Mat Latos traded to the Reds
On Saturday, the San Diego Padres traded Mat Latos to the Cincinnati Reds.
According to Yahoo Sports, the Cincinnati Reds had to give up a lot of talent to land Latos. The Reds will receive four players in the deal, three of whom were former first round draft picks.
For the Cincinnati reds, the deal makes sense, because they were trading for a potential number one starter in Latos. The Reds had pretty much given up on Edinson Volquez, who is one of the four players going over to the Padres in the trade for Latos. Volquez won 17 games during the 2008 season, but has only managed 13 wins since then. Yonder Alonso, a talented first baseman, was part of the deal because he does not get much playing time, playing behind All-Star first baseman Joey Votto.
For the Padres, the deal makes sense, because Latos himself had an off year and is an unproven commodity at just 24 years of age. Volquez will most likely be in the Padres’ rotation to start the 2012 season. The Padres are hoping that Volquez, who himself is just 28, will recapture his 2008 form. The Padres also get Alonso and a potential closer in Brad Boxberger. The fourth player in the deal for Latos, Yasmani Grandal, is a talented young minor league catcher.
According to Bleacherreport.com, the deal was a bad one for the Reds because they gave up too many prospects to land Latos. The do feel that Latos can pitch well for the Reds.
If Latos becomes a legitimate number one starter as many project him to become, then the deal would have been worthwhile for Cincinnati. The Reds gave up players at the position where they have a lot of talent. This trade should be judged on how well Latos does. The fact that the Reds could have potentially made the Padres a better ball club with this trade should not act as the basis of how this trade is judged.
