Upon Further Review

Well, the Winter Meetings have come and gone and the Reds have nothing to show for the week's work. Yet, we should not fret, a move could still be made between today and Spring Training. I have to say I'm a little disappointed Wayne Krivsky didn't come away with another starter, but I am glad he didn't mortgage the future for a four of five guy. They did pick up a guy in the Rule 5 draft; Sergio Valenzuela will most likely be fighting for a spot in the bullpen come Feburary. Valenzuela is a 23 year old, righty who is doing very well in winter league play, but doesn't have much else on his resume. But somebody saw something in him, so let us cross our collective fingers and hope for Jared Burton part two. What I want to touch on today is the notorious trade that went down between the Reds and Nationals in 2006. Cincinnati was up in arms when their native son (Austin Kearns), heir apparent to Barry Larkin (Felipe Lopez), and first-round pick (Ryan Wagner) were traded to evil Jim Bowden. Not only was it heartbreaking to see those players go, who did the Reds get in return? Royce Clayton!!!! Are you kidding me?! Well, I am, as I'm sure you are, glad to see Royce Clayton out of town. Brenden Harris was another piece that has been shipped out. Harris had a decent season with the Devil Rays in 2007, and while the Reds don't need a starting middle infielder, it wouldn't hurt to have Harris as a backup. Oh well. Gary Majewski and Bill Bray were supposed to fill right in the bullpen and change the season. Majewski was alleged to be damaged goods and may never recover, but if he ever does return to his best form he'll make the Reds pen one of the elite. Bray is still young, 24, and left-handed so he will be forgiven for his sub-par numbers last season. While with the Nationals, Bray's face was plastered all over press releases, so as far as the Nats I think Bray was the biggest piece they gave up. But none of these names are who I find intriguing. Daryl Thompson is the last, long forgotten piece of this deal. I personally watched one of Thompson's five starts in Low-A Dayton last year, and I can say without hesitation if he progress as he should, he will be in the majors in a couple seasons. Thompson, who just celebrated his 22nd birthday, had 14 wins against 5 loses between Low and High-A baseball while posting an ERA of 3.18. He pitched 133 innings and gave up 122 hits, only 33 walks, and struck out 121. If he can make the bigs by 2009 to fill out a rotation of Aaron Harang, Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto, and himself, Daryl Thompson will most certainly be the biggest piece of that trade.......for both sides.