Did Reds Trade Away the Wrong Short Stop?

The return of Drew Stubbs to Cincinnati calls to mind the off season trade in which the Reds acquired Shin-Soo Choo.  Choo has been everything the Reds needed from the lead off position in the batting order.  But there was another player involved in the deal not there, and that's because the Indians moved him to Arizona for pitching in return.  That player is short stop Didi Gregorius.

The switch-hitting rookie has been just what the Diamondbacks needed, carrying a .324 batting average with 4 homers and 11 RBIs.  He's slugging .541 with an on-base percentage of .385 through 29 games, while hitting second in the batting order.

Monday night, he clubbed a 2-run home run as well as RBI triple versus Texas ace Yu Darvish as the Diamondbacks rallied to sweep a double-header from the American League West leading Rangers, 5-4.

Gregorius has been superb in the field, committing just 3 errors while helping to turn 12 double plays and recording 50 put outs and 83 assists.  A fielding percentage of .978.

By comparison, Reds short stop Zack Cozart -- who like Gregorius also hits in the two hole, is hitting .232 with 5 homers and 22 RBIs, while slugging .368 and an on-base percentage of .258.  Granted Cozart has played in 16 more games than Gregorius and his fielding is just as exceptional, only 3 errors in 175 chances for a fielding percentage of .983.  Still, it's easy to wonder if the Reds, this time around, traded away the wrong short stop.

Back in 1987 off season, the Reds had two highly thought of short stops in Kurt Stillwell and Barry Larkin.  In need of starting pitching help, then Reds General Manager Murray Cook sent Stillwell, along with reliever Ted Power, to Kansas City for starter Danny Jackson and infielder Angel Salazar.

The rest, as they say, is history.  Jackson won 23 games for the Reds in 1988 and was part of the 1990 World Series Championship squad.  Stillwell was a career .249 hitter in his 9 seasons in the big leagues, while Larkin, spent 19 seasons in his native Cincinnati.  He collected 2340 hits, 198 homers, 960 RBIs and 379 stolen bases and hit .295.  A 12-time All-Star, Larkin won the 1995 National League Most Valuable Player award, became the first short stop to become a member of baseball's famed 30-30 club (Homers and stolen bases) and, like Jackson, was a part (a big part) of the '90 championship squad.  A career that led to induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame last summer.

After acquiring Gregorius from the Indians, Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers compared him to the Yankees Derek Jeter, another future hall of famer.  High praise for sure.

Now it's been reported Reds GM Walt Jocketty did not want to have to part with Gregorius last off season, and it's impossible to know if the Choo trade would have been agreed to had Cozart been included in the deal instead of Gregorius.

The question that only time will answer is whether trading Gregorius and keeping Cozart is akin to the Reds trading away Barry Larkin, leaving them with Kurt Stillwell this time around.