If only...

[cincrazy]

What's the one deal you wish the Reds would have made that they never did?

We all have wishes in the back of our brain that a genie probably couldn't even grant us, but that's part of the fun of baseball.

Is there a guy you've wanted or still want that you feel would've put this team over the top? Is there a guy that you thought was the missing piece, that the team just whiffed on?

Try to keep it within reason... clearly it would've been impossible to acquire a Bonds or likewise name in his prime.

The one guy I'm really pining for that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt we won't get: Giancarlo Stanton. With his power, sandwiches in between Votto and Bruce, and his relative cheapness over the next several years... WOW.

I'd be particularly interested to hear from some of the older crowd. Sorry, not older... how about we'll just go with the one's that have been fans longer . Any guy you wanted this team to get in the 80s or 90s that you felt could've launched us to another level, and we just never made the move?

ps Sometimes we DO get what we want (the Griffey trade), and it's an epic catastrophe. So it's not always a bad thing that we don't get all of our wishes I suppose lol.

[corkedbat]

Originally Posted by cincrazy

What's the one deal you wish the Reds would have made that they never did?

We all have wishes in the back of our brain that a genie probably couldn't even grant us, but that's part of the fun of baseball.

Is there a guy you've wanted or still want that you feel would've put this team over the top? Is there a guy that you thought was the missing piece, that the team just whiffed on?

Try to keep it within reason... clearly it would've been impossible to acquire a Bonds or likewise name in his prime.

The one guy I'm really pining for that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt we won't get: Giancarlo Stanton. With his power, sandwiches in between Votto and Bruce, and his relative cheapness over the next several years... WOW.

I'd be particularly interested to hear from some of the older crowd. Sorry, not older... how about we'll just go with the one's that have been fans longer . Any guy you wanted this team to get in the 80s or 90s that you felt could've launched us to another level, and we just never made the move?

ps Sometimes we DO get what we want (the Griffey trade), and it's an epic catastrophe. So it's not always a bad thing that we don't get all of our wishes I suppose lol.

Vida Blue

[gilpdawg]

Rick Reuschel at the 87 trade deadline. Although not knowing who would have been on the table it's hard to say definitively. The players Pittsburgh wound up getting weren't that significant.

[kaldaniels]

Originally Posted by gilpdawg

Rick Reuschel at the 87 trade deadline. Although not knowing who would have been on the table it's hard to say definitively. The players Pittsburgh wound up getting weren't that significant.

The Reds may have dodged a hall of fame sized bullet on that one.

[George Anderson]

There were rumors in 2002 that the Reds were interested in Scott Rolen or it was the other way around. Either way I would have liked to see Rolen in his prime.

Around 1974 the Reds and Royals were supposedly working on a trade of Tony Perez for George Brett. I love Tony but having Brett in a Reds uniform would have been nice.

[RedEye]

Originally Posted by George Anderson

There were rumors in 2002 that the Reds were interested in Scott Rolen or it was the other way around. Either way I would have liked to see Rolen in his prime.

I remember that but I thought it was a done deal that Lindner wouldn't approve because of the financials. In any case, right there with you on that one. Would have been great to see Rolen anchor the left side of the infield in his prime when he wasn't going on the DL so often... not to mention those power stats were for real!

[757690]

Originally Posted by kaldaniels

The Reds may have dodged a hall of fame sized bullet on that one.

Yep.

The Reds offered Kurt Stillwell and Kal Daniels. The Pirates wanted Larkin and Daniels. When the Reds passed, Sid Thift, the Pirates GM, took the Giants offer of their top prospect, a pitcher named Jeff Robinson, who was basically a flop. Thrift would have been better off taking Stillwell and Daniels.

[757690]

Originally Posted by RedEye

I remember that but I thought it was a done deal that Lindner wouldn't approve because of the financials. In any case, right there with you on that one. Would have been great to see Rolen anchor the left side of the infield in his prime when he wasn't going on the DL so often... not to mention those power stats were for real!

Rolen would have been the big one for me too. The lost decade was a miserable time for me, and Rolen as a Red would have at least made it at least less miserable.

You are correct, Linder killed it because he refused to sign Rolen to a long term contract, which was necessary at the time.

[RANDY IN INDY]

Would have loved to have seen Buddy Bell at 3rd Base for the Reds during his prime.

[lollipopcurve]

Vida Blue

Yep. May be a bunch of younger posters here who don't know the Reds acquired Blue from the As, only to have Bowie Kuhn nix the deal. Still pissed about that.

[RedsBaron]

Vida Blue was the first one I thought of. Bowie Kuhn probably cost the Reds the 1978 NL West title when he vetoed that trade. If the Reds win the West, Sparky probably remains the manager.
George Anderson mentioned the possibility the Reds could have obtained George Brett for Tony Perez prior to the '75 season. Obviously Brett was a greater player than the Big Dog and much younger. Having Brett might have brought the Reds some titles in the late 70s or early 80s. However if the Reds make that trade do they then leave Rose in the outfield and fail to start Foster? Does Brett hit a Bill Lee blooper pitch in game seven of the 1975 World Series over the Green Monster? I am loath to mess with the 1975 BRM.
One mythical trade I have thought about would have been prior to the 1972 season. Gussie Busch decided to trade Steve Carlton from the Cardinals because the beer baron was angry that Carlton wanted a raise. Carlton was ultimately traded to the Phillies for Rick Wise. Wise was a 26 year old righthander with a career record of 75-76 and a 3.60 ERA; he had completed maybe his best season in 1971, going 17-14 with a 2.88 ERA. I have wondered if Bob Howsam could have tempted Busch with Gary Nolan, a not quite 24 year old righthander with a then career mark of 61-42 and a 2.98 ERA. Nolan had gone 12-15 with a 3.16 ERA in 1971 and was a year removed from a 18-7 campaign. Throw in Bernie Carbo if necessary but get Carlton to anchor the staff.

[RedsBaron]

A year or so ago the Hardball Times had a series on the 1960s Reds and what could have been had they NOT made a number of bad trades and moves. Keeping Frank Robinson is the obvious move, but the 1960s Reds at one time had Mike Cuellar, Claude Osteen, and Cesar Tovar among others. IIRC the articles concluded that had the Reds simply kept some of the players they at one time had, they would have added to their 1961 pennant additional NL titles in 1964, 1966, and 1969, and possibly in 1962 and 1965. They would have begun the 1970s, the decade of the Big Red Machine, with all the key players of that powerhouse, but with Robinson, Cuellar, Osteen, Tovar, Leo Cardenas, et al, added to the mix, for a really, really BIG Red Machine.

[edabbs44]

Carl Linder was outbid by Castellini.

[Unassisted]

I wish Marge Schott had sold her share of the club to another ownership group, instead of handing it over to minority owner Carl Lindner. Lindner's penny-pinching throughout the 00s was worse than having an owner less committed to Cincinnati, rattling his saber about moving from Cincinnati. If she had done it 5 years sooner, the Reds might have gotten a better stadium than the Bengals.

[Dan]

From the 70's (not that I was old enough to be aware of the sport yet): The Phillies traded Steve Carlton for Rick Wise. Gary Nolan was younger and had had just as much success as Wise. I think Nolan for Carlton would have worked. I really wonder how dominant the Reds would have been 72-79 if Carlton had been part of that rotation.

The 80's: I wish the Reds had found a way to keep Danny Tartabul. They let him go in the Rule V, if I'm not mistaken. Imagine an outfield in '88 through '90 of Tartabul, Davis, O'Neill.

The 90's: I can't think of anyone. The one guy I pined for for years was Greg Vaughn, and the Reds did land him for a season.

The 00's: Early in the decade I thought signing Rickey Henderson would have been as good a move as any. Late in the decade, I was all for acquiring Bedard, but definitely NOT in favor of giving up Votto to get him.

The 10's: I'm on board with getting Stanton. And he's one of the few players in baseball that I'd move Chapman to get. David Price is another one I'd love to see the Reds get if he can be gotten. Again, I'd move Chapman for him. Imagine THAT rotation.