Friday Night Reds Trade Rumors: Iglesias, Garrett, Puig, Roark, Peraza, Gennett, others?

by — July 26, 2019 in Hot Stove

The trade deadline is next Wednesday, July 31. More Reds have been mentioned by baseball reporters. Keep in mind that rumors have sources and sources have motivations. Names appearing on Twitter with unattributed sources should be treated with appropriate skepticism. Often the biggest trades get negotiated without any leaks. The Reds won’t be looking for rentals. They never were because their focus correctly was on 2020 and beyond. In the end, the Reds may make some trades that look like selling and others that look like buying. And it would make sense. Go figure.

With that litany of caveats in mind, here are the rumors we’ve seen:

Raisel Iglesias

This one popped up tonight. If the Reds are discussing either Raisel Iglesias or Amir Garrett (below) that means they’re looking to make a blockbuster deal for the long-term. Both Iglesias or Garrett have too much value to be exchanged for distant prospects or aging veteran rentals. I’ve thought it was possible the Reds would swing for the fences at the trade deadline and trading Iglesias would be the way to do it. I’ve written about the Reds trading Iglesias for more than two years now.

Amir Garrett

In some ways, Amir Garrett has more value than Raisel Iglesias. Garrett is left-handed and has more team control left than Iglesias (through 2023). He’ll pitch for league minimum next year. Did I mention he’s left-handed? He’s also been the Reds best reliever this year, by far.

Yasiel Puig

Yasiel Puig is a free agent at the end of the season. So he’s what’s called a rental. For a long while this year, Puig wasn’t having a good enough season to merit a trade with anyone other than contenders most desperate for an outfielder (hello, Cleveland). As Chad Dotson detailed, Puig has been one of the best players in baseball over the last few weeks. He’s played his way into the conversation with many teams. The Reds might pair Puig with another player to improve the return.

Tanner Roark

Roark is another rental. It’s really hard to imagine a team being interested in Roark, who has been right about league average. He isn’t the kind of pitcher a contender like the LA Dodgers or Houston Astros are looking at. Roark isn’t going to pitch in the World Series. But a team that’s trying to make the postseason or win a division that needs a reliable 5th starter could do worse than Tanner Roark. It would be a shock if the return would be much. The Reds should trade Roark even without much of a return, though. It would open up a rotation spot for Alex Wood and/or Lucas Sims.

Jose Peraza?

Did a double-take on this one and still not convinced this isn’t a typo. I guess Peraza could play 2B for Cleveland. I haven’t seen this reported anywhere else.

Scooter Gennett

This one isn’t a rumor as much as a ESPN list of “Top Trade Targets” that somehow includes Scooter Gennett. Gennett is also on Buster Olney’s list of “names to watch.” I checked the date and it isn’t from last year or the year before. The Reds have tried to trade Gennett several other times and not gotten much interest. He is a left-handed hitter, but a liability in the field. And he only really plays one position. Another head-scratcher.

Luis Castillo or Sonny Gray

Don’t worry. These two guys fall into the “what if the Reds wanted to exploit the starting pitching market and cash in one of these two guys” category. I haven’t seen anyone report the Reds have discussed either player. Just detailed hypotheticals. The Reds shouldn’t categorically rule out a trade like this, but if they do consider it they should ask for the Sun, the Moon and more. I analyzed what a Luis Castillo trade would be like and you could throw Sonny Gray’s name in there, too. Gray has pitched better than Castillo and also has a team-friendly contract for three more seasons.

Bottom Line

Keep in mind this is the ownership and front office that brought you “can’t deal Matt Harvey because of momentous positive vibrations” or some such thing. To be fair, they did get over their trade conservatism this past offseason. So who knows? We’ll find out over the next few days.

[Featured image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1152697801073143809]

Steve Mancuso

Steve Mancuso is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up during the Big Red Machine era. He’s been writing about the Reds for more than ten years. Steve’s fondest memories about the Reds include attending a couple 1975 World Series games, being at Homer Bailey’s second no-hitter and going nuts for Jay Bruce at Clinchmas. Steve was also at all three games of the 2012 NLDS, but it’s too soon to talk about that.

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