Cincinnati Reds Trade Deadline Overview

The Reds farm system is much deeper than it was in years past, particularly in pitchers, and the trades mentioned earlier played a big role in that depth.

Sending Cueto to the Royals last season brought back pitchers Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed. Finnegan and Lamb are part of the Reds’ rotation at the moment, and while they’ve had mixed success, both should contribute to the Reds’ pitching staff in the future, whether in the rotation or in the bullpen. Reed made his major league debut Saturday against the Houston Astros and allowed four runs over seven innings.

Flipping Leake to the San Francisco Giants yielded Duvall, who leads the Reds with 20 home runs, and Keury Mella, who has a 3.12 ERA in 12 starts in Class A Advanced. (Mella is the Reds’ seventh-ranked prospect according to Baseball Prospectus.)

Sending Chapman, an elite closer, to the New York Yankees added Rookie Davis, Eric Jagielo, Tony Renda and Caleb Cotham. Davis, a pitcher, is having the best season of the four with a 2.39 ERA through 10 starts at Double A.

The Frazier trade was probably the least helpful. The Reds received Brandon Dixon, Jose Peraza and Scott Schebler in the three-team trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. Peraza has been a top-100 prospect, but he has lost some of his luster and has a career .514 on-base plus slugging in his major league career.

In any future trades, the Reds will want a prospect prospect package similar to the one they received in the Cueto trade as opposed to the Frazier deal. With that in mind, let’s check out some of their trade options.

Next: Bruce to the AL Central