Reds acquire Hynick, release Buck

[cinreds21]

The Cincinnati Reds have acquired right-handed pitcher Brandon Hynick from the Chicago White Sox and assign him to Double-A Carolina. Hynick, a former eighth rounder by Colorado, was 1-4 with a 7.85 ERA in seven starts for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. The White Sox acquired the Ohio native at the 2009 trading deadline for Jose Contreras.
To make room on the roster for Hynick, the Reds have released right-handed pitcher Dallas Buck. Buck, who was acquired from he Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008, was 1-5 with a 8.50 ERA in eight starts. In his last start in Mobile, the Oregon native surrendered 10 earned runs and only lasted 1 and 2/3 innings. Coming into the 2009 season, Buck was a big prospect with the Reds, out-dueling Bronson Arroyo and the Reds in an exhibition game at Five County Stadium. Since then, the-now 26-year-old has missed big portions of the 2009 and 2010 seasons with arm problems.

[cinreds21]

I'm hearing someone got released.

[Benihana]

Originally Posted by cinreds21

I'm hearing someone got released.

Sounds like Dallas Buck. The bounty for Adam Dunn, we hardly knew ye. One of Jocketty's few bad deals. Funny that Jr fetched more than Dunn, in hindsight of course.

[GOYA]

I don't look at it as a bad deal at all. The other pieces are gone too: catcher Wilkin Castillo and pitcher Micah Owings. But Dunn didn't fit in Walt's plans. I would think Gomes doesn't either.

[camisadelgolf]

Hynick was 1 of 5 Charlotte Knights pitchers with 7 starts or more. His 7.85 ERA was third-best. If you remember the Reds' stacked Billings team from 2006 (Danny Dorn, Logan Parker, Justin Turner, Chris Valaika, Drew Stubbs, Chris Heisey, Juan Francisco, Jordan Smith, Marcos Mateo, etc.), Hynick won the Pitcher of the Year Award for the league. As a 22-year-old in 2007, he was selected as the high-A Pitcher of the Year by Baseball America. Baseball America also recognized him as the Rockies' Minor League Player of the Year the same year. His biggest claim to fame--unless you count being traded for Jose Contreras--is that he pitched a seven-inning perfect game as part of a double-header in 2009.

[GOYA]

Hynick is 26, 6'3" and a righty.

Stats from AAA Charlotte:

ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
7.85	7	7	0	0	36.2	51	32	32	10	11	26	1.17	.338

[Gallen5862]

How would you rate Hynick in Redszone's top 40 or 50 players?

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Benihana

Sounds like Dallas Buck. The bounty for Adam Dunn, we hardly knew ye. One of Jocketty's few bad deals. Funny that Jr fetched more than Dunn, in hindsight of course.

Not that you've made a big indictment on Jocketty, but I'm curious how does Dunn qualify as a bad deal? He was a waiver-wire deal on an expiring contract, of a player who was one of the worst defensive players in the majors, purchased on August 20. The Diamondbacks were only going to get five weeks with Dunn.

To me, that the Reds got what they did out of him at that point was actually a good deal. Three players, including a former first round prospect, for a guy that they would have only had for about five more weeks. That's about as much as anyone could have or should have expected. Further, the reports in July were that few teams wanted Dunn. I think the Reds' did the best they could given the circumstances.

[camisadelgolf]

He's a pitch-to-contact flyball pitcher, which isn't exciting. You have to give props to his excellent K:BB ratio (3.09). Part of me wonders if the Reds signed him just to give the defense more training, though.[/half-kidding]

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

Not that you've made a big indictment on Jocketty, but I'm curious how does Dunn qualify as a bad deal? He was a waiver-wire deal on an expiring contract, of a player who was one of the worst defensive players in the majors, purchased on August 20. The Diamondbacks were only going to get five weeks with Dunn.

To me, that the Reds got what they did out of him at that point was actually a good deal. Three players, including a former first round prospect, for a guy that they would have only had for about five more weeks. That's about as much as anyone could have or should have expected. Further, the reports in July were that few teams wanted Dunn. I think the Reds' did the best they could given the circumstances.

Buck and Owings were both third rounders (although Owings was once drafted in the second round). If you look at what the Diamondbacks got out of those few weeks of Dunn, it was still more than what the Reds got out of the entire tenures of Castillo, Buck, and Owings. However, a decent amount of money was saved in the process. I'd say it was a pretty fair trade, but I wish the Reds could've found a way to keep Dunn for the draft picks.

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by Gallen5862

How would you rate Hynick in Redszone's top 40 or 50 players?

I probably wouldn't put him in the top-40 pitchers.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by camisadelgolf

Buck and Owings were both third rounders (although Owings was once drafted in the second round). If you look at what the Diamondbacks got out of those few weeks of Dunn, it was still more than what the Reds got out of the entire tenures of Castillo, Buck, and Owings. However, a decent amount of money was saved in the process. I'd say it was a pretty fair trade, but I wish the Reds could've found a way to keep Dunn for the draft picks.

Owings gave the team about a year's worth of decent production. Still, it's natural any player like Dunn is going to give more production than the prospects they'd get in a deal where said team gets only five weeks of said player. I don't think, in this case, the ends justify the means. The Reds took a couple of fliers that had upside. They didn't really materialize, but again, not only was he five weeks from being a free agent, but he had to pass through waivers before they could even trade him. To me, getting anything out of guys they acquired in that situation was gravy.

As far as the draft picks... that would have been my preference too. But that would have been a big gamble as it would have been contingent on assuming Dunn didn't accept arbitration. If the team felt they had financial constraints, taking a risk of paying $15 million because you offered arbitration in accordance with league policy isn't really a good gamble IMHO.

I'm not saying the trade turned out tremendously well, but given the circumstances, I think they got more, on paper, than anyone should expect. Five weeks and waivers on an expiring contract. To get any prospect with upside is a good deal.

[Orenda]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

Not that you've made a big indictment on Jocketty, but I'm curious how does Dunn qualify as a bad deal? He was a waiver-wire deal on an expiring contract, of a player who was one of the worst defensive players in the majors, purchased on August 20. The Diamondbacks were only going to get five weeks with Dunn.

To me, that the Reds got what they did out of him at that point was actually a good deal. Three players, including a former first round prospect, for a guy that they would have only had for about five more weeks. That's about as much as anyone could have or should have expected. Further, the reports in July were that few teams wanted Dunn. I think the Reds' did the best they could given the circumstances.

Draft pick compensation was also an option.

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

Owings gave the team about a year's worth of decent production. Still, it's natural any player like Dunn is going to give more production than the prospects they'd get in a deal where said team gets only five weeks of said player. I don't think, in this case, the ends justify the means. The Reds took a couple of fliers that had upside. They didn't really materialize, but again, not only was he five weeks from being a free agent, but he had to pass through waivers before they could even trade him. To me, getting anything out of guys they acquired in that situation was gravy.

As far as the draft picks... that would have been my preference too. But that would have been a big gamble as it would have been contingent on assuming Dunn didn't accept arbitration. If the team felt they had financial constraints, taking a risk of paying $15 million because you offered arbitration in accordance with league policy isn't really a good gamble IMHO.

I'm not saying the trade turned out tremendously well, but given the circumstances, I think they got more, on paper, than anyone should expect. Five weeks and waivers on an expiring contract. To get any prospect with upside is a good deal.

Year		Tm	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2009-2010	CIN	10	14	.417	5.35	48	19	13	0	0	1	153.0	154	95	91	21	89	3	103	9	1	2	695	78	1.588	9.1	1.2	5.2	6.1	1.16

He put a lot of people on base (1.588 WHIP) and had a horrible SO:BB ratio (1.16). I'd say 'decent' is an overstatement. In my eyes, he had more value as a hitter than as a pitcher.

Tm		G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
CIN (3 yrs)	72	76	72	9	19	5	1	4	16	0	0	1	25	.264	.280	.528	.808	109	38	0	1	1	1	0

All in all, I'd say he was the equivalent to a AAAA player. If you ask me, six weeks of Adam Dunn is worth more than that, albeit not much more.

[757690]

Originally Posted by Orenda

Draft pick compensation was also an option.

It was an option, but considering that the Diamondbacks didn't offer Dunn arbitration, I doubt the Reds would have. In that offseason, with salaries dropping like they did, I would have taken arbitration if I were Dunn.

Plus, even if the Reds did get draft picks, they cost money to sign, and probably had the same chance of success as the players the Reds got, who didn't cost the Reds any more money.