O'Brien: An outfielder will be traded

[Providence A's]

the problem is, as the Astros have shown this year, pitching is key. They had one of the worst offenses and still made the World Series. Why? Pitching. If teams know this, why would they give up pitching for a hitter? Look at the Yanks and Red Sox...both had 2 of the best offenses. What let them down? Their pitching...so I stand by my statement of the Reds not getting as much as some Reds fans think they should/will...

[love_that_reefer]

Kearns and Pena just aren't worth that much. I have been saying that since last year and this year proved nothing different. They can get some better pitchers but don't expect aces or even number two pitchers for these guys.

[CincyRedsFan30]

the problem is, as the Astros have shown this year, pitching is key. They had one of the worst offenses and still made the World Series. Why? Pitching. If teams know this, why would they give up pitching for a hitter? Look at the Yanks and Red Sox...both had 2 of the best offenses. What let them down? Their pitching...so I stand by my statement of the Reds not getting as much as some Reds fans think they should/will...

I would be happy if we got someone as good as Harang or Claussen or either Kearns or Pena. I would expect someone decent for them.

Dunn is a franchise player who can carry an offense on his shoulders, so I would expect more for him.

[Wally Mo Pena]

We should get young starters with potential that is equal to that of Kearns/Pena. Kearns has a career OPS of .821

the problem with looking at kearns career OPS is that his awsome rookie year is several years and several key injuries behind us now. In baseball that's a lifetime. In the last three years he's got a .333 obp and a .445 slg for a .778 OPS, which is right around where he was this year.

that being said, i basically agree with CRF in that i think his potential is still hight and that a young guy with a high ceiling putting up a .778 OPS is better than a top minor league prospect. Even top prospects don't pan out, and kearns/pena have already shown they can be everyday major leaguers if not all-stars. So i think they should start looking at great pitching prospects on teams that have a lot of them and move up from there.

[Wally Mo Pena]

the problem is, as the Astros have shown this year, pitching is key... If teams know this, why would they give up pitching for a hitter? Look at the Yanks and Red Sox...both had 2 of the best offenses. What let them down? Their pitching.

Your not exactly blowing people's minds with "good pitching beats good hitting," everyone knows that. The problem with what you're saying is that pitching is a lot less consistent than hitting.

You cite the yankees and red sox, well where have they been the last 3 octobers with their great offenses? in the playoffs. year after year after year.

sure a lot of teams that win the whole thing have great pitching... that year. but how many teams get to the post-season year after year with the same pitchers? where were the marlins the next year? wasn't wade miller supposed to be the next clemens? where's he after three years?

a good hitter will can be highly productive for 15 years, with ups and downs sure, but always productive. you can count the number of active pitchers like that on one hand.

So it does make sense for teams to trade pitching for hitting if they have some pitching to spare. where were the twins this year? didn't they have the best staff in the AL?

[Providence A's]

you can never have too much pitching and since not every pitcher pans out, then why would a team want to give up pitching? To be like the Reds, Orioles, and Rangers? Softball teams with no pitching? The A's had either the 1st or 2nd best ERA in the AL and were in the playoff hunt until the last week despite the inconsistent offense. It's much easier to add a hitter or two, but what do you do if you have no pitching? Dunn would get you a better return than two guys who may or may not have a bright future. Dunn is already established. If you want something of value, then you have to give up something of value. If you want to give up guys that aren't proven, then you're going to get the same kind of player in return.