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It started innocently enough, with this early-afternoon tweet from CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler suggesting that a two-way trade between the Indians and Reds was imminent. Over the rest of the day, we learned that the deal was in fact a three-team blockbuster expanded by the Diamondbacks, who acquired their new shortstop by sending Trevor Bauer to Cleveland. For more on that deal, check out the Transaction Analysis; today’s Roundup begins with a look at the Reds’ next move.

After adding Choo, Reds eye utility man to complete roster
General manager Walt Jocketty came into the offseason looking for a new center fielder, ideally one who could provide a jolt at the top of the order, where a hodgepodge led by Zack Cozart and Drew Stubbs delivered—this is not a misprint—a league-worst .254 on-base percentage in 2012. Choo meets the latter part of that description, and while he lacks the optimal range to play up the middle, Cincinnati intends to make do with him between Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce. That means that manager Dusty Baker’s lineup is largely finalized.

So, too, are the bullpen—now anchored by Jonathan Broxton—and the starting rotation, now featuring Aroldis Chapman. Tuesday’s trade also sent infielder Jason Donald from Cleveland to Cincinnati, presumably to round out the bench. But FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported later in the evening that Jocketty is staying busy, with his focus turning to the market for utility men.

The Reds could survive with a five-man infield comprised of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Zack Cozart, Todd Frazier, and Donald, so the need for a second reserve is not urgent. There are two notable factors, though, that may be at the root of Jocketty’s search. The first is that four of the five existing infielders hit right-handed, and while Bruce and Choo help to balance the offense, Baker’s bench currently has just one lefty, outfielder Xavier Paul. The second is that Frazier’s defense at the hot corner remains a question mark, and with two ground-ball pitchers (Broxton and Sean Marshall) set to work the highest-leverage frames out of the bullpen, a late-inning substitute could prove useful. 

With Gregorius en route to Arizona, the only other middle infielder on the Reds’ 40-man roster is Henry Rodriguez, a 22-year-old switch-hitter who tore up Double-A but scuffled in Triple-A before earning a September call up. Rodriguez was Cincinnati’s 10th-ranked prospect heading into last season, and while he has a bright future, a return to Louisville is probably in order. Connect all of those dots, and Jocketty’s desire to pick up a utility man makes sense.

The question, of course, is who appears on Jocketty’s wish list. Rosenthal’s colleague, Jon Morosi, tweeted from Nashville last week that the Reds were one of the teams in the bidding war for Jack Hannahan. That bidding war rages on, and as a plus hot-corner defender who bats left-handed, Hannahan fits the job description to a tee. Unfortunately, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN in Minneapolis, Hannahan’s first choice is to sign with his hometown Twins. If the former Indian does land in Minnesota—from scanning the free-agent listings at Cot’s Contracts—Jocketty’s fallback options could include Adam Kennedy and Kelly Johnson. Neither of them has been tied to the Reds so far. 

Tigers tried to outbid Royals for James Shields, still seeking a starter
Speaking of 2012 playoff teams that have holes to plug, the defending American League pennant winners are awaiting a decision from their marquee midseason acquisition, Anibal Sanchez, who apparently has “multiple five-year offers” on the table. MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette tweeted on Tuesday that general manager Dave Dombrowski sought to hedge his bets on Sanchez by snagging Shields from the Rays, before the Royals ultimately pulled the trigger.

Knobler expanded on Duquette’s report, noting that Detroit’s offer was built around outfielder Avisail Garcia, who served in a platoon role for the Tigers down the stretch and in the postseason. Not surprisingly, though, the Rays preferred Wil Myers’ outstanding power ceiling to Garcia’s broader base of raw tools, and, as Knobler mentioned, the Tigers had little in the way of secondary prospects to offer. Dombrowski sent his number-one and –10 prospects from last year, Jacob Turner and Rob Brantly, to the Marlins in the July deal for Sanchez and Omar Infante, and he shipped his fifth-ranked minor leaguer, Andrew Oliver, to the Pirates last week. Knobler added that the system’s best remaining prospect, Nick Castellanos, would have been blocked by Evan Longoria in Tampa Bay.

As Dombrowski bides time for Sanchez to make up his mind, he is fielding calls about Rick Porcello, who is currently slotted as Detroit’s number-five starter. MLive reporter Sean Gagnier cautioned last week that Porcello is “off the table” unless Sanchez returns to Detroit, so the general managers who reached out to Dombrowski are equally anxious to hear the verdict from Sanchez’s agent, Eugene Mato.  

Mike Napoli might not be joining the Red Sox, after all
Nine days ago, Napoli came to terms with the Red Sox on a three-year, $39 million deal, kicking off a busy week at the Opryland Hotel for GM Ben Cherington and company. Eight days later, he traveled to Boston for a physical that was expected to seal the deal. It turns out, the operative word in the previous sentence might be “expected.”

Rosenthal heard that the Red Sox were planning to introduce Napoli at a press conference scheduled for yesterday afternoon—but, unless everyone in the press missed said conference, it never happened. Presumably, the holdup is a red flag that surfaced during Napoli’s physical, though the details remain unclear. Napoli spent 36 days on the disabled list with a quad strain last year, suffered a serious ankle sprain in Game Six of the 2011 World Series, and underwent shoulder surgery in October 2008. Only time will tell whether any of those ailments were responsible for piquing the interest of Boston’s medical staff.   

If the agreed-upon pact is nixed, and Cherington is unable to renegotiate a more amiable one with Napoli’s agent, Brian Grieper, then the former Ranger’s reentrance into the free-agent market could have a ripple effect on multiple players and teams. The Indians, who need to supplant Choo and were hoping to do so with Nick Swisher, might now find an unwelcome, deeper-pocketed competitor in Boston. Meanwhile, the Rangers could reevaluate their rapidly evolving plans, and try to bring Napoli back on a short-term hitch that would enable them to continue pursuing other targets. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick asked on Tuesday, “What impact addition is left for Texas besides Josh Hamilton?” Re-signing Napoli would be one possible answer.

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DetroitDale
12/12
I hate to criticize a deal in 20-20 hindsight, (in fact I used to openly critize my fellow Tigers fans for criticising the Alexander for Smoltz deal) but that Sanchez deal is looking like a bad call. Sure Starting Sanchez instead of Drew Smyly probably improved the team's chances in 2012, but not having Jacob Turner to slide into the rotation severely weakened the 2013 team. (unless Sanchez signs after all)

If there was a way to get Omar Infante without the pitchr part, the better play would have been going after Shields last year (the only pitcher rumored available that would have been worth givig up Turner) or holding on to him and doing it this year, but that assumes the Rays were ready to deal him last year and there's no way of knowing that. Of course if they didn't make the sanchez deal they could add turner to a shields deal now, but again all off this is idle speculation and not really fair to Dave Dombrowski who's been tricking other GMs into giving him cows for magic beans for years now.

The only thing we do know now is that the Tigers lost out on Shields not for lack of trying but because they didn't have enough prospects to seal the deal. So, now the farm system has deterioratedto the point that not only can we not rely on it for improvements to the team, but we can't rely on it for trades to improve the team, leaving the last weapon in the Arsenal as Mike Ilitch's checkbook, and there's two problems with that (1) depending on that is what got us here and (2) that resource is on borrowed time to.

All is not bleak, we still have a great year to look forward to in 2013 and maybe 2014 (barring injuries) but there's going to be some long lean years after that.
statsrath
12/12
Thanks for reading, and good points, DetroitDale. Given how close the AL Central was during the last few weeks of the season, I think having Sanchez helped (the Tigers won three of his last four starts), but the lack of depth in the farm system is definitely a concern at this. It's also exacerbated by something that Knobler mentioned in the post that I linked to — specifically, that they gave away their first-round draft picks to sign Fielder and Martinez the last two years.
mgolovcsenko
12/12
Nicely done in describing the Reds' needs ... and tagging Hannahan as the perfect solution to those needs.
statsrath
12/12
Thanks, dREaDS Fan —it certainly seems like an ideal fit if they can make the years/dollars match.
statsrath
12/12
And, it sounds like they have: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/278896261015412737.
jfranco77
12/12
Castellanos can also play a corner OF spot, which the Rays need.
statsrath
12/12
That's a good point, jfranco77, and that has been discussed as a possibility if his defense at third is inadequate. The flipside is that he'd lose some value moving to a corner OF spot, and the Rays most likely would have preferred Myers' power ceiling anyway.