So, if they finish last again in 2016, as they most likely will in the loaded National League Central, it will be without Todd Frazier.
And before next season begins it is likely they’ll be without Aroldis Chapman, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce as well.
One thing is for certain. Fans who do show up at Great American Ball Park next year better buy a program. If they don’t, they won’t recognize the players wearing Reds uniforms.
Once again, as they did last year with pitchers Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, the Reds traded a name player for players fans don’t recognize or know about.
They traded Frazier on Wednesday in a strange manner. They dealt him to the Chicago White Sox. But the Sox didn’t send any players to the Reds. Instead, the White Sox sent three prospects to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In turn, the Dodgers sent three different prospects to the Reds.
Most likely, those three players coming to the Reds are the same three the Dodgers were going to give the Reds for Chapman until the deal was put on hold due to the controversy surrounding Chapman’s alleged domestic violence/weapons case in Florida.
By trading Frazier, the Reds rid themselves of the team’s most popular player, the winner of this year’s All-Star Home Run Derby, a media darling and a clubhouse leader.
And there is talk that outfielder Bruce is on his way out to perhaps the Baltimore Orioles and that second baseman Phillips may be asked to accept a trade to rejoin manager Dusty Baker with the Washington Nationals.
Phillips cannot be traded without his permission because he is a 10-and-5 guy, 10 years in the majors and at least the last five years with his current team. Why wouldn’t he accept a reunion with Baker and a contending team when the Reds won’t be contenders for years to come?
And what did the Reds get for Frazier? Three position players — infielder Jose Peraza, outfielder Scott Schebler and infielder Brandon Dixon.
To get Frazier from the Reds, the White Sox sent center fielder Trayce Thompson, infielder Micah Johnson and pitcher Frankie Montas to the Dodgers.
Industry insiders are saying the Dodgers received better prospects from the White Sox than the Reds received from the Dodgers. They say the prospects going from Chicago to L.A. are closer to being major-league ready than the prospects going from L.A. to Cincinnati.
But Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said the Reds considered sending Frazier to the White Sox for their prospects but thought the L.A. package was better.
“This was very difficult to do, a difficult phone call to make (to Frazier),” said Jocketty. “But as we move forward what we set out to do here is to try and get this team back into contention as quickly as we can. We felt this was part of the process to get to that point.”
When prospects are involved, trades cannot be judged until more is known about them. By dumping salary and moving veterans, the Reds are gambling they have done enough scouting and researchto believe the prospects they are stockpiling will make the team competitive in two or three years.
Peraza, a 21-year-old Venezuelan and middle infielder, hit .293 with 33 stolen bases in Class AAA last season for the Atlanta Braves and the Dodgers. He has played in seven major-league games and hit .302 in 461 minor-league games with 210 stolen bases.
Schebler is not young. He is 25 and made Triple-A for the first time last year at Oklahoma City. In 121 games he hit 13 homers and drove in 50 runs. He played 19 games for the Dodgers and hit three homers and drove in four runs. He was the Dodgers minor league player of the year in 2013 after hitting .296 with 27 homers and 96 RBIs in the Class A California League.
Dixon 23, split last season between Class A Rancho Cucamonga and Class AA Tulsa, combing for a .263 average, 19 homers, 68 RBI and 26 stolen bases.
The 29-year-old Frazier, a first-round supplemental draft pick in 2007, was an All-Star the last two seasons and in four seasons with the Reds hit .257 with 108 homers and 324 RBIs.
When breaking up the Reds became a topic at the trade deadline last season and Cueto and Leake were dealt, Frazier expressed a desire to remain in Cincinnati, “the team that drafted me, the only team I’ve known.”
But he appeared thrilled to be going to the White Sox.
“I’m pretty excited to be truthful with you,” he said. “I know it’s the American League and I know it is going to be a little different. It might take time to get acclimated but I just saw the (White Sox) lineup on TV and it kind of put a smile on my face to see the guy’s we’ve got.”
There probably won’t be too many smiles for a while around Great American Ball Park.
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