SMART MOVE: Cincinnati Reds Should CHOOSE Jaren Duran Over Luis Robert Jr or Byron Buxton

SMART MOVE: Cincinnati Reds Should CHOOSE Jaren Duran Over Luis Robert Jr or Byron Buxton

Three outfielders were listed as possible trade candidates for the Cincinnati Reds, but only one of them would be a clear upgrade. [Music] You are locked on Reds, your daily Cincinnati Reds podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome into the Locked On Reds podcast. Locked on Reds is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in the country. We thank you for making that happen with us and Lockdown Reds is your team every single day. Your Reds every single day. And my name is Jeff Carr. I’m a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan and I’ve been hosting this podcast now for seven seasons, bringing you takes you won’t see anywhere else. On today’s podcast, the Reds have been labeled as a good fit for Luis Robert Jr., Jiren Duran and Byron Buckton. I’m going to tell you why Durant is clearly the best of those and a lot of it would have to do with what it would cost to get any one of those three. Also, to finish out today’s podcast, Todd Welter from Lockdown White Socks joins me to nail down just how much Luis Roberts Luis Robert Jr’s market has changed. And spoiler alert, it hasn’t changed all that much. Although there is an interesting caveat that the Reds could pursue for a deal. That’s all in today’s episode that is brought to you by FanDuel if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season. Visit fanol.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. All right, ESPN came out with an article that was a collaboration between Jeff Passen and Kylie McDaniel where they talked about the top trade candidates on the market this season or at least guys who have rumors surrounding them at some point this off season. And the Reds have been listed to three or listed as fits for three outfielders. Not that they have contacted these teams per se, but that these trades would make sense. And Jiren Durant is the clear favorite among the three. It’s Jiren Duran, Byron Buckston, and Luis Robert. If you told me, Jeff, pick one of those three, I’m picking Jiren Duran. And there’s a lot of reasons as to why. Now, granted, all three of these guys would be upgrades in some way. I think you could make the argument that Luis Robert would be the slimmest margin of upgrades of the three players, but I think that Jiren Durant is clearly an upgrade on anything that the Reds have had in the outfield for years. I mean, for the last three seasons, he’s been good. He was really good in 2024 as he finished in the top 10 MVP voting and he had an 8.7 war that year. Last year he came down a little bit, but 4.7 war would still be one of the best players on the Red’s roster, bar none. And at the plate, he’s been equally as impressive. In 2024, he actually led all of baseball in doubles and triples. So yes, everybody that really likes to agree with the Barry Larkin take of homers or rally killers, guess what? Jiren Ran isn’t the biggest home run guy. He does a lot of extra base hitting, but it ain’t necessarily of the four bag variety. It’s mostly doubles and triples. He had 21 homers in 2024. He had 16 homers in 2025. And he’s playing at Fenway where I I I feel like you can hit home runs. It’s not as if Fenway is this ridiculously pitcher friendly park. And in fact, he’s a lefty, so he’s got that short porch in right field. So, it’s not as if he’s got some sort of excuse that he’s playing in a pitcher’s ballpark here. So, I think that he’s the type of guy that is just a good overall hitter. Last season had a 114 OPS plus. We’ve talked about this before. That would lead the Red’s lineup as far as OPS+ is concerned. And when you talk about his contract situation, it is the most favorable of the three guys mentioned between Buckton, Robert, and Duran. Duran is under control for three years, including this season. He’s already avoided arbitration with the Red Sox at $7.7 million for next season. He is under arbitration for two more seasons. That is so and and then that’s going to drive up his trade price a little bit, but it’s going to be worth it because we know who he is. And I think that there are some people that have asked the question about, you know, he he does have some off the- field concerns, not not anything that is like, you know, unsavory or anything like that. He is he has uh dealt with some mental health things, but I don’t think that that is an issue. I think that he has worked through that. He has overcome that. And so I’m not looking at that as a reason to not go for trade, not go trade for Jiren Durant. I think that this would be one of the best moves the Reds could make. You could argue it’s just as good as Kyle Schwarber, although you would have to trade players in the deal. We’ll talk about uh what these trades might cost here in just a minute because when I look at Jiren Duran, the reason that I think he is over Byron Buckton is twofold. Byron Buckton is twice as expensive. He’s going to be making $15 million next year. He does have three years left on his contract, but he will also be 33 years old. He is going to make $15 million next year, $15 million in 2027, and $15 million in 2028. That’s all guaranteed. There’s no options or anything like that. So that’s what he’s owed, $45 million over the next three years. And on top of that, we are talking about a guy who, yes, when he is on the field, man, he’s a game changer. Had a really good year last year. He played in 126 ball games. That’s the second most games played he’s had in a single season in his career. That’s where I want to focus on this because Byron Buckston has played in the league now for 11 seasons. Three of those he has played in more than 100 games. Just three. That’s eight seasons. And you know I I begrudg his first year he was called up for a cup of coffee. So, okay, you know, seven seasons where he was counted upon to be a guy to play every day and he was nowhere close to that. In fact, when you look at, you know, when you discount the callup year, 2015, and and you say, okay, the rest of his career, he was counted on to be a guy for the Twins. In those seven seasons, he never played more than 92 ball games. He has dealt with injuries all of his career and it’s because he is a very aggressive player. He is a very athletic player, very fast player, does everything flashy and it’s amazing and it’s so much fun to watch. I have no doubt that if he were a Cincinnati Red, I would love him. I’d be all in on him. But what it would cost to get him now and what you would have to give up and and and the fact that the Reds would still have to clear money in order to make this work, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. There was an actual proposed deal that we’ll get into in a little bit, which is what scares me. But like even considering, all right, last season 126 ball games. 2024 he played 102 ball games. That’s two years in a row of over a hundred. 2023 85 games. 2022 92 games. 2021 61 games. We won’t count 2020 obviously can’t go over 62 um or 60 ball games. 87 games in 2019, 28 games in 2018. I mean, you go back a long ways. Guy has just not been on the field. And as much as you can point to power, speed, all of the things that he has, availability is the best ability in my opinion. If he’s not going to be on the field, then how is this a big upgrade? It’s a big upgrade for a percentage of the season. I would much rather have Jiren Durant than Bayern Bucks. And then you also look at Luis Robert. For a minute, I thought we were done with this rumor. Like if you remember an article that Gordon Whitmer had uh back in February, it was talking about how ridiculous the trade demands had gotten from the White Sock side. This is not something that the Reds are scoffing at. You know, I I I think it was made mention at the trade deadline that the Reds turned down a potential deal with the Diamondbacks to get Auano Suarez because of the amount of cash that would be heading back from the Reds to the Diamondbacks. And and that seems kind of strange. That’s not what this is. The White Socks are asking for the moon, the stars, and Mars. I I don’t know what the, you know, metaphor is here, but they’re asking for everything. to get Luis Robert. And Luis Robert is owed $20 million this year because his club option was picked up by the White Socks. And he has a club option for 2027 for $20 million. If you’re the Reds, you’re looking at this as a one-year guy because the Reds don’t pick up $20 million club options. They just don’t. Unless he went crazy, which over the last two years, him going crazy would be giving back to league average. Because in 2024, he had an 86 OPS+. In 2025, he had an 85 OPS plus. So 2024, we talked about the rumors last offseason like he sort of had a down year in 2024. He got worse in 2025. So I have a hard time saying yes, yes, go get Luis Robert because we know what it’ll cost. and it just seems like it’s too much. So Jiren Durant is the guy of these three fits. According to Jeff Passive and Kylie McDaniel from ESPN, the Reds are, you know, good fits for a couple of outfielders. Go get Jiren Durant. That would be awesome. So, you know, on top of these guys profiles, there’s a very different level of cost and value involved with each trade candidate. As the NFL season is into its stretch run, you can check out the live action that’s over on FanDuel. When you’re talking about games are kicking off, you’ve got teams scoring point spreads are moving around. I keep looking at this Bengals Bills game that point spread right now is Bengals are underdogs by five and a half points. I feel like if the Bengals get scored on first if the Bills go up seven nothing early, then that line’s going to move to a place where I’m going to be comfortable with it because I I I feel like the Bengals are still a bit of an enigma. Their defense is seems to be improved, but quite frankly, how can you not be improved with how bad they’ve been? But I don’t know, like they they’re in must-win territory every single week. So, I think they’re going to be a fun team to live bet. You could also look at the pregame line for the Browns and the Titans. Somehow the Browns are only favored by three and a half. Feel like the Browns are just going to smash the Titans and I just complimented the Browns, so I’m done with that. Anyway, you can check out so many different things over on FanDuel, especially in the live betting area and get in on the action every single week, even Thursday night’s ball game, of course, as well. All on FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app today. Thank you for making Lockdown Reds part of your everyday routine. If you’re an everydayer out there, you rock. And if you’re not an everydayer, hit that subscribe button right here on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app because we are free and available everywhere you get your podcasts. All right, so what’ll it cost, man? What will it cost? Talk about these three outfielders and any one of them. It’s going to be a trade package that if the Reds were to get it done, we’d be like, “Okay, that’s interesting.” Because none of these guys are the typical like Nick Crawl specials, right? I don’t say this to to bash on Nick Crawl. I just say this, he has a type. All right, Nick Crawl has a type when it comes to acquiring players. He’s looking for the broken down dude, the dude who’s had a couple of rough years that he could probably get on the cheap and and the hopefully the Reds will get him fixed and and and this season, this next coming season is his best season yet. That’s what he did with Austin Hayes. That’s what he’s done with countless guys. That’s not what any of these guys, you could argue that Luis Robert is, but the White Socks are not making that argument. The right the White Socks are are very much of the uh no, you’re gonna pay for this guy uh thought process. So, I I just none of these guys fall under the typical Nick Crawl trade variety, but for me, Jiren Durant has the best mix of him being a clear upgrade for the team and how much it would cost to get him. Not that he’ll be the cheapest by any stretch, but that you’re going to get the most bang for your buck here, right? Like, you know, it’s the holiday season. We’re talking about shopping for for gifts for people. And you know, what’s the best value? Like, this is the best value. Jiren Durant of these three guys is the best value that the Reds could go get. And I think here this could be an interesting scenario because the Red Sox are looking for pitching depth in their starting rotation. The Reds have that. they could offer them Brady Singer as a starting point. Now, you will need to package a really decent prospect with Brady Singer to get this done because Brady Singer just has one year of team control left and I think because you know the Red Sox just acquired Sunny Gray from the Cardinals starting the whole tear down there in St. Louis. Thank you, Boston. Um I think it’s either a mutual option or a club option, but Sunny Gray isn’t under multiple years of guaranteed control. And with Brady Singer not under multiple years of team control or guaranteed control, um you would probably need to package a prospect with him that it doesn’t I don’t think it would have to be an elite guy, but a very good guy. And I think that Leo Balazar fits that model. Leo Balazar’s had a very nice Arizona Fall League, just got added to the 40man roster. It’s clear that the Reds value him. And I think that other teams would value him because that’s another reason why you add a guy to the 40man roster to protect him from the rule five draft. Had he been exposed, I would expect Leo Balazar would have gotten picked. So it makes sense that they protected him. But you could put him and Brady Singer together, I think, for a package for Jiren Durant. Could be totally wrong on that one. That could be something that I might be a little bit lowballing on. I’ll admit, I’m not a general manager, spoiler alert. So, I don’t necessarily understand specifics about what people are looking for, but when you consider what the Red Sox have, what they need, and what they would like to get, this feels like a trade offer that they could go for for Jiren Durant. and the fact that Jiren Durant has multiple years of guaranteed arbitration team control, maybe you go higher than Leo Balazar. I would be willing to consider a guy like Tyson Lewis, maybe. Um maybe Chase Petty if they’re looking for more pitching depth like in their farm system. I don’t know. But I I think that you could get it done with Brady Singer and a decent to very good prospect in this deal. So then comparing that to what we’ve seen from other other things, there actually was a Byron Buckton possible trade proposal though as though it was given with the caveat that it’s a ridiculous trade proposal. So it most likely won’t happen but it gives us a bit of a baseline of understanding. an Anthony Castroveny of.com wrote this article about possible ridiculous trade ideas that could work. And it’s a three-team deal that sends Byron Buckston to the Cincinnati Reds, sends Brady Singer to the Houston Astros, sends a package of prospects from the Astros to the Twins, and then sends a package of prospects in Tyson Lewis and Mason Neville from the Reds to Minnesota. And in case you’re unfamiliar with those names, Tyson Lewis, the shortstop prospect, Doug Gray has him rated in the top five prospects in his uh organization rankings, and I trust Doug the most when it comes to Red’s prospects. So, if he likes him, I like him. And then Mason Neville, he’s an outfield prospect with a lot of power, though he is a little bit lower in the rankings. He’s about 25 when it comes to the Red’s organization. But I still kind of like Mason Neville for what he brings to the plate. He’s an outfielder with power. I find this trade to be too expensive for the Reds. Plus, you have to get rid of Brady Singer in this deal to free up money for Byron Buckton. As we mentioned, Byron Buckton making $15 million a year. And if the Reds only have $20 million to spend and you acquire 15 million without giving up too much money, uh, without freeing up too much money, then you’ve spent most of your money on one guy who most likely is going to be hurt at some point this year. So, it just seems like it’s a little bit too much for me. You really have to do some financial finagling to make this work. And I feel like you would be really overstretching yourself for I’m I’m just not sure of the return here. like Byron Bucks. I get it and I know that there’s some people and I’ve talked with those people before who just vehemently disagree with me and find it strange that I don’t like the idea of acquiring Byron Buxom, but I don’t I just I feel like he’s not on the field enough. I need a guy that’s on the field more and what it will cost to get him is a lot. Speaking of what it will cost to get him, Luis Robert, boy oh boy, this this this trade rumor feels like it’s been all over the map. And I’m going to talk with uh Todd Welter here in a few minutes just to really nail down what Chris gets, White Sox general manager is uh thinking right now for what he needs for Luis Robert and it hasn’t changed very much I don’t think but it’s been all over the map. I mean the last that we heard of any Red’s interest Gordon Whitmer wrote a article about this last February as we were getting into spring training as things were really starting to get going. uh he wrote last February that the White Socks were actually willing to pay down some of Robert’s salary. Now, that was last year’s salary at 15 million. They would probably need to pay more down of that. If the Reds weren’t comfortable acquiring Luis Robert at 15 million, they’re definitely going to be very antsy about acquiring him at 20 million. And so, the White Sox were willing to pay some of that down for a a better prospect return. And there were multiple trade packages that were being discussed according to G Gordon Whitmer. One of them with Edwin Aoyo and multiple other prospects in the deal. And the other one of the other trade packages that were being widely discussed included both Chase Burns and Rhett Louder. Oh boy. I I think I kind of side with Steve on this one where Steve was like, “Thank the Lord that Nick Crawl didn’t do this. I’m still I’m still there.” If that’s what the cost is, I’m still very much uninterested in going after Luis Robert because it just feels like there’s too much hope here. Like sure, you could see him do an Andrew Vaughn where the White Sox got rid of Andrew Vaughn, the Brewers picked him up, and all of a sudden he figured out how to baseball, but I just don’t know, man. And there’s too much hope involved here. I don’t feel like it’s an answer. And what you would have to give up to find out if it’s an answer or not just feels like too much. So go get Jiren Durant. He’s got the best cost to production value of these three fits. The question is, have the White Socks changed their demands? We’ll get that answer from our Lockown White Sox host coming up next. I invite you to continue the conversation with me after the show is over. You can follow me at JeffCar with three Fs. You can also follow Steve at Soffenbaker with two Fs. He’s out gallivanting on a cruise ship. I saw he took a picture with the cruise director. Oh yeah, you know, fun times for for Steve out there on the ocean. Uh but you can follow him at S Offenbaker with two Fs. You can also follow Tim Daniel at TimDaniel518. And you can follow lockdown reds at lockdown reds all onx talking about the reds all day long. All right, so I I got the chance to talk with Todd Welter kind of trying to figure out what is this market for Luis Robert right now. And boy, seems like it’s Groundhog Day when it comes to this rumor. All right, Jeeoff, how tired are you of hearing Luis Robert Jr. potentially to the Reds? To be honest with you, this is the first that I’ve heard about it this off season. I know we were inundated with those rumors last off season and it felt like it went all the way up to and a little bit through spring training a bit and then it was shut down by you know there were reports that there were some crazy trade demands from the white sock side and so then things stopped and I didn’t even hear anything during the trade deadline and now it’s kind of brought back by the ESPN article that links the Reds as a decent fit for Luis Robert and there’s some folks that are starting to reconsider it a little bit, but I I would say that he is not in my top three of like, oh man, this would be a great move for the Reds this off season, especially depending on how much it would probably cost to get it. Yeah. And especially too the financial commitment now. I mean, I know last off seasonason there was talk that the Reds wanted the White Sox to pay down some of his salary, but now he’s making $5 million more on that $20 million option. Uh would that be a hangup too if there was a potential deal uh on the horizon? Yeah, because the Reds would need to to free up some money for that. They’re already looking at, you know, there’s so many reports about, oh, the Reds are serious. The Reds are have a lot of interest. They really want to go get Kyle Schwarber, but a lot of that has to do with how much money are you going to give him because most reports have them around $20 million as far as, you know, spending money is concerned this this off season. So I $20 million for Luis Robert, you would have to free up money. You would have to have the White Socks pay down some of that because the Reds also have other moves that they need to make too. So it just kind of feels like the cost as far as money is concerned is already prohibitive in that. And and I think too, Todd, this is the other part of this. I don’t know that the Reds consider this a multi-year deal. Like I think that they if they were to trade for Luis Robert, I’d be surprised if they pick up that $20 million option. He would have to be he would have to be his 2023 self for them to pick up that $20 million for 2027. Yeah. And that’s why I actually wanted to talk to you because there’s some Luis Robert Jr. truthers out there and even the GM of the White Sox that believes, well, we still have club control. We still have that other $20 million option of 2027. We don’t have to trade them. But the market has been screaming back that they just view him as a rental because he’s only valuable to the White Socks at $20 million and so they don’t really have many future options uh right away in the farm system. They just acquired Everson Praia, but he’s not exactly, you know, going to be an all-star potential like Luis Robert Jr. or play the elite defense. So that’s where they are in this situation where they are overvaluing him when teams like how you’re saying the Reds, the Phillies are all saying, “Well, he’s a rental, so maybe we’ll give you Edwin a royal. That’s it. We’re not going to give you Rhett Lauder or Chase Burns.” Let me ask you this. How much how much do you factor in? Because I think there’s there’s been some conversations that I’ve had over the season with some folks that were just like, “Well, it’s it’s just because he’s disenchanted with where he is right now. like he moves, he’s going to transform, he’s going to flip a switch. Like, how much stock do you put into something like that? So, I’ve heard like people that are somewhat connected to the White Socks say he just doesn’t like baseball to begin with. And that’s one of the reasons why they should have never have paid him. You know, like when guys are not motivated by the money, never pay them that. Play the ARB game and then wave bye-bye to them once they get to arbitration. Um, I do think the losing was starting to drag on him. I do think that was starting to get at him and towards when he started to peak up and have that really good July that coincided with Koulsa Montgomery uh promotion and then you started to see Luis Robert Jr. all of a sudden like being in the clubhouse. He was, you know, joking around with Ka Montgomery. There was talks of him like giving him nicknames. He was seeming more, you know, enthusiastic. So maybe being around this young core has re-energized him. But I still think one of the reasons why I’m kind of in the camp of the White Sox just need to move on is he’s the last remaining piece from that failed rebuild that they had last decade, that dysfunctional stink. And I think that kind of is hard to wear off. Like you saw what happened to Andrew Vaughn in Milwaukee. Once he moved on, he was the best version of himself once he was able to shake that off. So I think that’s one of the things that people are missing is is maybe does need a change of scenery. you know, Michael Copak went to the Dodgers, best version of himself before he got hurt. So, I think that’s one of the reasons why I actually kind of agree with Chris gets on, hey, I want to get the trade value for his talent because if he does go to the Reds, for example, and starts, you know, becoming 2023 Luis Robert Jr. again, and all you have to show for it is pennies on the dollar, then yeah, that’s going to be a bad trade. And I think too, like the important thing to note about 2023, Luis Robert, he is so much different that year. He was so much different that year than he has been in the last two season. Last two seasons, he’s had OPS pluses of 86 and 85. In 2023, he had an OPS plus of 130. It wasn’t as if it was like just a little bit above league average. Like it was MVP level. He was just outside the top 10 in the American League. So that is where I think that it’s it’s it’s hard to see the Reds putting to together a trade package where they will agree. It almost feels like they would be picking up his option for 2027 right now if they make that trade because they’re like okay if we do this this is for multiple years because there’s other guys that they’re considering that have either multiple years left on a contract extension that they already signed i.e. Byron Buckton or a guy who’s under multiple years of arbitration control like Jiren Durant that if if if they were to pursue these guys that are considered fits by ESPN, that’s kind of what they would go would be going up against with this. So like going back to an article that Gordon Whitmer had back in February where he talked about, you know, there were multiple, you know, trade conversations where in one instance Edwin Aoyo was headed to the White Socks. In another instance, the White Sox were asking for both Chase Burns and Rhett Lauder and it was like whoa, dude. Like that’s a lot. Edward Royale could kind of see. But I I I wonder a little bit. So like thinking of what you have heard on your side and if you were Chris gets it still, yeah, we’re looking for your two top pitching prospects or is the Edin Aoyo side of this plus, you know, other prospects. Is that more the the way that they would go? So, I think it’s still going to be the top five. Two of the top five prospects I still think is this demand because they would have traded them at the trade deadline had they gotten that offer. I really think and that was one of the things that Chris gets hinted at. He’s very good at hinting what he’s looking at and he keeps saying and telling like what other GMs are saying on the other side of the phone where he was saying, well, they’re still looking, you know, for pennies on the dollar, you know, kind of making it look like they’re looking for a bag of baseballs. But I do think that’s what he’s still trying to My one hypothesis is why he will get traded this off seasonason because he’s already come out and said Luis Robert Jr. is going to be on the opening day roster next year that that he’s not trying to trade him. The reason why he might trade him is a if he gets blown away if he gets blown away or if there’s young major league talent that was still high highly regarded at one point that just wasn’t given a runway. I got a feeling that that could maybe get a deal done. But I don’t know if the Reds going back to you would have that type of guy. You know, I’m talking about like how they just got Miguel Vargas a few years ago or again they just traded for Everson Praia where they gave up, you know, Yo Andre Gomez and Steven Wilson. Not guys that are amazing pitchers, but they’re big league pitchers. They’re decent enough to help you out in the bullpen that they would have helped the 2026 White Socks. They gave that up for again because a guy that needed a runway. That’s why on the flip side, like do they have like a Mark Ventos? like the the Mets might be a more realistic trade partner when I was looking at that, but would the Reds have any young talent that just hasn’t had a runway that could maybe entice, you know, Chris Gats? Can I introduce you to Christian Incarnos Strand? He is not listed on a prospect list right now because he is not prospect eligible. He’s played enough in the major leagues to get rid of that that moniker. He will be 26 next year, so it’s not as if he’s crazy young, but the profile on him is plus plus power. The problem with him is plate discipline and and just making sure he doesn’t swing at everything that’s coming plateward. But he’s a guy that it feels like has been passed up by Sal Stewart because the Reds need to figure out where Sal Stewart’s going to play because he deserves everyday playing time in 2026. And with Krian Hayes playing at third base, it kind of feels like first base is where South Stewart’s going to go. Christian Karnas Strand tried a little bit of third base last year. It wasn’t a great fit. He didn’t look as comfortable there as he looked at first base, but he has that in his bag that he can play both corners. Obviously, DH2 and he’s got a ton of power, but it doesn’t feel like there’s an avenue for playing time for him, at least significantly, without some sort of injury to somebody else to get on the major league roster. And we’re talking about a guy that has 501 career played appearances in three seasons, but he has a negative war. So, I think that fits the bill where it’s like he’s been given somewhat of a runway, but we’re not talking, you know, we’re not talking about a runway out O’Hare or something like that here. Like, he’s he needs a little bit more time. So, I wonder about him and maybe Edwin Aoyo or him and Chase Petty um as a possible option there. But you’re right, like it’s definitely not as enticing as a Mark Vientos. Well, uh Strand, I do believe the White Socks at le I think it was the previous management were interested. I think there was some rumors of them trying to trade for him at one point if I’m trying to recall it correctly. I know they wanted Jonathan India. If Jonathan India was still around, he could probably have gotten a deal done, but obviously that’s long gone. But, you know, that is probably the profile that they’re looking for, a guy that’s maybe I mean, obviously he’s had 500 at bats, a little bit more, but only in one season. But that might be something enticing because again, that’s what they’ve been trading for when it comes to big league talent. some guys that have been given some cups of coffee, have been given a little run, but not like here’s, you know, a guaranteed 600 bats. Let’s see what you can do. And the other thing is they’re very confident in their hitting director, Ryan Fuller, who does preach uh plate approach. And one of the things that some people are speculating that has kind of zapped Luis Robert Jr.’s power is he’s trying to be more judicious at what he swings at. So that’s one of the things that maybe he is selling out, you know, having a better eye and he has had a better eye except for he still gets out, you know, by, you know, pitch him down and in down and away and then just low in the strike zone. That is still how he will strike out and he will strike out often. But they’ve kind of traded that off. So maybe that is an idea. It just the other reason why I bring it up was one of the rumors was Mark Ventos last trade deadline for the Mets, but obviously that did not get anywhere. That’ll do it for this edition of the Lockdown Reds podcast. Thank you so much for joining me here today. Coming up on tomorrow’s show, there is one big question around the idea of signing Kyle Schwarber. We’ll answer that question on tomorrow’s podcast. Make sure you join me then. Make sure you hit subscribe, become an everydayer. Make us your first listen every single day. Really appreciate all of our everydayers out there. Uh right now, we’re talking reds every single day all throughout the offseason so you know you’ll get at least 30 minutes of red to talk here each and every day. Uh, now make sure you go check out Lockdown MLB. Sully’s got you covered for views around the league and plenty of takes with all of the historical uh, references and on all of his pop culture references as well. Really weaves that all in beautifully. That’s all in on Lockdown MLB. It’s just like Lockdown Reds. We’re part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every single day and the number one sports podcast network in the country. But as for Steve and his cruise ship and myself, you can bet that we will be locked on reds every single day.

Cincinnati Reds fans are buzzing as three outfielders—Jarren Duran, Byron Buxton, and Luis Robert Jr.—emerge as potential trade targets, but only Duran stands out as the true difference-maker. Could Duran’s blend of youth, production, and favorable contract finally bring stability to the Reds’ outfield and propel them to contention?

Jeff breaks down each candidate’s fit for the Cincinnati Reds and weighs the realistic cost of a deal, spotlighting possible trade packages involving prospects like Leo Balcazar, Tyson Lewis, and Mason Neville. Insight from todd welter offers the inside scoop on Luis Robert Jr.’s market, while roster strategy, financial considerations, and Nick Krall’s trade history shape the conversation. Don’t miss this essential analysis of the Reds’ outfield upgrade options and what it will take to land the missing piece for 2025.

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