Reds make a trade with Seattle

The Cincinnati Reds have traded right-handed pitcher Robert Manuel to the Seattle Mariners for outfielder Wladimir Balentien.

Balentien, who made is MLB debut in 2007, has only played in 130 career games in three seasons. During that span he has hit .209 with 12 HR and 41 RBI. Balentien is a right handed bat and has played a number of games at each position in the outfield.

Manuel made his MLB debut this July for the Reds and in three games and 4.1 innings pitched Manuel gave up five hits, no runs, walked one and struck out two. Not really sure the thinking behind this deal. Balentien has shown some inconsistencies at the plate, but he is only 25. Waldimir was designated for assignment by the Mariners on July 25th. This season he has dealt with some wrist injury issues. He has mainly been labeled as a disappointment in Seattle, as he was one of their highly touted prospects.

Evaluating the Cincinnati Trade for Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the greatest Baseball players of all-time. On February 10, 2000 GM Jim Bowden and the Cincinnati Reds traded Jake Meyer, Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez and Bret Tomko to the Seattle Mariners for Junior. The trade was monumental for the Reds at the time, they were able to secure the best player in the game who happened to play his High School baseball in Cincinnati. There is no doubt that from a marketing standpoint the trade was a plus for Cincinnati. Ken Griffey Jr. brought people to the ballpark and brought national attention to a team who needed it at the time. But I was curious to take a look back and evaluate the statistics of the two main players involved in this trade, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Cameron. There is no doubt that Griffey is a much better player overall than Cameron, but if you look at what they have done since the trade, the trade is a little more even than what you would suspect.)
Ken Griffey Jr. statistics after being traded to the Reds:
(Does not include 2009 stats)
1,238 Games
938 Hits
3,484 AB
.269 AVG
213 HR
620 RBI

Mike Cameron
986 Games
1,146 Hits
4,557 AB
.251 AVG
197 HR
690 RBI

What do these statistics tell us? To me it says that the Reds didn't get as good of a deal as they may have suspected at the time. Everyone knows the story of Griffey and being plagued by injury. Junior is riding out his career in Seattle currently while Cameron is still contributing for the Brewers.