The hottest rumor coming off of the digital wire is that the Cincinnati Reds have entered the trade talks with the Cleveland Indians for right-handed starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. And according to Ken Rosenthal is sounds like one of the names being discussed is outfield prospect Taylor Trammell.

Taylor Trammell’s numbers are down this season. He had an OPS of .846 in April, but in the subsequent months he’s posted an OPS of .637, .635, and he’s currently at .643 in July. Trammell has been playing with some injuries this season, which could explain some of the production issue he’s had this season. Most of his production is lacking due to power not yet showing up.  He’s got a .350 on-base percentage this year thanks to 54 walks in 377 plate appearances. But he’s also only had 17 extra-base hits through 93 games – leading to a .338 slugging percentage.

It’s not just Taylor Trammell that’s being rumored, though. We just don’t know what the other part would be aside from “others”. Whether that’s a Major Leaguer or a prospect, who knows at this point.

And just like that, maybe we are getting somewhere. Jon Heyman notes that the Indians (and Tampa Bay Rays) are among the teams interested in Yasiel Puig.

The Reds could be willing to move both Puig and Trammell in a deal for Trevor Bauer. He’s under team control through the 2020 season and he’s owed $13,000,000 for the season. Puig is obviously a free agent after the year. And with Trammell you’re talking about a player who isn’t even on the 40-man roster yet who would be controllable for at least 6 seasons once he was called up.

52 Responses

  1. Michael

    I would hope Dick Williams and company is smarter than this. Guess we’ll see. I would be very disappointed if they got someone who quite frankly is a bad person like Bauer is.

    • Ghettotrout1

      I don’t really see how you can call Bauer a bad person. Seems a bit aggressive given the lack of personal knowledge of the guy. And if you’re referring to him throwing a ball over the wall the other day calling him a bad person is really overstating things.

      • Doc

        Scouting report: was frustrated with performance and through ball over wall.

        Conclusion: competitive kid with plus arm strength!

  2. Greg

    I am going to need Ethan Hankins coming back as well if Puig is in the deal. Because the Reds would lose the QO opportunity for a draft pick. Hankins was a 2018 comp pick for the tribe.

  3. Jim Delaney

    Acquiring Bauer is a move to try and sell season tickets in off season. The moves Reds made this off season didn’t move the needle. Current ownership group is trying to sell tickets, not built a consistent winner. The President of Baseball operations is family to minority ownership….

    • MK

      Come on Jim, everything they do is to try to sell tickets it is a business after all.

  4. haven

    If they resign Wood i would be all for this. Having Bauer be your fourth starter is a good place to start, build the pen up and I think you win some of the close games they’ve lost this year.

  5. Alex Reds

    No way. One year of Bauer next year isn’t worth it (we dont need him this year)
    6 years of Trammell is worth way more. You could get about 4 years of cheap service from Trammell, and still trade him for a haul with 2 years of control left.
    If Bauer had 2-4 years of a contract left, this would be more interesting. At least Syndergaard would have 2 years left.

    Reds won’t make playoffs next year likely either, and Reds will have to trade Bauer at the July deadline next year, and get what in return for 2 months left of Bauer? Not much.

    This would be how you mess up a rebuild by trying to accelerate it too fast by trading off your top prospects (while having the 20th rated farm system) and still not having enough talent on the major league roster to compete for playoffs. Then you rebuild twice and it will be another 5-6 years.

  6. Optimist

    They’d need to buy another year of Bauer – thru 2021, similar to the Gray extension condition. Hard to believe that could happen instantly, unless Bauer’s agent has it pre-packaged. May be one moving part too many.

    Still, 3 of our rentals and a #10-20 prospect would be doable.

    • Tom

      That would be nice but I’d say Bauer is a pretty good qualifying offer candidate as well.

  7. Tom

    OK I get that he threw a baseball over the centerfield fence and has had other temper related issues but what do people mean by “” bad person? Did he beat somebody up? Is he a criminal? If not then he seems like a perfect fit for a town like Cincinnati where Chad Johnson Pete Rose and Rob Dibble thrived.

    • Alex Reds

      NOOOO. Beyond stupid trade. Welp, the Reds got better by getting Bauer by several wins for one year but still no where near good enough. Giving up Puig as well, ouch. Sorry fans. We are lacking the one elite prospect they had which could be flipped for huge value all for a a one year rental and a possible qualifying pick. But, we saw how that went wrong this year with injury. The Reds sold low on Trammell. Even if you get a qualifying pick, it’s not like that pick will be a top 100 prospect with any likelihood. We can officially define today as the day the Reds chose to get rid of a player with elite on base skills and tools. The only way the Reds come out ahead is if Trammell busts. But, also a decent chance he becomes a star and high chance a solid player. This is all Bob’s fault, he has no patience. Sorry for all of our loss when in about 3 years we are rebuilding and may not have made the playoffs. And Trammell is a a really good player.

  8. Tom

    Trammell is not the CF we hope he is and as a LF he won’t be much better at the dish then Jesse Winker. Given time to develop I’m sure he can prove me wrong but it’s not that hard to talk myself out of his upside In exchange for an excellent starting rotation for the next 18 months.

  9. DaveHI

    I read somewhere that Bauer is a fly ball pitcher? Is there truth to that? If so, what is GB% compared to Roark?

  10. Klugo

    Sounds like a smokescreen. Indians trying to drive his price.

  11. Colorado Red

    Too pricey for me.
    If it was 2 years, maybe. But not 1, just say NO

    • Hoyce

      To play devils advocate. First I love Bauer. Throws a ton of innings, which reds desperately need. Has been on record saying he wants a series of 1-year contracts- I’d say that is huge for a low/mid market team. Never a bad contract
      And lastly it seems when reds acquire a player. They never wanna leave Cinci. So if reds get Bauer. Very well might be until reds decide they either don’t want or can’t afford him
      And I’ve read that “reds are only doing it to sell tickets”. Well duh. Isn’t that the point?

    • Hoyce

      Think they were just waiting on my written OK
      But may be going to padres…hmmmm

  12. Doc

    It would be nice if comments were confined to the baseball merits of the trade proposal and not a knee jerk comment about the FO and motivation any time a possible move is made. Getting enough of that in every day life outside of baseball.

    • Hanawi

      If the teams were trading solely on baseball terms, then that would be a legitimate argument. Some teams trade to get rid of salary, some trade to try to sell more tickets, some dump great baseball talent bc of a domestic dispute that they have a knee jerk reaction to and get a poor return.

  13. Doc

    MLB trade rumors of little help. They say Reds got Bauer and Reds will acquire Trammell also. I wonder what we had to give up to acquire a player we already have!

  14. Brad

    Bauer: CLE to CIN
    Trammell: CIN to SD
    Puig: CIN to CLE
    Reyes & Allen: SD to CLE

  15. Wes

    Puig throwing blows after he’s traded to Indians. Rothflmao. How’s he even still out there??Can’t make that stuff up.

  16. Wes

    Bet Yates goes to Indians as padres piece. Really hope reds get another piece out of it too

  17. Mid West Red

    It’s apparent the Reds never believed in a rebuild.

  18. NLP

    Wow…

    Puig + Trammell for a middle of the rotation guy with only 1 year of team control?

    Not sure if the Reds are feeling generous, or desperate?

    • doofus

      He is averaging 6.54 innings pitched this season. That is not a middle of the rotation number.

    • doofus

      Have you ever watched Bauer pitch? Every pitch he throws has movement.

  19. Doc

    Puig to Indians. Trammell to Padres. Padres send a pair to Indians.

  20. Simon Cowell

    Wish Trammel and Puig the very best! I won’t be cheering for them as they are now the enemy!

    Now, who becomes our everyday Rf? Doesn’t that free up a slot on our 25 man? Who gets the call up? It will be nice to see Vanmeter get starting at-bats the rest of the season and Ervin be used as the 4th outfielder but seems like we need to call up a power bat. Will it be Aquino?

  21. Mike in Ottawa

    Base brawl vs the Pirates. Thanks to Foxsports and Dish Network I couldn’t watch it.

  22. citizen54

    I don’t mind losing Puig but giving up Trammel for 1+ years of Bauer? Talk about selling low.

  23. Hoyce

    Puig to suspension list. Ur welcome Cleveland. At least he’s not boring

  24. Amarillo

    I don’t like this one bit. This makes us worse for this season and the future.

  25. Tim

    Seems like we gave up more than the Mets gave up for Stroman. At this point I don’t know what the Reds future is going to look like.

  26. Wes

    For realz. 100 percent on everything. David Bell is a disgrace; he’s a side show! How u get thrown out and then try to bum rush a 62 year old man from behind??

    Fire that loser. He deserves to get suspended for rest of season anyway.

    • MK

      From Behind, what in the devil were you watching.You mean the 62 year old guy being held back by his coaches

  27. Hoyce

    They should let Puig wreck shop now that he’s been traded
    Let him fight every pirate. 2 at a time
    But I wonder if this messes up the trade

  28. R

    Williams and Krall quit now. Until they both quit, they should not follow this team.

  29. MK

    The San Diego part has nothing to do with the Reds. The Indians traded Trammel to Pafres. Two separate trades.

  30. MK

    Funny Reds acquire Choo from Cleveland for DiDi Gregorious and they send Didi to Arizona for Bauer, so this is the second deal with Cleveland that included Bauer. Should have just cut Cleveland out of first deal and acquired Bauer then.

  31. Martino

    Unfortunately it doesn’t work like this, but I’d love if the Reds for once could buy a player for what they’re worth and sell them for what they think they’re worth.. They’d win the WS every year till the end of time that way..
    Even though more than a few fans believe they can see into the future I’ve never known anyone who actually can.
    Maybe the impossible happens and Bauer becomes THE Cy Younger and Puig goes to Cleveland and just falls off the proverbial cliff along with Trammell in SD.. We just never really know exactly what might transpire.