Daugherty: (Carlos Silva?)

[redsrbetter]

The Reds haven't made a Big Deal here. As Yogi - or maybe it was Minnie Pearl - said, it ain't over 'til it's over. They are actively pursuing Baltimore Orioles' ace lefty Erik Bedard and would get down to business with the Oakland A's over Dan Haren, if the A's were committed to trading Haren, which they are not. Evidently.
The hangup with Bedard quite possibly is Baltimore's asking for Jay Bruce, among others, in return. Bruce is as close to untouchable as exists in RedsLand. The hangup with Haren is Oakland is asking too much, period. Both situations are subject to change.
The Reds also are interested in Twins right-hander Carlos Silva, Oakland's Joe Blanton and, marginally, Florida's Dontrelle Willis, until he was dealt Tuesday evening. But, contrary to what you read from the national "experts," to whom Cincinnati is FlyoverVille, the Reds are actively pushing for Bedard, 13-5 last year for the Orioles.

The Rest Of It

The biggest thing I take out of this is the new news. Carlos Silva is in fact in the Reds sites. I say we sign him and call it an offseason. This way we keep all of our young talent and just add payroll. We would in turn drop a lot of it next season after losing Griffey and Bruce is in as the viable replacement. I think it is the absolute best scenario.

Yeah, Silva is no Bedard or Haren, but Silva and Bailey are two arms that can win at least 10 games apiece. Bedard may be able to win 20. So we break even in the pitching rotation, and still keep ALL the young talent.

[missionhockey21]

Silva will lead to a Milton-esque contract (not quite as bad, but terrible nonetheless.) The Reds really should target a lower-tier name as the results won't be terribly different, especially if they got a guy who could throw some grounders like Lieber.

I would rather give up a Votto or a Cueto though than to get locked into a god awful 4 or 5 year deal to Silva.

[redsrbetter]

Right now, Silva isn't really being offered much due to all the bigger names being on the trade block. Now he will likely be really wise in the situation and wait for everything to pan out first and then allow the still desperate teams to state their price. At which point only one team will land him and a few others will have gone the entire offseason without an answer for their biggest holes.

So, if that is the scenario, we have to go back to the drawing board.

And giving up a Votto or a Cueto won't land us much of anything with the way things are going right now. Even if we offered up both of them together in a package, we won't come close to what we are expecting.

As far as Silva being Milton-esque, I actually think he will be more expensive. But he is a better pitcher. The thing that scares me with him is that he doesn't strike out a whole lot of hitters (89 Ks in 202 IP). And those numbers are consistant throughout his career. The good thing is, he has kept his ERA down in every season but 2006. I would make a play for him and pay good money for him as well. But in no way would I expect him to be better than Harang or Arroyo. I would want to see Bailey step up and become our number 3 this season as well. Silva would be a real nice #4 and a perennial 12 game winner.

[missionhockey21]

Silva will get a big contract, don't worry about that. And I am not expecting a Haren or a Bedard for just Votto or Cueto. We have Harang, he is an ace, I am totally fine for trading Votto for a guy with #2 potential at a similar age to Votto.

And I am not talking about contracts for Silva and Milton. I fully expect if Silva came here to pitch, he would be a 4.75-5.25 ERA type of guy in GAB. Even if he is a bit more around 4.50, he won't justify the payday he'll get and people will loathe the contract.

[redsrbetter]

I got you. I know you were not expecting a Haren or Bedard for Votto. My question is, who could we get for just Votto? It would have to be someone with a desperate need for a 1B.

But you are right, maybe a Hamilton or Votto are desirable enough for someone in need of those positons. Garza isn't a #2 yet, but likely will be and he would have been a prefect fit for both teams in a Hamilton trade. But we have to remember what the price was for Garza even. Take all the other stuff out, the Twins pretty much got Delmon Young for Garza.