Reds claim Jose Lopez; DFA Finnegan

[Tom Servo]

Cincinnati Reds
@Reds

The #Reds have claimed off waivers from the Giants and optioned to Louisville RHP José López. LHP Brandon Finnegan has been designated for assignment.

Yes, our old Jose Lopez. And Finnegan’s fall from grace is complete

[WrongVerb]

Cincinnati Reds
@Reds

The #Reds have claimed off waivers from the Giants and optioned to Louisville RHP José López. LHP Brandon Finnegan has been designated for assignment.
6:04pm · 28 Mar 2019

[cumberlandreds]

I think we can just about call that trade a bust now.

[RedTeamGo!]

I think we can just about call that trade a bust now.

Honestly, who cares at this point if it was or wasn’t? They got really good assets at the time and they didn’t pan out.

Welcome to pro baseball.

[cumberlandreds]

Honestly, who cares at this point if it was or wasn’t? They got really good assets at the time and they didn’t pan out.

Welcome to pro baseball.

They aren't good assets if they don't perform well at the MLB level. This what you get when you trade a very good MLB player for a bag(s) of beans. Nothing.

[Tom Servo]

They aren't good assets if they don't perform well at the MLB level. This what you get when you trade a very good MLB player for a bag(s) of beans. Nothing.

So what should have done with Cueto?

The trade winded up crapping out, but it was still the correct course of action.

[cumberlandreds]

So what should have done with Cueto?

The trade winded up crapping out, but it was still the correct course of action.

You get good MLB player back for someone like that or don't trade and eat the losses. These minor league prospects rarely work out.

[Sea Ray]

So what should have done with Cueto?

The trade winded up crapping out, but it was still the correct course of action.

The correct course of action is to get better players. The correct course of action was to trade Aroldis Chapman but the idea was to trade him for Gleyber Torres and not Rookie Davis

[Tracy Jones]

They aren't good assets if they don't perform well at the MLB level. This what you get when you trade a very good MLB player for a bag(s) of beans. Nothing.

Agreed. They have to perform to be classified as “good assets.”

However, the perception at the time was that these were good assets, at least Finnegan was.

[TRF]

They aren't good assets if they don't perform well at the MLB level. This what you get when you trade a very good MLB player for a bag(s) of beans. Nothing.

The following players say hi.
Jeff Bagwell
DiDi Gregorius
John Smoltz
Jay Bell
Curt Schilling
Cliff Lee
Eugenio Suarez
Fernando Tatis Jr.

And literally hundreds more. The thought process was fine, and more than likely Finnegan won't get claimed. It sucks that it didn't work out, but I'd make the same trade/type of trade ten times out of ten.

[Sea Ray]

Honestly, who cares at this point if it was or wasn’t? They got really good assets at the time and they didn’t pan out.

Welcome to pro baseball.

C'mon now...At the time of a trade like this we're told "you can't judge the trade now. Wait a few yrs and then we'll see."

Now we've waited a few years and we're told "Who cares? Welcome to pro baseball."

At some point we ought to be allowed to judge a trade.

[RedTeamGo!]

C'mon now...At the time of a trade like this we're told "you can't judge the trade now. Wait a few yrs and then we'll see."

Now we've waited a few years and we're told "Who cares? Welcome to pro baseball."

At some point we ought to be allowed to judge a trade.

I don’t know who said that, but it wasn’t me. I judge trades in the moment. You make that trade every time. The reds had 2 months of Cueto. They needed young pitching. They got 3 young pitchers, 2 of which were thought very highly of at the time. They didn’t pan out. Welcome to pro baseball.

[Redeyecat]

I don’t know who said that, but it wasn’t me. I judge trades in the moment. You make that trade every time. The reds had 2 months of Cueto. They needed young pitching. They got 3 young pitchers, 2 of which were thought very highly of at the time. They didn’t pan out. Welcome to pro baseball.

My take is of course you can judge trades in the moment, but you have to wait to see if you were wrong or not. In this trade, there were times (roughly a year after the deal iirc) were it looked like this might shape up to be a huge steal for the Reds. Finnegan looked like he was ready to either join the rotation or handle the closer role. Reed quickly became one of the best starting LHP prospects in all of baseball. That's potentially 2 dirt cheap presumably legit LH starters. I even liked a lot of what we saw from Lamb. Unfortunately Finnegan and Lamb have seemingly been constantly injured since then and Reed hasn't been able to harness his stuff yet (although I haven't given up hope.)

And of course on the other hand, Cueto has had his own share of injuries and basically had 1 good season among the 3 and 1/3 (roughly) seasons since we traded him. Not to mention the fact that he made over $60M during that time and at age 33 now has at least another $70M coming his way (if you want to assume the Reds were able to sign him).

[Falls City Beer]

Honestly, who cares at this point if it was or wasn’t? They got really good assets at the time and they didn’t pan out.

Welcome to pro baseball.

Can’t lose a trade that badly and hope to continue being a success. I know, I know, new braintrust

[757690]

I think we can just about call that trade a bust now.

They got a solid season of starting from Finnegan and Reed could still become something.

For two months of Cueto, that’s not a bust.