Boras or Trade?

[Wally Mo Pena]

John Fay:

Matt Morris' signing with the San Francisco Giants forced the Reds into the Plan B mode.

The Reds made Morris, a free-agent right-hander, an offer Saturday.

"We made a bonafide offer - no question," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien said.

The offer was believed to be in the range of $25 million over three years.

If the Reds were willing to pay Morris that, they could offer a similar deal to another free agent.

"We're talking to a number of different agents," O'Brien said. "We're in various stages. Right now, I think it's best to keep (who we're talking to) confidential."

There are three free-agent starters in Morris' class:

Kevin Millwood. He went 9-11 for the Cleveland Indians, but he led the American League with a 2.86 ERA.

Jarrod Washburn. The left-hander was 8-8 with the Los Angeles Angels with a 3.20 ERA.

Jeff Weaver. He was 14-11 with a 4.22 ERA with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

All three are clients of Scott Boras, so they're not likely to take less than top dollar.

Scott Elarton (11-9, 4.61 ERA with Cleveland) and Jason Johnson (8-14, 4.54 with Detroit) are also still on the market and would be cheaper.

But O'Brien said the Reds are looking beyond free agents.

"We're approaching it on two fronts: Free agency and trades," O'Brien said. "I wouldn't handicap which is more likely."

The trade of Sean Casey, which opened up an outfield position for Wily Mo Peña, won't prevent the Reds from trading an outfielder.

"Right now, we have to consider anything that involves potentially improving our pitching," O'Brien said.

Trading for infielder/outfielder Tony Womack gives the Reds the flexibility to play Ryan Freel in left field should Peña or outfielder Austin Kearns be traded. That's particularly true if the Reds re-sign infielder Rich Aurilia, which they hope to do.

[Slyder]

If we have to choose one of the guys left on Free Agency I would want to go after Milwood. Didnt we try Elarton once before and get burned? Weaver in our park would be scary same as Jason Johnson and neither would be an real improvement, we would still have Harang, Claussen, and the 3 who the heck are they? in the rotation.

[redsrbetter]

Good to see that DanO is still after pitching. There are still some arms out there and that list looks plentiful. But the only one worth $25 million would be Millwood. I hate the end of that article reminding us that the team would like to resign Aurilia.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Interesting that O'Brien seems to be focusing on FA just as much as trades now. I wouldn't mind Millwood to say the least. The others are kind of "eh" unless we got them at a reasonable price. I don't think I'd really want Elarton or Weaver unless it was for a very cheap price.

It seems clear to me that Castellini has indicated to O'Brien that he is willing to spend pretty much any amount of money in order for the pitching to get better.

[Reds_fan_4_life]

now that i think about it i wouldn't mind having Washburn on our club. He put up a good ERA and mite be able to get back to his good years of pitching on the championship team in ANA with some coaching. Weaver will just be to expensive but i think that We could have a decent shot of getting Washburn.. IMO

[Geki Ace]

Washburn means four lefties in the rotation. That's not really a good thing.

[Cincy]

I would trade Milton and Larue for Vazquez.

Then I would sign Elarton or Johnson at 2 years 6-8M....

1. Vazquez
2. Harang
3. Elarton/Johnson
4. Claussen
5. Williams

1. Aurilia/Freel/Womack
2. Lopez
3. Dunn
4. JR
5. WMP
6. Kearns
7. EE
8. Valentin

[blugrssdude]

When you look at all that's left you have to have faith in who you hire as a pitching coach, It looks like Millwood is the best but Weaver may have the most potential. He has the stuff to be a number 1 but just needs to get some things straight. If it's a bargain, I say the Reds should take a chance.

[Geki Ace]

Why the hell would the D-Backs take Milton and LaRue for Javy Vasquez? You can't just make trades like that for the hell of it.

[missionhockey21]

From everything I have read, the D-Backs are asking for basically top prospects for Vazquez. He's not going to come cheap at all.

[Providence A's]

And you're going to need a lot of dough for Millwood. The Mariners put a 4 year / $44 million deal on the table.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I have strong indications that Castellini is willing to pay pretty much anything in order to improve the team. He might have a limit, but I think O'Brien can go pretty high with the offers.

[redsrbetter]

I agree with CRF, I think Castellini is pushing this further than we expected. Otherwise, I think DanO would have been done this offseason and called it a success. I am looking forward to these next few weeks.

[Cincy]

Vazquez is making 11.5M in 06' and 12.5M in 07'. And from what I heard, there has only been limited interest in him because his numbers were down last season.

If the D'Backs don't want to let him become a FA, they're going to have to trade him and I really think Milton and Larue for him is a fair trade.

[Slyder]

We are going to have to give up more than LaRue. Milton would almost have to be part of the package to keep money from getting really ridiculous. Arizona does need to take him but they can be patient with it if need be. They wont pull an O'Brien and take a trade just cause its offered.