Pre-deadline post

 Given that we are not trading for rentals (yeah!) here are some random thoughts as we approach the trade deadline:

Franmil Reyes - Look, we are between a rock and a hard place with this guy.   Look at all the chances they gave Oscar Mercado.  Let me be clear: addition by subtraction doesn't work here.   If you want to do addition by subtraction with Reyes you just send him to Columbus.  According to FanGraphs he still has two options remaining.  If he gets his game together he gets his game together.  In the meantime you give his ABs to someone who needs them.    

Sean Murphy - The darling of the media right now as far as being acquired by the Indians, the rationale AGAINST this move is that it appears Bo Naylor is almost ready.  Yes, handing the keys to the kingdom to a rookie seems fool-hardy until you imagine how much it will cost to pry Murphy away from the A's.  I just don't see paying that much for a mediocre major league hitter just because the average major league catcher is hitting about or below the Mendoza line when your answer is in AAA and should be available next year.  Even if he isn't available, there have to be better options than shipping a bunch of prospects to Oakland for Murphy.  Now, if Murphy could be had for Peyton Battenfield, Richie Palacios, Bryan Lavastida and Josh Wolf, I am on board.  Basically, 4 second tier prospects.  

Brian Reynolds - In March I would have said yes, but now I would say no.  Murphy is almost as good a hitter at a more important position.  Given our current outfielders, I just don't see Reynolds and his yeat-to-year roller coaster stats coming to Cleveland.   At the same time, if he had gone to the Yankees I think he would have turned into a star.  I just don't see us having the winning pct. or hitters around him to make a dent in being a .250/20 HR guy.

Juan Soto - I keep going back to him.   Looking at the player packages that are being proposed for his two biggest suitors (St. Lous and San Diego) I think we can exceed that without destroying our system.  And let's be honest, we need to move some PROSPECTS off this 40-man roster.  Murphy would help the offense and have longer tenure here AND likely be cheaper than Soto but Soto is a generational player.   Just ask yourself, would you rather have Andres Gimenez or Juan Soto?  Gimenez is a sometimes all-star, Soto is a perennial all-star.  As much as I love Gimenez, who 'moves the needle' but with help from ALL of his teammates, Soto moves the needle by himself.

Look, something HAS to be done with these prospects before the trade deadline.  If we can get Murphy for quantity rather than quality I am on-board.  If we can get Soto without giving up any of our core major league pieces I am on board, withing reason.  If we can trade guys like Noel and Tena and get one quality prospect like Jordan Walker from St. Lous, I am on board with that.  Anything that keeps the young talent coming and clears up roster space.