Brayan Pena

[JohnU]

2 year deal with the Cardinals.
What's up with that?

 

[Redsfan1507]

He's a smile and a SH bat that wears a catchers mask...and is used to playing second fiddle, or 1b, or 3b...and speaks 2 languages amd won't object to being a Yadier Molina fan.

I like Bryan Pena, we just can't afford a guy that makes half the average MLB salary, I guess.

 

[JohnU]

Letting the guy walk is an example of not making chicken salad out of chicken shit. Had he been dealt at the deadline to a contender, the Reds would at least get a minor league pitcher in return instead of an empty locker.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The Reds problem hasn't been the Brayan Penas. It's been the Trevor Hoffmans, Paul Konerko's, Brandon Larsons, Edwin Encarnacions... trading future MLB All-Stars as minor leaguers, or after allowing them to degrade into underperformers only to get reduced value in trades to teams that make them go to work and improve, drafting and promoting busts without addressing skills to succeed.

This team needs glasses.

 

[JohnU]

Not unlike turning the best lefty in 20 years into a closer.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Kinda like the butterfly effect isn't it ?

They traded 3 top prospects for Latos. They traded a former overall #1 pick, and future AL MVP for Volquez. They traded 3 more players for Marshall. They signed Madson to close-who never threw a pitch, and Broxton, who never got to close. Dusty couldn't find room in a rotation for Chapman, of which only Bailey is still with the Reds. They punted left fielders $8M a year, for 5 years because they traded away prospects for pitchers (now gone) instead.

If Chapman had started, they wouldn't have needed Latos, and could have traded all those guys for leftfielder, avoiding Ludwick and Byrd altogether. Of course, we wouldn't have Desclafani now though. Wooooo.

 

[JohnU]

Desclafani was the guy we really wanted in all that dealing.