The Future and Trade Deadline....

That is the little picture. The big picture is the ownership of this team started their second decade at the beginning of this season. They bought the team in 2007. Like you said we are nowhere near championship baseball so the big question is when? After 15 years of ownership? 20? I think Williams does have a plan but the zoom out on this is that in 11 seasons there is a ham and egg approach to contention. The years they were competitive they made no trades to bolster their chances. There seems to be no sense of urgency in any given year, as if this goes on forever. And let's face it, we are just seeing signs of life from this team right now. The rest of their "Success" was largely due to the work of other GM's. They literally have done not much. I would trade and/or buy starting pitching. These things can take 4-5 years to sort out and who knows where the rest of the team will be by then. Waiting is for the timid. Winning is for the bold.

Going back as far as Bowden, I can't think of a decent trade a Red's GM has made. We always get fucked by other GMs giving us either injured players or ones that become magically injury prone when they became Reds (Griffey, Marshal, Majewsky, hippie pitcher from royals and the list goes on).

Two summers ago, the FO totally shit their pants with their half ass fire sale. They only traded 2 pitchers that were salary dumps and  rentals for the teams that acquired them (Cueto, Leake). Finnegan and Duval are the only ones I think are still with us. My problem is not with the trades, it's the fact that the FO just stopped there. I'm lying a little, I hated they traded Cueto and gave the money to Bailey (how's that working out?).

Like Rod said, when we were competitive the FO sat with their thumbs up there asses and "liked what we had". No improvement was made to get us to the next level. This type of mentality is frustrating and has turned me into a casual fan.....depressing. 

Not only that but what playoff team is willing to give us a legitimate starting pitcher if they plan on contending? What playoff lock has more than 4 decent starters? What other team looking to dump a starter salary wants a 32 yr old SS that is set to be a FA? Cozart is a complicated situation. Getting rid of him for anything less than a decent start and I'm not talking a Dan Straily, is stupid. Just keep him.

I like your idea of shipping out Hamilton even if it's for lesser prospects or a bullpen arm. Somebody will want him for the reasons you cited. If the rest of the squad is intact and you add Winker this lineup would really be good. Winker could be a leadoff or #2 hitter.

I didn't think about the draft comp

About Winker I have to agree that that's a possibility. I hadn't considered that. He is so punchless nobody up here would walk him. He would either sink or hit. Look at Hamilton. The same thing is happening to him and he is proving he can't hit. He is basically a sideshow for the rebuild to distract from the big picture. I had hope for him after the 2nd half last season but he is showing that to be the exception not the rule.

And that is a great point about Cozart too. I didn't think about the draft compensation. Their trades have been solid in recent years but Zack's case is complicated all round IMO. We would need a haul to trade him and I don't think a contender nor salary dump non contender would give it to us.