Cincinnati Reds: Tanner Rainey traded for Tanner Roark

The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals have agreed to swap Tanners.

For six years, Tanner Roark has trotted out to he mound in a Washington Nationals uniform. Following a Winter Meetings deal, that is no longer the case. The Cincinnati Reds will be sending their 23rd ranked prospect, Tanner Rainey away in order to secure the the services of the durable starting pitcher.

With the signing of Patrick Corbin, the Nationals had some flexibility to deal one another one of their rotation arms. This move sheds some salary for a pitcher that made six million dollars last season, and will be slated to make more this year.

Rainey is familiar with the MLB level, pitching seven innings in eight appearances with an ERA that is through the roof. However, his sub three ERA in Triple A suggest the soon to be 26 year old has it in him to be productive.

Reds Haul

This will be Roark’s final year of team control. If the Reds do not sign him back, he will hit the free agent market at the age of 33.

The interesting part of this whole deal is not any of the players involved. It is one of the Cincinnati Reds recent acquisitions, pitching coach Derek Johnson. Brewers fans know the genius of Johnson’s work, and he can do wonders with Roark.

Look to pitcher Jimmy Nelson is a loose comparison to Roark. Prior to Nelson’s breakout, and subsequent base running injury in 2017, they were very similar pitchers. Their K/9 sat in the seven or eight range with a BB/9 generally above three. The movement on their fastballs allowed for groundball rates to be a hair under 50 percent.

Roark’s pitch usage is already similar to Nelson’s breakout year. Add that with newest Red already posting better numbers, there is a lot of hope for the upcoming season. Johnson is getting a pitcher that loosely fits the mold of an arm he has vastly improved in the past.

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Nationals Haul

The Nationals get one of the Reds top prospects who seems to have figured out the Triple A level. He appeared in 44 games with the Louisville Bats, all as a reliever. In 51 innings of work he went 7-2 with 65 strikeouts and a 2.65 ERA.

What Rainey presents to the Nationals is a cheap, controllable relief option. During his journey through the minors, he has had issues finding the strike zone. When he is on, he has true closer stuff in his arsenal. It is not uncommon for his fastball to hit triple digits, and he will also flash a plus slider.

There are relievers like Trevor Rosenthal and Gregg Holland in the Nationals bullpen that have closer experience. That kind of veteran presence could help Rainey to fall into the closer role that his ceiling suggests. Although that would mean something will have to happen with current reliever, Sean Doolittle.

Why The Trade?

Overall, the Nationals use their rotation flexibility to shed some salary. They also get a prospect with some serious upside for their future bullpen. The Cincinnati Reds get a reliable rotation arm with upside for their new coach.

This seems like a fair deal on both sides. Roark is a known commodity for a team looking to jump into competition in the National League Central. Rainey is a high octane reliever with upside, but no success in the MLB.

It is not the giant headline deal that everyone is anticipating, but it is a very productive deal. This is the kind of deal that people might be able to look back on as an important one for both teams success.