Why is Johnny Cueto still a member of the Cincinnati Reds? Why didn’t the Reds trade him in the days and weeks leading up to the All-Star Game?
Well…because they wanted him pitch in the ASG as a Red.
Supposedly Reds did not want to trade Cueto last month and watch him pitch ASG for another club. But he was not an All-Star, so . . .
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 19, 2015
There’s just one problem with that…
Cueto, of course, didn’t make the NL All-Star Team this year.
After Cueto’s best start of the year, a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts, on July 7th against the Nationals, he’s turned in two turds in a row. On the 12th, Cueto allowed five runs (three earned) in five innings in Miami, walking one and striking out two. And on Sunday, Cueto lasted just four innings against the Indians, walking six and striking out two.
The 29-year old velocity has dropped off in his last two starts, and there’s some wonder if he’s hurt. A Cueto injury wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility – he’s been on the DL five different times in his career and has thrown 200 innings just twice (including in 2014, when he made a career-high 34 starts and tossed an NL and career high 243 2/3 innings).
If the Reds aren’t able to extract full value from Cueto before the end of July, that’ll go down as a huge blow to their attempts of rebuilding. He’s certain to walk as a free agent this winter, and one compensatory draft pick can’t compare to the bounty of prospects closer to the majors that the Reds could get in return for Cueto.
