Yesterday I lobbed out a simple concept that Christian Encarnacion-Strand, the slugging prospect of the Cincinnati Reds whose defensive positions overlap him with the likes of Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Spencer Steer, would potentially be the team’s biggest trade chip if they wanted to make a big splash in the pitching market this summer.
I did! You hated it.
I don’t blame you. For many of the reasons I never once suggested that it was a good idea, I don’t blame you. It was me merely trying to point out that a) the Reds have made it pretty clear they aren’t going to go splash tons of cash in free agency to sign players, b) they’ve made a habit of acquiring top tier pitchers via trades, c) they might be one good pitcher away from making this season more interesting than it otherwise would be, and d) CES’s prospect stock is a lot, lot higher now than it was when he was acquired last year.