Well, the trade deadline has come and gone (at least non waiver trades) and the Reds didn’t do much. They moved Jonny Gomes for, as Walt said, to give Yonder Alonso a chance (and yet here we are, 4 games later and he has a total of 4 at bats without a start). They held onto free agents to be Francisco Cordero and Ramon Hernandez.
The Reds came into Sunday back 6.5 games. While it is clearly not insurmountable, it is a large stretch to think that its plausible, especially considering that we are under .500. Then we went out and won (and so did the Brewers). They now have 53 games left and we have 55. If they go 1 game over .500 the rest of the season, the Reds have to go 17 over .500 the rest of the season to finish ahead of them. When a team is under .500 at this point in the season, I just can’t get too excited about the possibility that they are going to be making such a run.
I am of the belief that Walt and the Reds made the mistake of not moving Ramon Hernandez and Francisco Cordero. Even if the market wasn’t going to give you much back, this season is essentially out of reach in terms of the playoffs. You need to begin playing for next year. If Devin Mesoraco is your catcher of the future, you might as well get him experience now if you are going to have him on your big league squad as of April 2012 because you aren’t going to lose any years by making the move now if that is the plan. Getting him 150 PA today instead of April/May of next season could be a very good thing. With the closer role, give Masset a shot. Let Chapman do it (for this year only, I want him trying to be a starter next year). Cordero either could have saved you a little bit of cash to spend in December or given you a solid relief prospect in return that might help in the future.
What do you guys think? Did we do the right thing by not moving those guys? Did we not make the move we should have?