Trevor Bauer Goes To Reds In 3-Team Deal

The first major transaction of the MLB trade deadline happened last night and one pitcher who threw the ball over the Kansas City center field is on his way to a new team.

The Cleveland Indians have traded right-hander Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds, who sent back right fielder Yasiel Puig and pitching prospect Scott Moss. The San Diego Padres were also involved in the deal: they sent outfielder Franmil Reyes, left-hander Logan Allen, and rookie level infielder Victor Nova. The Padres also landed outfielder prospect Taylor Trammell from the Reds. What is even more stunning about this trade has to do with Puig. The finishing touch on his brief career with the Reds was his involvement in the dust-up with the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. That fight actually went down after the trade agreement was reached. Meanwhile, for Bauer, that throw back towards center field was his finishing touch as a member of the Indians.

The Cincinnati Reds are currently 49-55 and 6 1/2 games out of wild-card position, so that means Cincinnati's chances of earning a Wild Card spot appear dead. Despite that, both president of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Frall are optimistic, believing they can make a more serious playoff push in 2020. Picking up Bauer may help with those aspirations and it could help Cincinnati have one of the best rotations come next season. Assuming any more trades happen with the Reds, it would also have Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani, and Tyler Mahle in that rotation.

As for the Indians, they are still fighting to overtake the Twins in the AL Central, who have come back to Earth. Getting some power and some production in that lineup will really help them. Franmil Reyes has emerged as one of the game's biggest power bats since he debuted in San Diego a year ago.  He is batting .255/.314/.536 with 27 home runs and 354 PA. Another plus for the Indians is that he won't be eligible for arbitration until after the 2021 season so he could be in the Indians lineup for a while.

The Indians are also getting three less established players in this deal in Allen, Nova, and Moss. Logan Allen is only 22 and entered the season as a top-100 prospect but he has struggled this season in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League with El Paso. However, he is still considered one of the higher-end prospects and still has plenty of room for improvement.

Meanwhile, for the Padres, they may have surrendered a lot to get a young prospect and Number 1 in the Reds' farm system. Trammell is still unproven and could spend the rest of this year and part of next in either Double-A or Triple-A. With Reyes gone, the Padres outfield still has two starting corner-outfielder options in Hunter Renfroe and much-more expensive Wil Myers. They also have Josh Naylor, Travis Jankowski, and Franchy Cordero who could also be options, but they are either injured or in the minor leagues.

This is probably the biggest acquisition of the trade deadline so far, because the Indians look like they won the trade. They are the only ones still fighting for a spot and getting valuable pieces and hitters in Reyes and Puig still work. They could still fight for the Wild Card and getting some offensive power is definitely crucial so we'll see where that goes and if it will work. As for the Reds and Padres, they are clearly focused on the future and especially the 2020 season. Getting controllable assets for the next couple of years was on their mind entirely. To me, they are no longer competing even if they could potentially catch Wild Card spots. Now it seems they will focus on their prospects and their future and hope that 2020 will work out better than 2019.