Some fans in Cincinnati may think Reds G.M. Jim Bowden screwed up by trading away his best pitcher. I disagree. Realistically, the Reds were not going to catch the Cardinals, and they would have had a tough time getting the wild card. Bowden is apparently shopping almost everyone on his roster, and he had a lot of other teams interested in Neagle. In two weeks, when the deadline is upon us, many teams will decide to put their pitchers on the trading block. But Bowden jumped into a seller’s market by trading Neagle early. He got two top prospects from the Yankees, in third baseman Drew Henson, and outfielder Jackson Melian. If those two make it to the major leagues in a couple years, the Reds could be moving into a new ballpark with them, Ken Griffey Jr., Sean Casey, and Pokey Reese leading the way. They still have the best young bullpen in baseball. My guess is that Bowden will find some starting pitching by then too. He has shown by acquiring Griffey, and trading Neagle, that he is one of the most aggressive GM’s in the game.
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