CINCINNATI -- Cody Reed was moving steadily upward in the Royals organization until his baseball world received an unexpected jolt. When the Reds traded Johnny Cueto to Kansas City on July 26 for three left-handed pitching prospects, one of them was Reed.
Pitching with Double-A Northwest Arkansas before the deal, Reed packed up to join his new organization. He met up with his new team, Double-A Pensacola, while it was on a road trip in Chattanooga, not knowing what to think about his new situation.
"I thought it was going to be a lot worse, to be honest.