The end of Scooter Gennett’s time with the Reds is near

National baseball writers have opined that Scooter Gennett is a players to watch and in play at Wednesday’s trade deadline. Go figure.

The Reds have tried to trade Gennett before and found little interest. And that was when the Reds second baseman was regularly blasting balls into right-field bleachers around the league. In case you haven’t been keeping up with current events, Gennett is batting .207/.230/.241 (19 wRC+) in 2019. That’s also roughly how he hit in his 27 rehab at bats at A+ and AAA. For the Reds, in 61 plate appearances he’s struck out 17 times (28%) and walked just once. We’re still waiting for his first home run in 2019.

Gennett’s 2017 and 2018 seasons for the Reds were glorious. Dick Williams picked Gennett up at the tail end of the 2017 spring training after the Milwaukee Brewers released Gennett. He had struggled in 2015 and 2016 and the Brewers were prioritizing Jonathan Villar. On March, 28 2017, Scooter Gennett became a Cincinnati Red.

Through those two seasons, Gennett batted over .300 and mashed 50 home runs. He hit 24% better than league average. FanGraphs (6.7 WAR) and Baseball-Reference (6.6 WAR) are pretty much in agreement that Gennett provided the Reds plenty of value. You may have heard he hit four bombs in a single game.

Gennett seemed destined to follow up that success with another season at second base for the Reds this spring when he suffered a serious injury to his right groin muscle fielding a ground ball against, of all teams, the Brewers. The following day, March 23, the Reds announced Gennett would be out 8-12 weeks. He first returned in a Reds uniform on June 28. That’s 14 weeks, counting his rehab starts. In the month since he’s been back, Gennett hasn’t been able to shake off the rust.

One way or another, there’s a good chance we’re nearing the end of Scooter Gennett’s time with the Reds.

Even before Gennett’s injury, the club had apparently shifted its position on signing Gennett to an extension. A fair reading of that might be the new influence David Bell had over ownership. We’ve heard of no talks in the intervening months. So Gennett seems destined to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Scooter Gennett has always been a tricky player to trade. Unlike many 2B, he fields only one position and he is not known as a defensive asset. Gennett also doesn’t come cheap, earning just short of $10 million in his final year of arbitration. On top of that, add newfound massive uncertainty about Gennett’s offensive production. The flickering trade hope: if (and that’s a huge IF) he could return to form and fill the role of LH pinch hitter with pop.

From the Reds standpoint, it’s hard to see what Gennett offers the final two months of his contract. Derek Dietrich checks all the same boxes that Gennett does. Left handed hitter. Check. Home run sock. Check. Plays 2B. Check. Dietrich also plays 1B and the outfield. He has another year with the Reds if they choose to tender him. What is Scooter Gennett’s role on that roster?

Josh VanMeter has made a case for more playing time. 2B makes more sense given the Reds current roster situation. A VanMeter platoon with Gennett? Nope, they’re both left-handed. If not VanMeter every game, then Jose Peraza makes more sense at 2B than Gennett.

It’s easy to understand why the Reds have played Gennett often this month. They were hoping (a) the old Scooter Gennett would reappear, and (b) to build trade value. Strike one and two so far.

Given all that, it would be shocking if the Reds turned down any (and I mean ANY) trade offer for Gennett in the next 40+ hours. After the deadline passes Wednesday afternoon, Gennett’s remaining value to the Reds will vanish. The Reds might even pay another team part of the remaining $3 million to take him off their hands.

Why? Because otherwise, they’re facing the awkward situation where logic would dictate they flat out release Scooter Gennett.

And that would be hard to watch. That’s why fans of Scooter’s should really be pulling for a trade.