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8 player deal: Reds trade Kearns, Lopez to Nats for Majewski, Bray, Clayton

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<!-- begin pagetitle -->I trust the Reds current management. This is big time. I pray that it works. I would love to see the Reds play well.

Updated: July 13, 2006, 4:02 PM ET
Reds swap Kearns to Nats for Clayton, pitchers


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CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Reds overhauled their rickety bullpen Thursday, getting Gary Majewski and Bill Bray in an eight-player deal that sent outfielder Austin Kearns and shortstop Felipe Lopez to the Washington Nationals.
The Reds, hanging close in the NL Central race, also acquired shortstop Royce Clayton, infielder Brendan Harris and pitcher Daryl Thompson from the last-place Nationals.
<TABLE cellSpacing=12 width=127 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Clayton most likely would replace Lopez, who made the All-Star game last year. In addition, the Reds gave up reliever Ryan Wagner, a first-round pick in 2004 who has struggled the last two seasons.
Cincinnati's bullpen has dragged it down the last two months, giving up the most homers in the majors. The Reds acquired former All-Star reliever Eddie Guardado from Seattle on July 6 and came out of the All-Star break at 45-44, trailing St. Louis by four games in the division.



Majewski, Clayton and Bray are expected to report to Cincinnati in time for the game against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Harris will report to Triple-A Louisville and Thompson to Sarasota in the Gulf Coast League.
Last season for Washington, Majewski recorded a 2.93 ERA while leading the pitching staff with 79 appearances, a franchise record for a rookie. During the first half of this season he went 3-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 46 games.
Bray, 23, made his Major League debut this season and has posted a 3.91 ERA in 19 relief appearances.


This season for the Nats, Clayton is hitting .269 with 22 doubles and 8 stolen bases in 87 appearances.
Harris, 25, has appeared in 17 games for the Nationals and hit .283 with five home runs and 32 RBI in 59 games for New Orleans.
Thompson, 20, was selected by the Expos in the eighth round of the 2003 first-year player draft. This season for Vermont in the Class A New York-Penn League he went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 4 starts.
Kearns, 26, this season for the Reds hit .274 with 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 87 appearances.
Lopez, 26, hit .268 with nine home runs and 30 RBI in 85 games during the season's first half.
Wagner, 23, has spent the entire season in the minor leagues at Louisville, where he has posted a 6.34 ERA in 35 relief appearances. The Reds recalled outfielder Chris Denorfia and infielder William Bergolla from Louisville to fill the roster spots of Kearns and Lopez on Thursday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Good trade if you ask me...Philipe 'HUMA' Lopez's defense was a flat out liability. (Head Up My Ass). Even at age 92, Clayton will be a better defensive SS for the Reds down the stretch. Denorfia will replace Kearns in the OF and I have read where some believe Denorfia would be a starter on most major league rosters had he not been in a log jam in Cincy. Kearns has the mental toughness of a four year old staring at a corner in time-out...he can't turn on anything inside and he leads with his hand which puts him out in front of anything offspeed and away.

Sometimes addition by subtraction is a good thing. Lopez drove me nuts playing SS...besides, with Philips likely to move to SS next year, I'm not sure Lopez wanted to be a 2B...overall, I don't think this trade looks as bad as some people may think...you get better defensively, you get fresh arms for the bullpen...and you are only 4 games out of the race.
 
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Honor&Glory said:
Good trade if you ask me...Philipe 'HUMA' Lopez's defense was a flat out liability. (Head Up My Ass). Even at age 92, Clayton will be a better defensive SS for the Reds down the stretch. Denorfia will replace Kearns in the OF and I have read where some believe Denorfia would be a starter on most major league rosters had he not been in a log jam in Cincy. Kearns has the mental toughness of a four year old staring at a corner in time-out...he can't turn on anything inside and he leads with his hand which puts him out in front of anything offspeed and away.

Sometimes addition by subtraction is a good thing. Lopez drove me nuts playing SS...besides, with Philips likely to move to SS next year, I'm not sure Lopez wanted to be a 2B...overall, I don't think this trade looks as bad as some people may think...you get better defensively, you get fresh arms for the bullpen...and you are only 4 games out of the race.
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OK, I take issue here (because it's fun to :biggrin: ). Clayton needs a freaking walker to get to the plate...which is ironic, since he never walks. He can't hit, has no power to any field, can't steal bases, and his fielding percentage this year is .970...exactly the same as Lopez from last year. Better? How? Adding an AARP card to the lineup?

Now I know people think Kearns has never lived up to expectations...but he is hitting .275 with 16 HRs and 50 RBIs, and he's 7/8 stealing bases...which is better than Clayton. I don't know as much about this kid taking his spot, but I do know that Adam Dunn hits about .210 and Griffey is injury-prone...I'd rather have Austin, myself, for this team.

I'm all for adding middle relief, but this trade sucks.
 
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Tell that to the Red Sox who traded Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson...Red Sox got to the post season that year.

In baseball, you don't pick what year you get to win...the year picks you. You have to take your shot when you have it.
 
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Honor&Glory said:
Tell that to the Red Sox who traded Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson...Red Sox got to the post season that year.

In baseball, you don't pick what year you get to win...the year picks you. You have to take your shot when you have it.
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The White Sox pick their years....they just wanted 88 other people to have their turn first.
 
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I'm far from ecstatic with this deal, but I'm definitely interested to see how the lineup looks the next couple nights.

I'd like to see Denorfia in the outfield (preferably in center with Griffey in right), Freel at second, Phillips at short, EEEEE at third, and Aurilia/Hatteberg at 1st. We'll see, I guess.
 
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