Kearns for Clement?

[rwalling]

Kearns to Cleveland, Coco Crisp to Boston, Matt Clement to Cincy - Do you do it?

A legit #2 starter and a starting lineup that looks like:

Freel

Lopez

Griffey

Dunn

Pena

Womack/Aurilia

Encarnacion

LaRue/Velentin

I know the offense wouldn't be quite as good, but defense and team speed would be better. Freel would have an every day gig in the OF. I say pull the trigger.

[Stripes]

Is this a potential trade in the works? If so, then heck yeah go for it. That sounds too good to be true, even if Clement is a little inconsistent.

[bengalboomer7]

The name Matt Clement brings up not so fond memories and reminds me of a guy we already have, Eric Milton. (a glorified Eric Milton)

Plus, I'm not too keen on Willy Mo, especially in the outfield. His defense is almost unbearable to watch.

We'd have a fast team, and overall a good defensive team, but I don't know about the offense.

I'd say do it, but only if we see at least a mid level prospect to go with Clement.

With the way the state of the Reds is, I'd probably do it regardless just to have a pitcher.

[CBin2k7]

A Big fat no. Clement is owed something like 20 million over the next two seasons, he is way too inconsistent, his ERA jumped a full run last season, and his strikeouts per nine innings dropped signifigantly, plus he is 31, and pitching in a hitters paradise.

Just say no.

[Kirkendall]

A Big fat no. Clement is owed something like 20 million over the next two seasons, he is way too inconsistent, his ERA jumped a full run last season, and his strikeouts per nine innings dropped signifigantly, plus he is 31, and pitching in a hitters paradise.

Just say no.

But isn't this immediate reaction the reason we're in the situation we're in?

[skyline]

A Big fat no. Clement is owed something like 20 million over the next two seasons, he is way too inconsistent, his ERA jumped a full run last season, and his strikeouts per nine innings dropped signifigantly, plus he is 31, and pitching in a hitters paradise.

Just say no.

But isn't this immediate reaction the reason we're in the situation we're in?

My thought exactly. Any pitcher that we'll be able to get right now that has had any past success is going to cost some money. And any pitcher we bring in will be coming to a hitter's paradise.

Now, you could make a case that spending money is ok, but that Clement is just a tad too much. Still, I don't think that this franchise's starting rotation is ever going to head in the right direction until we overpay a guy or two and start getting this pitching staff headed in the right direction with people who have experienced winning. Why would a #1 type of guy even want to come to Cincinnati, when they've spent the last however many years losing in a small salary setting with no-name pitchers? After we bring in a couple of #2 to #3 guys, however, and pay them a little bit of money (even if it is slightly too much), then those #1s we so highly covet may be a little more willing to look our way.

[Kirkendall]

Oh, I agree, it'll be difficult to bring people here.

I also think we're going to HAVE to over-pay for players. Why you say?

Players go to teams with a winning culture or tradition -- that's just in a competitors nature. But to do that, you need to get that culture rolling by, well, winning. To win in MLB is to pay people to play. That's just the way it is. No, I don't like it either, but that's the way it is.

You can't compare it to the Bengals for the simple reason of the draft. Football drafts have immediate impacts on teams, where baseball drafts go 3-4 years before seeing anyone from that class.

We need to establish an organization that will be competitive for players to come here. We need to establish a front office that will work with the players, not hinder them.

[Whur CHad At?]

I heard Austin Kearns was going to be traded to CLE for SP Jake Westbrook, but Dan "The Man" O' Brein shot it down. Jake Westbrook is good, but I would rather see Clement here. I would do it. What the hell, can't get much worse than it already is.

I think whatever pitcher we can get, will struggle here just becuase we have such a hitter-friendly ballpark. We could get Roger Clemons, and he'd prob. give up 30 homers a year.

So like I said, whatver, do it, see what happens.

[CBin2k7]

I don't know, it seems to me there was absolutely no difference between Milton and Clement. The only reason we signed Milton is because Clement turned us down in the first place. I just can't envision tying up nearly 20 million dollars in Milton and Clement, without extending the contract of Dunn yet. I would trade Kearns for Westbrook

Westbrook and Clement are very similar, except Westbrook is younger and cheaper and he is still a name.

Clement has a decent two seam fastball that works as a sinker, while Westbook has a really good straight up sinker, and cut fastball and when he is on, his changeup is lights out

[oldschooler]

Reds inform Kearns he’s not on the block

Interim GM says team has no plans to trade outfielder

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Jim Massie

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Interim Cincinnati Reds general manager Brad Kullman called outfielder Austin Kearns yesterday to tell him that the team is not on the verge of trading him for a pitcher.

"I just thought it was important to let him know," Kullman said. "We have no active trade discussions about Austin Kearns. We have no plans to trade him, period."

After the Reds fired GM Dan O’Brien last week, two major trade rumors sprouted involving Kearns. One had Cleveland offering pitcher Jake Westbrook for him. The other had Kearns going to the Indians in a threeway deal that would have brought pitcher Matt Clement from Boston to Cincinnati.

Kullman and the baseball operations staff met Thursday and Friday to talk about potential ways to upgrade the club’s pitching heading into spring training.

"It’s no secret what we need," Kullman said. "We had a lot of good discussions about what we have and what we have coming up in the organization. We feel that Austin Kearns is not part of the problem. He’s part of the solution playing right field every day. We think he can win a Gold Glove and that he will hit again like he did in ’02 and ’03."

A first-round choice in the June 1998 draft, Kearns was headed toward a breakout season in ’03 when he suffered a shoulder injury in a home-plate collision with St. Louis pitcher Ray King in late May. The injury eventually required season-ending surgery.

The shoulder still bothered him in ’04 and he fell out of favor with O’Brien. At the end of the season, the Reds sent Kearns to the Instructional League to work out at third base. That experiment ended with the signing veteran Joe Randa to play the position in ’05.

An unhappy Kearns wound up platooning in right with Wily Mo Pena and spent part of the season at triple-A. The off-season trade of first baseman Sean Casey will allow the team to move Adam Dunn from left field to first base. Kearns will play right and Pena will be in left.

Dunn said Thursday that he played most of last season with a broken right hand — and it still hurts.

He hit .247 with 40 home runs and 101 RBI but said a hairline fracture developed after he dived into third base on a pickoff play in a game last May in Houston. Later in the year Dunn was hit by a pitch on the same spot, he said. Dunn downplayed the injury and said it wasn’t a big deal, even though he still feels some pain. "Yeah, I had it checked this week and the doctor said I should put a splint on it, but the heck with that," Dunn said. Reds manager Jerry Narron said he was aware of the injury and that Dunn wouldn’t let the team X-ray the hand because he wanted to play. Dunn, 26, is in salary arbitration with the Reds. He’s asking for $8.95 million for this season. The Reds are offering $7.1 million. The Associated Press contributed to this story.

http://www.dispatch.com/reds/reds.php?stor...129-E11-02.html