Scooter Gennett
Scooter Gennett is another name that was bandied about quite a bit before the trade deadline last season, but he ultimately remained in Cincinnati. This was puzzling at the time as Gennett should have been at his peak value last year with a season and a half of team control left. That decision makes more sense now that the Reds have decided to make a push toward contention in 2019. If the team is going to have any shot at making the playoffs, Gennett is going to have to be a major contributor for that offense.
Gennett came out of nowhere in 2017 with the Reds to have a 123 wRC+, his first above average offensive season since 2014, after being waived by the Brewers before the season. He followed up that incredible campaign with an even better 2018 where he improved his defense while maintaining his high level of offense to post a 4.5 fWAR season. The Reds will be counting on a third superb performance out of Gennett in order to make that playoff push that they so desire.
Gennett is not a guarantee to be traded like Madison Bumgarner surely is however. Gennett will only be traded if the Reds fall out of contention by the end of July. The Reds may even elect to hold on to him throughout the entire season in order to make a late playoff push, since they know they can always offer him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. However, I do still believe that Gennett will be traded at some point this season. While I mostly like the moves that the Reds have made and I do believe they will have a chance this season, I still think it is not quite enough and they will fall out of the race down the stretch. We’ll see if that happens in time for the team to move Gennett though.