The Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds agreed to the biggest trade of the 2019 season and likely the most impactful deal of the deadline season. The Indians are sending Trevor Bauer to the Reds and will recieve Yasiel Puig from the Reds, Franmil Reyes from the Padres, Logan Allen from the Padres, and Victor Nova from the Reds farm system. The Padres will recieve outfield prospect Taylor Trammel.

Why the Indians make this move

We will start with the easiest sell. Bauer is young and has one more season of club control, but the Indians were getting tired of his act. Sunday’s explosion may have been the last straw. Of course, a team in the midst of a pennant race can’t completely surrender, so they needed to add something in return. Enter Puig and Reyes. Reyes has hit 27 home runs in the spacious Petco Park and Puig has added 22 home runs in Cincinnati. They will flank Oscar Mercado in left and right field to give the Indians one of the more impressive outfields in baseball. Couple them with Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, and Francisco Lindor and suddenly one of the worst offenses in the American League becomes a lot more potent.

Allen comes to the Indians from the Padres. He has a 6.75 ERA in limited innings at the big league level, so it is doubtful that he will have much of an impact. Nova is currently in the rookie league, so he is nothing more than a lottery ticket at this point. Still, it’s hard to imagine any pitcher on the market getting more in return than the Indians got for Bauer.

Why the Reds make this move

This is obviously more about 2020 than it is about 2019. Puig will be a free agent after the season, so dealing him away really doesn’t hurt all that much beyond this season. Bauer gives the Reds another top of the rotation arm to go along with Luis Castillo. Add in a suddenly effective Sonny Gray and a now healthy Alex Wood and the Reds have something cooking even if they eventually deal Tanner Roark.

Taylor Trammel was their number one prospect, so it is does hurt some. Scouts grade him out as a plus base runner and defender and he has the potential to add some power down the line. He is still only 21, so he wouldn’t have likely made an impact in Cincinnati in 2020 anyway. He has struggled in AA this season, so the Reds probably did good to flip him in a deal for a pitcher like Bauer.

Why the Padres make this move

I have to admit I’m a little puzzled at this one. The Padres had a logjam of corner outfielders with Reyes, Wil Myers, and Hunter Renfroe. Personally, I thought Reyes was the keeper of the bunch, but no one was going to take Myers’ contract after his struggles and I guess Renfroe didn’t move the needle enough. Getting a top 30 prospect (Trammel graded out as top 30 prior to 2019 according to every publication) is something. Trammel gives the Padres five prospects in the top 50 according to MLB.com. They now have eight prospects in the MLB.com top 100.

That being said, Reyes was just establishing himself as a cornerstone player with the franchise. You usually don’t see teams trade young stars in exchange for younger prospects. In the short term, Renfroe and Myers get to play every day, but the deal doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the Padres. Who knows, maybe they absolutely love Trammel or weren’t big fans of Reyes long-term. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense from the outside looking in.

What is the fantasy impact of this trade?

Bauer moves from a decent pitcher’s park into one of the more notorious hitter’s parks in the National League. Of course, he gets to face the pitcher a couple of times a game, so maybe this all evens out in the end. Certainly, Castillo and Gray have thrived there this season, so there’s no telling what the end result will be. The biggest winner here is probably Reyes. He gets to play every day and moves from perhaps the best pitcher’s park in baseball to a fairly neutral environment. He could easily surpass 40 home runs this season.

Puig is a bit of a wild card, but he always has been. There is no telling which Puig will show up. Will moving to a contender get an engaged Puig? I suppose that makes sense, but maybe he was engaged and now won’t be. If they get the same player that was in Cincinnati they will get a guy that should surpass 30 home runs and could go north of 80 runs and RBI.