Reds one of four teams pursuing Khalil Greene

[Tom Servo]

per the san diego union-tribune

DANA POINT — Khalil Greene, a franchise fixture for an 89-victory Padres club just two seasons ago, is now the subject of preliminary trade talks on the heels of his miserable 2008 season.

Clubs have expressed early interest in buying low on the shortstop, who batted .213 with 100 strikeouts last season before missing the final two months because of a self-inflicted hand fracture.

“We've had nibbles,” said General Manager Kevin Towers, who has met with other GMs the last three days at a coastal resort in Orange County.
The Orioles, Reds and Tigers are among those interested. The Nationals and Padres discussed a Greene trade this past summer, but the Nats aren't in play this time around.

Greene is guaranteed $6.5 million in 2009 and can become a free agent after the season. Keeping free agency open, he turned down a four-year, $29 million offer last offseason.

Relations between Greene and the Padres probably are not ideal. After Greene fractured his left hand on July 30, when he wacked a storage chest at Petco Park following a foulball of the shin and his 100th strikeout, the Padres stopped paying his salary, according to the players union.

A dispute between the Padres and the union ensued, and though the Padres eventually paid Greene his remaining salary, the club filed a grievance in an attempt to recoup up to $1.47 million in salary. Greene left the club some two weeks before the season ended.

The Padres have no advanced shortstop prospects behind Greene, who was replaced by utility man Luis Rodriguez last summer.

In the Jake Peavy talks with Atlanta, the clubs have discussed Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar. It is not clear that Atlanta would give up Escobar, a 26-year-old who is a good defender and has a career on-base percentage of .373.

“We're looking to improve the ballclub,” Towers said. “If we move Khalil, Luis Rodriguez is really our backup shortstop and second baseman, so we would create another hole by moving Khalil. There are some ballclubs that have interest in him, but they are also waiting to find out what the going rate is on shortstops.”

[Jpup]

Get Peavy and Greene. The Reds would have to give up Bruce or Cueto to even be in the running for Peavy.

I wonder what the Friars want for Greene? The can have Gonzalez.

[OnBaseMachine]

Nice. I like Khalil Greene - he's an above average defender at shortstop and has good power. He could probably be a 20-25 homer threat playing half his games in the GABP. The key will be getting his walk rate back up to where it was in 2004 and 2006. I like that Walt understands shortstop is a position of need...hopefully he can pull off a deal for Greene or a guy like Erick Aybar.

[WVRedsFan]

No thanks. The last two years his OBP is below .300 despite his power. A younger Gonzo. No.

[OnBaseMachine]

Greene plays half his games in Petco Park (AKA the Grand Canyon), plus he plays an additional 15 or so games in Dodgers Stadium and AT&T Park. I think putting him in a more hitter friendly environment like GABP could do some good for his offense. My next move be to acquire Adrian Beltre and move Edwin Encarnacion to left field. That would be a great defense IMO. EdE would probably be around average or slight below in LF. Dickerson has a chance to be a plus defender in center and Bruce above average to plus in RF. Beltre is a plus defender at third. Greene is above average. Phillips and Votto are plus. Hanigan is above average behind the plate. Offensively, we're probably looking at a league average offense with room for improvement. If Bruce and EdE take a step forward it's an above average offense. That's a team capable of being a contender IMO.

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by WVRedsFan

No thanks. The last two years his OBP is below .300 despite his power. A younger Gonzo. No.

Greene has a career OPS+ of 95, compared to AGon's 80, and is actually a plus fielder at a younger age with a healthier body...

[Ltlabner]

#   YEAR NAME         AGE   PA  EqA  OBP  SLG  VORP  RAR   RAP 
22. 2008 Khalil Greene 28  423 .214 .260 .339  -8.0  -6.4 -18.2 
9.  2007 Khalil Greene 27  659 .263 .291 .468  23.0  23.7   6.6 
10. 2006 Khalil Greene 26  460 .000 .320 .427  14.2   
7.  2005 Khalil Greene 25  476 .000 .296 .431  15.5

There's four reasons why his numbers could have taken such a tumble. None are particularlly heartwarming.

1) Injury. Then you have to figure out type of injury, can he recover, did the injury result in mechanical changes that will reduce performance down the road, etc.

2) He's starting to lose a step. While still pretty young, is his power tied to his bat speed and that speed is starting to wain?

3) Juice? Ok...probably unfair/unlikely but those numbers sure did take a tumble.

4) Normal random variation. Seems like a heck of a drop to just be random, but who knows.

His on base percentage has never been any good. We don't need another hacker up there in a lineup currently chock full of hackers.

Perhaps his defense outweighs his bat, but if his bat doesn't return that better be a damn good glove.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Ltlabner

Perhaps his defense outweighs his bat, but if his bat doesn't return that better be a damn good glove.

His defense isn't that good. I'd argue he's basically a +5 run defender at short. Basically he needs to be '07 with the bat to be a worthwhile addition.

For what it's worth, Marcels projects him at .242/.299/.413 offensively in '09 and CHONE suggests he'll be a +5 defender. The latest Pecota projections aren't out yet but they were more optimistic before his disastrous '08. That's not very inspiring for $6.5M (fingers crossed hoping for a rebound). Basically, the Reds probably shouldn't be sending a ton of talent to San Diego for him.

Greene probably should've taken the Padres' $30M offer.

[lollipopcurve]

Marcels projects him at .242/.299/.413 offensively in '09

Does the projection assume he's in San Diego?

[Chip R]

I worry about this guy's durability.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

Does the projection assume he's in San Diego?

It basically just assumes he's breathing and in the NL and 29. Moving from SD to Cincy would be expected to give him a bit of a bounce.

[flyer85]

I'd be happier if the Reds just admitted that 2009 is a rebuilding season instead of chasing a mirage filled with not very good players.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by jojo

It basically just assumes he's breathing and in the NL and 29. Moving from SD to Cincy would be expected to give him a bit of a bounce.

like it does most players in the power category, it doesn't change who he is.

[jesusfan]

STAY AWAY!!! Hey, Flyer and I finally agree on something.... THROW A PARTY! LOL

[dougdirt]

He has a .770 road OPS over the last 4 years. Excluding last year its .828 with a .328 OBP and a .500 SLG.