Perusing the blogosphere and the twitter, reactions to the Johnny Cueto trade have been very mixed. Some have hailed the three left-handed pitching prospects as a good haul for Cincinnati’s former ace. Others, however, have felt the deal fell well short of the mark they’d hoped to see for the best Reds pitcher since Jose Rijo.
Redleg Nation writers have already written great profiles on the three prospects that are now part of the Reds organization through this deal. Therefore, please refer to those articles for in-depth biographical and analytical information on the new players:
Brandon Finnegan, LHP, 22 years old by Grant Freking
Cody Reed, LHP, 22 years old by Jeremy Conley
John Lamb, LHP, 25 years old by Kevin Michell
The question I want to try to address is whether the return the Reds received matches what we should have expected given Cueto’s combination of excellence and limited team control.