I wrote an article detailing the trade and how it affects the team. Give it a read and let me know your thoughts!
7 comments
I am on the fence. I think there are good and bad things about the trade. You pretty much listed them. One thing that I would love to see be a result of this trade is to get Ashcraft into the bullpen. I think that’s where he would be the most beneficial to the team. I wonder if other movies they’ve made hint towards that happening …
Other than that I’m pretty much indifferent. My opinion is that if they do not address the outfield, again, in a win now season then moves like this don’t really matter that much. They aren’t making a big enough difference.
If this had happened after the Reds traded for a guy like Lane Thomas at least or at best they just gave the years and $ to one of the 3 remaining FA’s that would put us neck and neck with the Cubs going into ’25 I’d be more interested.
So yea, I lean towards it being an “ok” move. It was pretty much this, bring back Malie or sign a guy that is right on Malie’s level from who I see on the market.
We needed a back up, dude has elite framing skills. Hits about the same as maile, but is better defensively. Cruz is never going to replicate his 2023 campaign, he just isn’t, that was obvious in 2024. Now we can watch luke weaver and cruz both blow yankees games, which is worth more to me.
Honestly, disagree completely. This is no blockbuster World Series winning trade, but fills a need for the season without giving up much. You seem to be way more concerned about the implications of the trade than evaluating it at face value.
Trevino is an upgrade over Maile and we NEED a catcher… Cruz’s arm is showing it’s age and was a liability the second half of the season. I don’t think we would let him go if the team didn’t believe we have a plethora of quality arms to take his place… God can only hope Jackson was never intended to make the major league roster but was just a minor league piece as we lost 5 catchers from the organization….
Were there better trades out there? Probably. Would we have to give up even more to make them happen? Definitely. Should the Reds have spent actual money on a FA? Obviously.
There’s a million things that this organization could do better, but this trade makes sense IMO. Only time will tell the real answer though.
Objectively a good move, it gives Stephenson some days off, flexibility to go in as a DH and apparently pitchers love working with him. Also Stephenson can learn the framing from a beast at it( he’s improved drastically from last year)
Why would anyone be upset by this trade? We got a 1+ WAR backup catcher for an aging mediocre reliever and a low-ranked prospect. That’s a good trade. It’s not a big trade but I can’t see why anyone thinks this is a bad one.
Nati Sports is a fan blog
We traded a 35 year old reliever who had almost a 5.00 ERA over his last 110 innings for one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.
I don’t understand what we are even talking about. Who gives a fuck about his strikeout rate if he gives up a ton of runs and walks batters like crazy.
7 comments
I am on the fence. I think there are good and bad things about the trade. You pretty much listed them. One thing that I would love to see be a result of this trade is to get Ashcraft into the bullpen. I think that’s where he would be the most beneficial to the team. I wonder if other movies they’ve made hint towards that happening …
Other than that I’m pretty much indifferent. My opinion is that if they do not address the outfield, again, in a win now season then moves like this don’t really matter that much. They aren’t making a big enough difference.
If this had happened after the Reds traded for a guy like Lane Thomas at least or at best they just gave the years and $ to one of the 3 remaining FA’s that would put us neck and neck with the Cubs going into ’25 I’d be more interested.
So yea, I lean towards it being an “ok” move. It was pretty much this, bring back Malie or sign a guy that is right on Malie’s level from who I see on the market.
We needed a back up, dude has elite framing skills. Hits about the same as maile, but is better defensively. Cruz is never going to replicate his 2023 campaign, he just isn’t, that was obvious in 2024. Now we can watch luke weaver and cruz both blow yankees games, which is worth more to me.
Honestly, disagree completely. This is no blockbuster World Series winning trade, but fills a need for the season without giving up much. You seem to be way more concerned about the implications of the trade than evaluating it at face value.
Trevino is an upgrade over Maile and we NEED a catcher…
Cruz’s arm is showing it’s age and was a liability the second half of the season. I don’t think we would let him go if the team didn’t believe we have a plethora of quality arms to take his place…
God can only hope Jackson was never intended to make the major league roster but was just a minor league piece as we lost 5 catchers from the organization….
Were there better trades out there? Probably. Would we have to give up even more to make them happen? Definitely. Should the Reds have spent actual money on a FA? Obviously.
There’s a million things that this organization could do better, but this trade makes sense IMO. Only time will tell the real answer though.
Objectively a good move, it gives Stephenson some days off, flexibility to go in as a DH and apparently pitchers love working with him. Also Stephenson can learn the framing from a beast at it( he’s improved drastically from last year)
Why would anyone be upset by this trade? We got a 1+ WAR backup catcher for an aging mediocre reliever and a low-ranked prospect. That’s a good trade. It’s not a big trade but I can’t see why anyone thinks this is a bad one.
Nati Sports is a fan blog
We traded a 35 year old reliever who had almost a 5.00 ERA over his last 110 innings for one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.
I don’t understand what we are even talking about. Who gives a fuck about his strikeout rate if he gives up a ton of runs and walks batters like crazy.