kepp.

[laxtonto]

Bad glove... Probably should be an OF. The kid can hit, but his outstanding numbers in AA came after repeating the Texas league.

One thing on the Astros system... The BA writers alluded to that the the top5 of the Texas system would rate over their best prospect and it would have to get to 18 or 19 for one of the Texas guys not to make their to 10...

So the Reds got a top 15-20 guy for Kepp... Not bad at all, but nothing super spectacular. Would Sutton be a top 10 guy for the Reds, Nope, top 20? Sure...

[JBChance]

Pretty decent return. Definitely some upside there.

He does look like a 2B more than a SS, though. We don't need another of those types, but its never a bad idea to upgrade a player.

Keppinger might be hitting well now, but we all know what he was doing here at the end of 2008 and in the spring. He obviously needed a change of scenery. Probably will go to another team in 2010.

[Bumstead]

good return for Kepp!