The Cincinnati Reds have been reportedly trying to land Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber all offseason. It seems that the Reds and Indians haven’t been able to find a good match between the two sides. That could mean that a third team needs to be involved in order to get the Indians ace to Cincinnati. That’s where the San Diego Padres come in. As reported earlier this week, the three teams have at least discussed the idea of a deal that would bring Kluber to Cincinnati via San Diego.
Late last night, Lee Hacksaw Hamilton, a sports anchor in San Diego and pre and post-game host for the Padres on radio, reported that these trade talks have hit a snag because of medical reports on Cincinnati Reds top prospect Nick Senzel.
Beat 15 Tweets….Padres-Reds-Indians Trade Talks stalled over medicals for Reds prospect Nick Senzel…
— Lee Hacksaw Hamilton (@hacksaw1090) January 17, 2019
This tweet is interesting on a few fronts. Let’s first assume that it’s true. It would mean that the Cincinnati Reds are willing to trade Nick Senzel. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that. Every player should be traded in the right circumstance. But it’s also a bit surprising as he’s seemingly been off-limits in other trade talks. Perhaps that’s because Corey Kluber is one of the best players alive today, and that changes whether or not you’d give up someone like Senzel. Still, it’s newsworthy.
The second part is that the medicals have caused a hold up. While Nick Senzel did have two surgeries last year – one on his finger, and one on his elbow in the offseason to remove bone spurs – it’s tough to imagine that either of those things are what would cause a hold up. He played in instructional league, which he wouldn’t have done if the finger were still an issue. And he’s begun swinging again after the elbow surgery, which isn’t likely if that had lingering issues.
This is pure speculation on my part based on tons of deductive reasoning, but it would almost have to be related to the vertigo issues that Nick Senzel has encountered over the last two season. In 2017 he missed the final 11 games of the year due to a bout with vertigo. Then in 2018 he missed most of May with another one. He’s on the record saying that he believes that he and the doctors have figured out the right treatment for the issue. I’m not a doctor, so chiming in with an opinion on that statement doesn’t make much sense.
But what does come up with that statement would be that it seems other teams doctors see some concern there. Or at least one team: The Padres. They, of course, the same team who had two separate medical files for their players – one for the Padres, and then one to give other teams in trade scenarios.
Is the situation a little more serious than we’ve believed? Or is this a situation where they simply aren’t comfortable? It’s tough to say without more information. It’s certainly at a point, now, though, where there are a few questions out there. We will see how this plays out in the long run – Nick Senzel is going to be on the field. We’re going to find out if there should have been more serious considerations or not in the next few years. Whether that’s going to be with the Reds or with another team.