Willy Mo traded for Bronson Arroyo (Confirmed)

[volzok]

I think Volzok and I are on the same boat here b/c between we have probably seen about 158/162 of the games on tv, in person or together in person (15-25 games a year we get to). And basically you know what you are getting in Bronson (an average pitcher), and we both know the vast potential (and immense power Wily Mo has)...even as Adam Dunn puts it, 'there is power and then there is Wily Mo power'....I dont see the long term value in trading a guy like Wily Mo for Bronson.

I totally agree with albbla here, obviously. I dont feel like going over all of this again so I will leave it at this: The Reds better compete for the wild card this season. That is the only way this deal makes a lot of sense for me. I really dont think its a great trade if Arroyo goes 16-4 but the Reds only win 72 games. Thats just my opinion though.

On a side note, I heard Krivsky on XM today and I thought he did a good job of explaining why he did this deal. I didnt agree with it, but I am happy that at least he thought the deal out and seems to have a plan with the team in general. The thing I took the most from it, though, was that he is pretty high on Denorfia at this point. He didnt come out and said it, but I think hes all but made the team. I feel this was also another reason Pena is gone. He feels that Denorfia will be a really good on base guy to hit in front of our power guys.

[Geki Ace]

As I said before, I think the best line-up has Denorfia playing in left and batting second. But Narron's a dick and won't let that happen, even though Deno plays better defense in left and Dunn could probably be much better than Hatteberg given a little time.

[redsrbetter]

There are times in our lives as a baseball fan that we have to consider ourselves useless. The most apparent time is when we realize that all we are is a fan and that we cannot change the way the front office handles certain situations.

I think it is apparent that a lot of Reds fans do not like the trade of Willy Mo Pena for Bronson Arroyo. It is hard for these fans to fathom a winning team in Cincinnati this year which makes it a lot harder to consider this as a good deal.

It can be argued that Pena has enough potential to become an All-Star caliber player. When you look at that kind of potential, you can't help but compare him with what the Reds got in return. You think to yourself that if the Reds were even more patient than they already have been with Pena, that he would have commanded a far greater return. In other words, if the Reds would have given him the chance to play everyday, he could have had the chance to tap into that potential a little bit and become a bigger commodity to those who were in the playoff hunt this July.

I think this is a very accurate estimate of what could have happened. But there is another side to this whole deal as well.

Bronson Arroyo brings credibility as a starting pitcher which is no bite in the rear end for this team. This team is hard pressed for pitching talent and they have received that now. The Reds and their fans should not view this as a saving grace trade, but it is a step in the right direction. This front office traded away potential that was playing in a position that has more depth than anywhere else on the roster for something they were in dire need of.

Of course, we are still in that sort of need for more and that goes to show you how badly they needed this deal to get done. Bronson Arroyo brings another legitimate starter that can keep this team in ball games. This offense will miss Pena's powerfull bat, but it won't miss it too much as he was not a regular last season and they still scored more runs than anybody.

So I like this trade for what we got in return, but there is still a problem that has yet to be faced. Jerry Narron is on his way to making this trade a huge mistake.

Willy Mo Pena was set to start in leftfield every day for the Reds this season. The Reds also had Adam Dunn penciled in at firstbase. A place where many feel like should be his natural position. With this sort of defensive alignment, you could figure that the pitching staff would have to work extra hard to get outs as the defense would be susceptible to making many errors behind them. No doubt something had to happen to change this alignment.

So once the Reds traded Pena, they decided to put Dunn back in leftfield. This is a nice upgrade to Pena that is for sure. But the bad part is that Narron has decided to start Hatteberg at first base.

The best thinking would be to fill the leftfield vacancy with the likes of Ryan Freel or even better the young up and comer Chris Denorfia. The fact that Narron is playing these guys that he loves so much, tells us that we may have a dead beat manager. One that would go as far as completely changing the face of the lineup for the sole purpose of playing his guys. This is not the management we need and this is likely the crutch of this trade.

I like the trade but not with Narron on this team.

[Geki Ace]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...p1=MEWell_Pos3

Arroyo sounds extremely pissed off, and really doesn't want to be in Cincinnati. I especially like this one:

"I'll go pitch for three years, become a free agent and see where I end up."

Another good one:

“It's one of those scenarios you feel will never happen to you. Nobody thinks they're going to be the one, whatever, to get in a car wreck to have their, you know, their kids killed in a plane crash, whatever, you don't think those things are going to happen to you. And I didn't think that I'd be traded."

Bye-bye, clubhouse chemistry.

[Fishercat]

Personally, I'd take it as more of a shock/disappointment at being traded from the Red Sox rather than to the Reds. He still has to give it a chance. Although, on a purely objective basis, can you blame him at this point for saying that?

[McKain]

Nope.

But we can sure blame Krivsky for the deal anyway.

[NFLman2033]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...p1=MEWell_Pos3

Arroyo sounds extremely pissed off, and really doesn't want to be in Cincinnati. I especially like this one:

"I'll go pitch for three years, become a free agent and see where I end up."

Another good one:

“It's one of those scenarios you feel will never happen to you. Nobody thinks they're going to be the one, whatever, to get in a car wreck to have their, you know, their kids killed in a plane crash, whatever, you don't think those things are going to happen to you. And I didn't think that I'd be traded."

Bye-bye, clubhouse chemistry.

lol thats great, I don't want him and he don't want to be here, got we have an awful GM

[Geki Ace]

I'm not blaming Arroyo at all. God knows I wouldn't want to be traded to Cincinnati if I was that happy and playing for a team that is actually good. I'm blaming Krivsky for making this deal without finding out whether or not Arroyo will have any dedication whatsoever. He could very easily just come here, not give a shit and make no effort, and leave in 3 years like he said.

[BoSox34]

"Bronson Arroyo talks to Keith Foulke this morning before leaving Red Sox camp for the last time. (AP Photo)"

That can't be Foulke in that pic, that's Josh Beckett lol

[Cincy]

Kind of late posting... but..

I like the deal. At least we have 3 average starters in our rotation now.

As for Hatteberg, he's not Pena, but he's better than Casey IMO.

[Geki Ace]

Hatteberg is just like Casey.

Except he can't hit for average and he can't hit doubles. So he pretty much sucks.

[Geki Ace]

Wily Mo is already dominating for Boston.

Pena singled to left in the seventh and walked in the ninth. During batting practice, the right-handed slugger belted balls onto the practice field beyond the left-field fence.

"It's fun to watch," Francona said. "He doesn't have to hit a ball that far to hit a home run."

And then he hit a homer off of Shawn Chacon today. This trade is going to be extremely regretted.

[Wally Mo Pena]

Wily Mo is already dominating for Boston. This trade is going to be extremely regretted.

I don't think we have to wish wily mo bad luck for this trade not to be regretted. All the media sources i've seen have called it a fair deal, whether they think it was a big trade or not.

Wily Mo will do well against lefties for the red sox this year, and have fun with manny and david ortiz, which is sweet for him. he may hit over 20 HRs, and as a sox fan, i hope he does.

But just because we didn't rip off the red sox doesn't mean it was a bad trade. We'll still have lots of offense, especially if kearns, lopez, and EdE continue to develop. and we'll have a guy who can put up a lot of good starts, and win a lot of games for us.

When arroyo is 8-3 or so with a 3.9 ERA at the break and Wily Mo has 9 HRs and 30 RBI, i think both teams will be happy with the move and hopefully, from my end, both teams will be in contention.

[Geki Ace]

8-3 on the Reds?

Try again. And there's no way adding Arroyo puts the Reds in contention, and I can't see how you can justify that. They were a 73-win team last year and the offense has gotten considerably worse over the offseason, while I don't expect either pitching improvement to have a big impact. In fact, I don't think Dave Williams will even be an improvement.

[Geki Ace]

Andy's going to Ole Miss. I hope Devan transfers to either K-State or Mississippi so there's absolutely no reason to root for UC next year.