Reds Hire David Espinosa

[Ron Madden]

Jon Heyman
@JonHeyman
Reds hire David Espinosa as international crosschecker. Had been with Marlins. A loss for them.

[texasdave]

David Espinosa was drafted in the first round of the 2000 draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

[KronoRed]

David Espinosa was drafted in the first round of the 2000 draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

Was wondering if it was the same guy, had a pretty long minor league career.

[The Operator]

Wasn’t he sent to Detroit as part of a failed playoff push deal for a starter in 2002?

[Tom Servo]

Seems to have a solid eye for talent, he found Marlins/Rays right hander Trevor Richards


David Espinosa was on a scouting trip in the summer of 2016 when he stumbled on the pitcher who made his big-league debut Monday for the Marlins. It was an improbable discovery, a needle-in-the-haystack find at the bottom of baseball’s food chain, in a league of last resort.

That pitcher, Trevor Richards, might now be working a job in law enforcement had Espinosa not chanced upon him in the course of his job, scouting players in the independent Frontier League, where you’ll find teams such as the Traverse City Beach Bums, Normal CornBelters and Washington Wild Things.

“This might sound crazy,” Espinosa said. “But there are Major League-caliber players in all those leagues. People just assume that it’s a glorified men’s league. But it’s not.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/fish-bytes/article207667164.html

[Bourgeois Zee]

I like that the Reds seem to be proactive in searching for talent.

I like that they're trying something different in developing that talent.

I like that they're focusing on analytics.

[wolfboy]

Wasn’t he sent to Detroit as part of a failed playoff push deal for a starter in 2002?

Yep. My recollection was that Espinosa and Dane Sardinha were signed to major league contracts. Two largely wasted spots on the 40 man.

[Crosley68]

Yep. My recollection was that Espinosa and Dane Sardinha were signed to major league contracts. Two largely wasted spots on the 40 man.

Yeah wasn't that a Jimbo/Boras experiment that didn't work out very well for the Reds? Seems like it was a pretty hot topic here on Redszone at the time.

[mth123]

Yeah wasn't that a Jimbo/Boras experiment that didn't work out very well for the Reds? Seems like it was a pretty hot topic here on Redszone at the time.

It was a budget limitation. There was only so much allocated for signing players from the draft and it wasn't sufficient to get the draftees signed (remember they punted a number 3 overall pick on Jeremy Sowers with no intent to sign him due to budget limitations the following year). They signed these guys to big league deals so they could take the money from the amount allotted to the 40 man roster just to get these guys signed.

The Reds approach to bringing in young talent was what started the downward spiral that resulted in the lost decade. They were lucky to stumble into Joey Votto in the second round and Johnny Cueto as a cheap international signee or we wouldn't have had the few years of respite from futility that we had from 2010 to 2013.

[MikeS21]

Jon Heyman
@JonHeyman
Reds hire David Espinosa as international crosschecker. Had been with Marlins. A loss for them.
I think if the Marlins lost their head hot dog griller, it would be "a loss for them."

[KronoRed]

Wasn’t he sent to Detroit as part of a failed playoff push deal for a starter in 2002?

The great Brian Moehler trade.

[The Operator]

The great Brian Moehler trade.
Ah, that’s the guy.


Same year we got Shawn Estes and Ryan Dempster if I recall correctly.

[KittyDuran]

Didn’t he play for the Dragons in 2001?


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[Edd Roush]

Yes. Same guy.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Ah, that’s the guy.


Same year we got Shawn Estes and Ryan Dempster if I recall correctly.

One of the reasons I hate Ryan Dempster is how bad he was as a Red, then how incredible he was afterward.

That was a prescient trade.

But, no.

Grrr.