Tracking the Transactions
The Reds have made so many moves lately, it's hard to keep track even with a scorecard. So here's a overview of the past week's roster moves…
Something wicked this way comes…
June 2: Bobby Livingston sent back to Louisville, Marcus McBeth called up.
So long, and thanks for all the fish…
June 4: Brad Salmon sent to Louisville, Dewayne Wise DFA'd. (Wise was DFA'd to get him off the 40-man roster, not because they want to get rid of him. He cleared waivers and is back in Louisville, but is on the DL. Hamstring, I think.)
A cup of coffee for Coffey…
June 5: Josh Hamilton activated off the DL, Todd Coffey called up from Louisville.
Headin' down the highway…
June 7: Brian Shackelford cleared waivers and was outrighted to Louisville. Again, this was basically to get him off the Reds' 40-man roster. The Reds could put him on the 40-man and call him up again…but I suspect they won't. I read this as meaning they don't see Shackelford as part of their future. I expect Love Shack to leave the Reds organization as a minor league free agent at the end of the season.
This move is especially interesting because it wasn't necessary. They have 39 players on the 40-man roster now, and didn't have to expose Shack to waivers. This suggests they need the roster space for someone else.
One Coffey to go….
June 8: Homer Bailey called up, Coffey sent back down. Don't want to get too excited after only one start, but I think now that he's up with the big club, he'll stay there.
So, that still leaves that one empty spot on the 40-man. Perhaps they are saving it for the other PTBNL in the Deno trade. Or could another trade be in the works?
Dunn and gone?
The talking heads at ESPN last night thought the Reds would trade either Dunn or Griffey. Today, the pundits and even Red Reporter think it will be Dunn.
But…if Dunn is traded, that leaves a rather large hole in the outfield. It doesn't look like Freel is coming back any time soon. Norris Hopper is a good bat off the bench, but I don't see him as a starting outfielder.
(And no, this is not a plug for Bubba Crosby. Bubba's still on the DL, and not expected back until the end of July. He's DHing in extended spring training games in Sarasota, but they're worried about his throwing mechanics. Sigh. Next time, Sparky, tell them when you're injured. Don't try to play through it. You screw up your mechanics that way, and worse.)
The Bats have had a lot of roster action, too. They released infielder Earl Snyder, who has struggled all season. Infielder/outfielder Jeff Bannon, a possible sub for Freel, has been on the DL, off it, back on it, and back off it. As mentioned previously, Wise is on the DL, as is Bubba. They're kind of hurting for OFers.
Most interesting, though, are two players coming in this week on rehab assignments. Eddie Guardado is supposed to join the Bats today, and Elizardo Ramirez is supposed to start for them tomorrow. Maybe that 40th roster spot is for one of them?
June 12: Burton goes on the 15-day DL and Coffey gets called back up to The Show.
John Heyman at [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/06/11/monday.scoop/index.html]Sports Illustrated[/url] started all the Dunn trade rumors on Monday with a piece that cited “league sources” for telling them the Reds had Dunn on the auction block. ESPN and everybody else picked it up from there.
I suppose a trade for Dunn could include another outfielder, or the Reds could bring up Joey Votto (who has played some left field in Louisville), or a package deal involving Dunn and others could evolve. The Reds have some other veteran spare parts (Conine, Hatteberg, Stanton, etc.) they could add to a deal once the main piece of trade bait (Dunn) has attracted other teams’ attention.
It’s interesting to note that since Wise got DFA’ed and is now on the DL besides, the only minor league OF now on the 40-man is an RHM favorite, Chris Dickerson. He got off to a slow start at Louisville after being called up from Dayton, but on Friday, he had a three-run walkoff homer against Charlotte and has now gotten his average up to .256 – not quite up to Votto’s .314, but Hopper only hit .264 when he was down there, and if a guy can play CF, he sure ought to be able to handle LF. Anyway, he’d be the logical next OF to get called up if one of the current outfielders is suddenly unavailable due to blowing out a hamstring, getting run over by a bus, getting traded…