Saturday, June 16, 2001
Bell, Deion out in roster overhaul
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Among 11 roster moves Friday, the big news was the return of Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Larkin and Aaron Boone, but the rest of the moves drastically changed the rotation and bench.
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FRIDAY'S MOVES
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ACTIVATED
• OF Ken Griffey Jr.
• SS Barry Larkin
• 3B Aaron Boone
CALLED UP
• P Justin Atchley
• P Lance Davis
• P Brian Reith
DESIGNATED OUT
• OF Deion Sanders
• INF Donnie Sadler
TRADED (To Texas)
• P Rob Bell
ACQUIRED (From Texas)
• OF Ruben Mateo (assigned to Louisville)
• INF Edwin Encarnacion (assigned to Dayton)
OPTIONED (To Louisville)
• 1B D.T. Cromer
• P Osvaldo Fernandez
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• OUT: Outfielder Deion Sanders and utilityman Donnie Sadler, who were designated for assignment; first baseman D.T. Cromer and starting pitcher Osvaldo Fernandez, who were demoted to Triple-A Louisville; and starting pitcher Rob Bell, who was traded to Texas for two prospects, outfielder Ruben Mateo and infielder Edwin Encarnacion.
• IN: Pitchers Justin Atchley, Lance Davis and Brian Reith.
Reliever Mark Wohlers added a little levity to the day of turmoil. He made up a “Hi, I'm Mark” name tag.
The reinforcements may have arrived too late for a playoff run, but they were welcomed.
“I'm really excited,” said Reds manager Bob Boone, “and I really don't know what to expect.”
The only shocker was the Bell trade. Mateo, named the top prospect in the Rangers organization three times, was assigned to Triple-A Louisville.
Bell, a 24-year-old pitcher, once was considered the top prospect of the pitching-rich Atlanta Braves, who traded him to Cincinnati in November 1998 with pitcher Denny Neagle and outfielder Michael Tucker for second baseman Bret Boone and pitcher Mike Remlinger. The Reds need pitching, so what gives?
“It was an opportunity to get two position players we think have a chance to be premier players down the road,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. “Sometimes trades like this are unpopular when you need pitching.”
Bowden said the Reds have a good nucleus of young pitchers in Reith, Chris Reitsma and Davis, as well as strong pitching in the minor leagues.
Bowden has long coveted Mateo, a five-tool outfielder. Mateo has played in the major leagues for parts of three seasons. He has a career average of .265 with 13 homers and 50 RBI in 124 games. He is coming off a broken femur, suffered in June 2 of last year, and is hitting .216 with one homer and eight RBI in 14 games with Triple-A Oklahoma since being optioned there May 29. With the Rangers, he hit .248 with one homer and 13 RBI this season.
Bell went 7-8 with a 5.00 ERA last year. This year, he is 0-5 with a 5.48 ERA in nine starts. The Reds are 1-8 in those starts.
“If Rob Bell was 5-0 and Ruben Mateo was hitting .300, this trade probably wouldn't have been made,” Rangers general manager Doug Melvin told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I'm not sure we soured on Ruben as much as we were concerned why he didn't respond when he was given the opportunity.”
Bowden said the Reds hope to sign outfielders Dmitri Young and Alex Ochoa beyond 2002. “But this gives us protection if we don't,” he said.
Davis and Reith will replace Bell and Fernandez in the rotation. Davis, Atchley and Reith, a trio of rookie pitchers, were called up from Louisville.
Because Sanders and Sadler were designated for as signment, the Reds have 10 days to trade them, release them or send them to the minors.
Sanders and Sadler are similar in that they have great speed but have not hit well. Sanders, the NFL cornerback making a baseball comeback this season, was hitting .173 for the Reds since he was promoted from Louisville on May 1.
Sadler, obtained this offseason for Chris Stynes from Boston, was hitting .202 for the Reds. Infielder Bill Selby and outfielder Brady Clark, called up as fill-ins after the spate of injuries, passed Sadler and Sanders on the depth chart.
“That's exactly how to assess it,” said Bob Boone.
As for Sanders, Boone said: “Coming in, it looked like a pretty good experiment. Now, we've got better (players).”
The Reds' first choice with both players would be to trade them. Bowden said he has heard from two clubs about Sanders and five about Sadler.
Fernandez, who began the season 5-2, simply pitched his way out of the majors. He was 0-4 with a 10.29 ERA in his last five starts.
Boone would not say if this is a temporary move for Fernandez.
“That's on Osvaldo,” Boone said.
Cromer, who has options, is the odd man out. He been with the Reds three times this year. He was hitting .278 with a homer and three RBI for the Reds.
Reith was just sent to Louisville on June 3. He made four starts for the Reds, going 0-3 with a 6.11 ERA. He was effective in three of the starts before allowing six runs in 1 2/3 innings in St. Louis on June2.
Reith, a 23-year-old right-hander obtained in the Neagle trade with the New York Yankees last season, had never pitched above Single A before the Reds acquired him. He was 4-1 at Double-A Chattanooga with a 2.15 ERA before the Reds called him up May 16.
Davis, a 24-year-old left-hander, will make his major-league debut tonight. He was the Reds' 16th-round pick in the 1995 draft. He was 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 13 starts.
Atchley gives the Reds another left-hander out of the bullpen, to go with Hector Mercado, while Dennys Reyes remains on the DL.
Atchley is the guy the Reds played roster Ping-Pong with in April. He was told he made the team just before the Reds broke camp in Florida. Then he was sent to Louisville in a last-minute move. He was recalled and pitched in two games in mid-April, but sent back to Louisville when Major League Baseball voided the transaction because he had re-signed too late to be eligible early in the season.
Atchley, a 27-year-old left-hander, put up great numbers at Louisville through it all: 1-0, 0.69 ERA with two saves.
With Larkin and Griffey in the lineup together for the first time since Aug.27 of last year, all the other moves seemed fairly insignificant.
“We'll see,” Larkin said.
Chris Haft contributed to this story.
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Bell, Deion out in roster overhaul