The Reds took the July 31 trade deadline as an opportunity to make a bold statement: The rebuild is over. They bought hard in getting Trevor Bauer from the Indians and it cost them their top prospect, outfielder Taylor Trammell. They still have the slimmest of hopes for making something happen in 2019, but they are obviously looking ahead to 2020 and working to get a few banners hung. And after a half-decade of cellar-dwelling, this is very good news.
The rotation has been among baseball’s best this season, which is all the more impressive considering the long procession of cabbage farmers they’ve had on the mound the last five years.