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    Justin Boyd (Photo: Aldrin Capulong/Daytona Tortugas)
    Photo: Aldrin Capulong/Daytona Tortugas

    Cincinnati Reds trade 2nd round pick Justin Boyd to Cleveland

    Doug Gray 42

    The Cincinnati Reds made a trade this evening, sending outfielder Justin Boyd and a player to be named later to the Cleveland Guardians for outfielder Will Benson. If you’re looking for more information on Benson, I wrote plenty about him over at Redleg Nation. He’s an interesting pick up who made big strides in Triple-A in 2022, but they didn’t translate in limited and sporadic action in the big leagues over the final two months of the year.

    Justin Boyd was the Cincinnati Reds 2nd round pick in the 2022 draft. He was their 4th pick overall, though, behind 1st rounders Cam Collier and Sal Stewart, as well as earlier 2nd rounder Logan Tanner. Boyd broke out in 2022 at Oregon State, hitting .373/.490/.577 while stealing 24 bases for the Beavers. He walked 52 times – which was good – and he struck out 58 times – which was bad. But offense wasn’t the only reason teams were looking at him. With four average or better tools, Boyd had the right pieces to be a starting big leaguer if things developed. The only question seemed to be if he had enough power to keep pitchers honest enough.

    In college he had played in the corner outfield, but his speed led many to believe he could move into center without any issues and that was the Reds plan for him. Earlier in the day Keith Law released his Reds top 20 prospect list and had Boyd rated 15th overall. He didn’t make the RedsMinorLeagues.com Top 25 list.

    After signing Cincinnati sent Justin Boyd to Single-A Daytona where he joined the Tortugas. He struggled in his pro debut. With the lateness of the draft these days, Boyd played in just 21 games for Daytona and hit .183/.263/.239 with eight walks and 29 strikeouts in 80 plate appearances. His 36% strikeout rate was much higher than you’d want to see from a guy without much power, but the sample size was small and it came after a long lay off from the time his college season ended to the time he got back on the field in pro ball.

    Cincinnati is also going to be sending a player to be named later in the trade with Cleveland. To wrap things up, the Reds designated Alejo Lopez for assignment to clear the needed 40-man roster spot for Will Benson.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    42 Responses

    2. Seems like they traded lottery tickets although we’re a lot closer to knowing if Benson will pay off.

      1. If the thinking is that there are two lottery picks then trading for one who crushed AAA for one who had his lunch stolen from him in A- seems like a good trade. But it matters who the ptbnl is and we don’t know who that is yet.

      2. I’m intrigued by Benson’s stats. Without having watched him play enough I can’t say whether I believe he’ll be able to translate his vastly improved contact rate in Triple-A to the big leagues or not, but if he can (or get close to it – or even split the difference from there and where it’s been in the past) then his bat is going to almost assuredly play.

    3. They traded a 2022 2nd round pick for a guy who is as likely to be DFA as he is play for the Reds this season?

      What?

    4. Low risk, high gain type of trade. I liked the Boyd draft pick but, honestly, unless he really breaks out as a CF, he’s likely a 4th OF. If he does break out, I’ll root for the guy … in 3-4 years

    5. Unless Benson becomes a regular, or even an excellent platoon, this looks like it comes down to the PTBNL. Benson for Boyd, alone, seems a good deal – they need Ofers and they need them now. If the PTBNL is in their top 15-20 prospects, perhaps not so good.

    7. Benson has all 3 option years left so for Cleveland this move was about clearing a 40 man spot and getting something in return on a player that would 100% be claimed if he was DFA’d. Boyd struggled in year 1 but was a 2nd round pick years away from a 40 man decision. He’s worth a shot for them.

      The reds already have the following outfielders in A ball and below

      Hendrick
      Allen
      Thompson
      Dunn
      Rogers
      Confidan
      Almonte
      Rodriguez
      Antonia
      Pineda
      Sanchez

      And are likely to draft one at #7 in the draft.

      Boyd was on the lower end of that list already so it makes sense to cut ties with him IMO

      I’d currently call it a win for all involved. They free a 40 man spot and get a 2nd round pick to work on. The reds get a left handed power bat that needs the extended look that they can give him. I’m just hoping the PTBNL isn’t someone I’d consider a top 50-60 prospect in the reds system.

      1. How many prospects are in the system? Doesn’t it have to be a top 50-60 prospect? I was drawing the line at 15-20 – isn’t anyone below that a lottery pick? At least on the offensive side, how many 30 and up prospects even get past AA? I’m just hoping it’s someone past A+ and older than 22.

        1. 6 minor league teams carrying 25-30+ right?

          I’d have Boyd himself around that 50 range in the system I think. PTBNL needs to be someone a notch below that.

        2. I guess another way of considering it is whether anyone even rates prospects beyond, say, 50. I recall a separate discussion about the relative differences in baseball wide ratings – notably that there is not much distinction between numbers 50 and 500. At the team level, that would imply not much difference among those beyond 10 to 15. At that point it’s either fantastic talent evaluation or selecting very specific lottery possibilities. Cleveland seems adept at those, but still may be worth it from the Reds view.

      1. He’s not *technically* a prospect anymore, so no one is going to put him anywhere on their lists.

      2. I would place him in the 24 – 32 range if he were still a prospect. I can’t see putting him in front of Vellojin who I have 23rd in my ranking. I also feel he is a better prospect than Christian Roa who I have at #32 and he is better than Rece Hinds who I have at #33.

        I hope this kind of answers your question 2020Ball

        1. Perfectly yes thanks. I figured it could be outside the top 25, and benson’s amount of ABs i thought made him technically eligible for some publications.

    9. I like the deal for the Reds, depending on who the PTNL is, but I would like it a lot better if Benson was a right handed hitter.

      1. Reds only have 4 position players on their 40 man roster who hit left-handed (Votto, Friedl, Fraley, and Siani), so they actually need left handed hitters, especially ones with power.

    10. Lets simulate this season and say the Reds have one of the Top 5 worst records in baseball and win the #1 pick in the 2024 draft. Who are the top players that could help us in 2024 and on? Looking for players to watch this year in college baseball

        1. Just a guess but I am thinking your draft preview is for the 2023 draft.

          College players to watch who will be in the 2024 draft:

          1. Vance Honeycutt (OF) – North Carolina
          2. Thatcher Hurd (RHP)- LSU
          3. Chase Burns (RHP) – Tennessee
          4. Pierce Coppla (LHP) – Florida
          5. Michael Sirota (OF) – Northeastern
          6. Ben Hess (RHP) – Alabama
          7. Nick Kurtz (1B) – Wake Forest
          8. Braden Montgomery (OF/RHP) – Stanford
          9. Cody Schier – (2B) – UCLA
          10. Andrew Dutkanych (RHP) – Vanderbilt

    11. Imagine Benson carrying an OPS .775-.825 in GABP with solid defense for 6 years. Kind of a Ryan Ludwick role. Could happen.

    12. So the logic for Cleveland is that they have too many outfielders who will be ready alongside Will Benson, plus Mr Benson has only just emerged as a viable prospect since his first round pedigree, so selling high they reset that time clock with a 2nd rounder with similar profile + a PTBNL.

      Question for the board: Who in your opintion should the Reds do this with and from what position group?

      1. Nobody yet. Cleveland already has a playoff roster. The reds need to give every player they can a chance to get to that point and then go from there.

        If a few of (Barrero, Steer, McLain, De La Cruz, Marte, Arroyo) become staples then I would assume you would do this type of move with the middle infield guys who’ll be in Daytona and below (Jorge, Balcazar, Acosta, Cabrera) but that discussion is a few years off.

        1. All four of the players you mentioned are in Doug’s top 25. I would not include any of these as the PTBNL.

          My thinking is maybe a Malvin Valdez or Lewis Mey. If they want a player to help soon possibly Andrew Moore or Levi Stoudt. However both these two pitchers seem a bit too much.

        2. I don’t think that was his question. He asked who the reds might trade to get someone in the same position just further away from the 40 man clock. I responded it would be a few years from now but if the players I first listed became staples then the players I later mentioned would become players they would move to get farther from the 40 man crunch decisions

    13. I like the speed power combo. I think this is a little better than a lottery pick. Depending upon whom the player to be named later is this could be a great trade.

      1. If the Reds had to DFA one of Fairchild, Friedl or Benson, I would dump Fairchild and my second choice would be Friedl. At this point I may choose him over Senzel.

        1. Myers (0 Options)
          Solak (1 Option) Fairchild (1 Option)
          Fraley (2 Options) Friedl (2 Options)
          Benson (3 Options) Senzel (3 Options) Siani (3 Options)

          I kinda like this, and it’s assuming Votto is a no go for the start of the year.

          RF Benson 126 Starts / Meyers vs 36 Starts
          CF Friedl 126 Starts / Senzel 36 Starts
          LF Fraley 126 Starts / Solak 36 Starts

          DH Stephenson 36 Starts / Solak 63 Starts / Senzel 63 Starts
          C Casali 54 Starts / Stephenson 54 Starts / Maile 54 Starts
          1B Myers 90 Starts / Stephenson 72 Starts
          2B India 126 Starts / Newman 36 Starts
          3B Steer 126 Starts / Newman 36 Starts
          SS Barrero 126 Starts / Newman 36 Starts

          If and when Votto comes back he’ll soak up either DH starts from Solak and Senzel, or 1B Starts from Myers and Stephenson. I know injures happen, as do hot and cold streaks happen, but this is just a player usage scenario that I think gets the most out of the players without overloading anyone, except Stephenson. He gets 162 in this scenario with 36 DH games, so his legs can rest.

        2. MBS, good run down. I’ve been thinking today about India at 1B, especially in 2025 after Votto. Maybe that starts this year some and you get Senzel 80 starts at 2b. I might be wrong, total guess, but I think Senzel is sick of the outfield and is dogging his injury to angle for infield time. Nevertheless, I do want to see him on the dirt to see if that helps his mental approach overall.

        3. @Stock I forgot to say that I don’t see a need to DFA any of the OF’s.

          Myers (0 Options)
          Solak (1 Option) Fairchild (1 Option)
          Fraley (2 Options) Friedl (2 Options)
          Benson (3 Options) Senzel (3 Options) Siani (3 Options)

          My guess is Gutierrez and Antone get 60 day’d, and 1 pitcher / 1 infielder gets added to the 40 man, maybe Pinder, and Young.

          That would have the 40 man as below if Pinder is a classified as an infielder.

          21 P’s
          3 C’s
          8 INF’s
          8 OF’s

        4. @Tom, I’d love to find a better spot for India than 2B. LF, 3B, maybe 1B could be an option. Senzel has become a reclamation project, I’m just not sure if he’ll be ours or another teams next year. By some point in 24 a lot of this roster will be gone. It would be great to see Senzel become even a fraction of what we thought he was.

        5. Thanks MBS. I didn’t even consider options. Having an option is not good news for Fairchild.

          Based upon your information Benson may have the inside track at being in Cincinnati on opening day. Assuming Roansy Contreras or Mitch Keller is on the mound opening day the opening day OF could be Fraley/Benson/Myers

    14. The more I look at Benson’s stats the more I like him. Maybe Stoudt or Moore would be a fair return.

      1. Looks like it’s going to be Boyd and cash. The freed up 40 man spot was what Cleveland really wanted. Win for both sides here

    15. I’ve seen Benson many times in two seasons versus the Dragons. He is a big guy and has great power potential. He walks a lot but unlike his size and power nothing really stood out in his performances. He has to be very streaky. I remember one season he had 14 HRs by the June and a month later he still had 14. I think he ended up with a few over 20.

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