The Nats are dealing!

I too am a Reds fan and I like this trade, although losing Kearns sucks for sentimental reasons (growing up in the Bluegrass, etc. His mom works at the Herald-Leader, by the way.) But pitching trumps hitting. And the Reds have players in the waiting to take Kearns and Lopez' spots.
They'd be in first place right now if their bullpen wasn't God awful. The National League is so bad that the SJ intramural softball squad is only 4 1/2 games out of the Wild Card. So yes, the Reds are in contention.

 

The Nats robbed Cincy. Austin Kearns is a very young and promising hitter, the best player in that deal by far. He's only going to get better. Although the Reds needed pitching, it's not worth giving up such a talented bat.

 

is 26 'very young'?

 

Good for the Nationals.

As for the Reds... being a Cardinals fan, I think I can confidently say St. Louis just won the division. Wayne Krivsky has made some great moves, but this one qualifies as a head scratcher. Royce Clayton sucks, always has and always will. And you'll regret losing Austin Kearns in a couple years when that lineup matures, Cincy. (If Denorfia starts producing, then I'll amend this remark down the line. Right now, the price seems very high.)

I could be wrong, but it seems like Cincy paid a steep, steep price to try and catch the Cards.

 

I posted the following on Baseball Thread VI earlier today:

Here's Austin's stats leading up to this year.

Year/age/G/AB/HR/RBI/AVG/OPS

2002/22/107/372/13/56/315/907
2003/23/82/292/15/58/264/819
2004/24/64/217/9/32/230/740
2005/25/112/387/18/67/240/785

Those really aren't great numbers. Even his numbers this year aren't as spectacular as some people are saying.

2006/26/87/325/16/50/274/843

 

You know, he kind of already had that guy, more or less, give or take: Brad Wilkerson. And Brad could play all three outfield positions, even if he was marginally more expensive. Also more durable.

And the Guillen trade doesn't look quite so good now that the Angels have a great defensive shortstop who can take a walk in Izturis (unfortunately, currently playing 3B) and Juan Rivera (who pounds the ball, can play all three OF positions in a pinch, is cheaper than Guillen and keeps his piehole shut) in their lineup.

Funny how the Nats were going pretty well this year - until Guillen came back from the D.L.
Same scenario last year - until Vidro came back from the D.L.

I think you can figure out who the rays of sunshine in that clubhouse are. ;D

 

royce clayton had an error as well

 

Unless you can't Skip Bayless, who didn't like Lopez's defense and liked that the Reds simply decided to go for it.

 

and drove in a run

 

Our old buddy Redswriter offers some props for taking a chance...

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/COL03/607140346/1071