Reds Trade And Free Agent Rumours 2023-24 Offseason

Three Logical Landing Spots For Guardians' Shane Bieber

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The Guardians and Cincinnati Reds aren't strangers when it comes to making trades. Cleveland sent Trevor Bauer to the southern city in Ohio in 2019 and last season traded Will Benson there too.

Cincinnati is an ascending team with a ton of potential on offense. Elly De La Cruz, TJ Freidl, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and the company will all be in that lineup for a long time, but now the focus turns to the starters.

Pitching is arguably the most important piece to a playoff run and the Reds didn't have a ton of it last season. They had the sixth-highest (third-highest in the NL) ERA with a 4.83.

Acquiring a pitcher such as Bieber would allow them to shift one of their young starters to the bullpen and pair Hunter Greene up with a solidified Big League ace.

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Story Here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...er/ar-AA1ib6VP

I don’t have a link, but I have heard that San Diego might be interested in India.


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Originally Posted by Ron Madden

Three Logical Landing Spots For Guardians' Shane Bieber
Story Here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...er/ar-AA1ib6VP

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That would be pretty wild to acquire a guy like Bieber. To see him in our rotation to complement Hunter, Ashcraft, and Antone would be a scary rotation. The question as always would be can we give up enough guys to get Bieber and still have enough to make a run and have sustained success during the window we currently have. That’s all above my pay grade but it’s pretty cool to think about the possibilities.

Bieber is only controllable for 1 year, will make ~14M$ next season, and will take prospects to get.

Would be the complete opposite kind of deal the Reds FO has been doing as of late.

If the Reds could work out an extension with Bieber I'd like to see him here.

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Originally Posted by herbdizzle

If the Reds could work out an extension with Bieber I'd like to see him here.

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if you were Bieber would you take free agency going into 2025 or work out a reasonable extension with the Reds?

I don’t see this as a realistic trade for the Reds unless the Guardians are dumping Bieber’s 2024 season for dollar relief and second/third tier assets.

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Originally Posted by herbdizzle

If the Reds could work out an extension with Bieber I'd like to see him here.

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I have to think for one year of Bieber it's going to take a ton. He could help just about any team and I'd imagine there would be a bidding war. I'd rather the Reds bid with their ample surplus of cash for Gray or Nola than with a package of Fraley, Phillips and Hinds or whatever it might take to get one year of Bieber.

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Originally Posted by savafan

I don’t have a link, but I have heard that San Diego might be interested in India.


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Yu Darvish for India?

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Originally Posted by mth123

I have to think for one year of Bieber it's going to take a ton. He could help just about any team and I'd imagine there would be a bidding war. I'd rather the Reds bid with their ample surplus of cash for Gray or Nola than with a package of Fraley, Phillips and Hinds or whatever it might take to get one year of Bieber.

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Either way, whether a trade or free agency, I have to believe Reds are looking for years of control. If they do a one-year deal for pitching, it’s either a pure salary dump costing only money and minor assets, or a reclamation project or BOR.

I can’t rule out the trade route because the good SP free agents are going to cost a lot of dough. There will be intense competition for them. But either way, the Reds know that they are not on a one-season track to a WS run.

You can’t rule out a trade because the Reds have some very plausible trade pieces. Stephenson, India, Fraley are all arbitration level veterans of some quality. They have a deep farm. OTOH, from a fan’s perspective, obviously I’d rather see them spend money on free agents. But Reds would have to compare value and cost, and could decide the trade options are better for them.

It’s a high level problem when the alternative could be, simply, the acquisition of more prospects - which so far is their plan. I wouldn’t rule that out either.

I’d virtually entirely rule out the FA route, especially for pitching. Hitting is another matter. They could actually make a serious push for some bats through FA.

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Originally Posted by Kc61

Either way, whether a trade or free agency, I have to believe Reds are looking for years of control. If they do a one-year deal for pitching, it’s either a pure salary dump costing only money and minor assets, or a reclamation project or BOR.

I can’t rule out the trade route because the good SP free agents are going to cost a lot of dough. There will be intense competition for them. But either way, the Reds know that they are not on a one-season track to a WS run.

You can’t rule out a trade because the Reds have some very plausible trade pieces. Stephenson, India, Fraley are all arbitration level veterans of some quality. They have a deep farm. OTOH, from a fan’s perspective, obviously I’d rather see them spend money on free agents. But Reds would have to compare value and cost, and could decide the trade options are better for them.

It’s a high level problem when the alternative could be, simply, the acquisition of more prospects - which so far is their plan. I wouldn’t rule that out either.

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If they can find a "Latos Trade" it makes sense. I just think the scarcity of competent big-league starters is a lot worse now than it was 10 years ago and I can't see them getting a deal like that without gutting the roster.

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Originally Posted by Assembly Hall

Yu Darvish for India?

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Darvish is clearly on the downside of that contract and is signed through his age 41 season. He's soon going to either need a rejuvenating pitch, kid gloves, a bullpen role, or release papers.

But he also has a history of finding and fiddling. He seems to understand the art of pitching and could well be one of those guys who can learn something new to make him league average-ish through sheer guile and bulldoggery. I'm guessing, with that contract, India is a pretty massive overpay. I'd ask for an interesting pitcher (Sean Reynolds or Alek Jacob-- two extremely different relief options--) could be relevant targets to ask for.

That said, I think the Reds might well make a run at a true difference-maker.

What might it take for Juan Soto?

Trading for and extending Soto would be just about the best move I could imagine the Reds making. A guy can dream.

I would love to see them sign one of the 2nd tier SPs, Nola or Gray preferred. But I agree with FCB, I would assume that the front office will be looking for shrewd deals and there will only be those on the margins of free agency.

Who are the big bats in free agency? Teoscar Hernandez or Conforto (if he opts out) might fit. Gary Sanchez as 2nd catcher would be interesting. Bellinger would be a splash for CF, and would allow them to rotate Friedl/Benson/Steer in the corners (trading Fraley).

Big questions relating to some of this are: is Votto returning? Who will be traded - India, Fraley, Stephenson? Multiple guys?

If there is a big deal made it will likely be via trade, with smaller deals in free agency.

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Originally Posted by mth123

If they can find a "Latos Trade" it makes sense. I just think the scarcity of competent big-league starters is a lot worse now than it was 10 years ago and I can't see them getting a deal like that without gutting the roster.

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Arguably Reds are better suited today for a Latos type trade. In 2011, they didn’t have today’s farm depth. Some of today’s depth has undoubtedly been compiled as trade bait. As for the cost of controllable SP, it was high in 2011 too. Reds gave up a hefty package. Not sure it would be appreciably different today.

If they proceed down the FA path, my fear is they’ll be forced to settle. There aren’t many guys and they’ll get big money. Reds might wind up with the #4 or 5 or 6 candidate. In the end, it’ll turn on specific deals and price tags, hopefully they’ll look at free agents, trades, all avenues.

Again, the big question is whether they are in the market for costly veterans at all. Whether it be FA or trade.

Sonny Gray Discusses Impending Free Agency

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Dan Hayes of The Athletic spoke with Sonny Gray regarding his future, and the righty made clear that his top priority as he heads into free agency isn’t necessarily securing the highest guarantee he can.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing to say before going to become a free agent, but I’ll say it because it’s honest. Money is not the ultimate factor for me. Never has been,” Gray said. “Having said that, you want to be valued appropriately.”

If Gray doesn’t return to Minnesota, he’s sure to find plenty of interest elsewhere. The Cardinals are already known to have interest in Gray’s services, while the Dodgers, Cubs and Reds are among the many other clubs who could potentially be on the lookout for rotation help this offseason.

While the interest in Gray figures to be strong, it’s unlikely the veteran hurler will receive a top-of-the-market offer in terms of years, given he’ll be celebrating his 34th birthday next month.

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Story Here:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/...ee-agency.html