A decision was made in 2019. Scooter or Moose. Let's take a look.
Full disclosure, I am biased on this one. Scooter Gennett is one of my favorite players that I have ever watched. He was a hometown guy, willing to sign an autograph, and a hard-nosed player that genuinely liked to play for Cincinnati. And, he produced! To be fair, this was not a direct choice that the Reds made. Scooter had already been traded for half a season before Moustakas was signed. However, the Reds have been known to make some questionable moves, and Scooter's case is no different.
Ryan "Scooter" Gennett
Born in Cincinnati during the Reds' 1990 World Series campaign, Scooter seemed destined for Queen City greatness. He made his debut with the Brewers in 2013 and was claimed off waivers by the Reds prior to the 2017 season. Scooter quickly emerged as the starting second baseman and a main producer for the team. In 136 games, he hit an impressive .295 with 27 bombs and 97 RBI. His OPS was .874 and he was on base 34% of the time. In 2018, Scooter hit .310 with 23 home runs and 92 RBI. His OPS was .847 and his OBP was .357, earning an All-Star game appearance. Those two seasons combined for the following:
Stats and image courtesy of Baseball Reference
Scooter was one of the few bright spots in the bleak late-2010s. No one could forget his unreal 4 home run game on June 6th, 2017. 5 hits, 4 HR, 10 RBI, and 17 total bases. I was lucky to be in attendance that night and will always remember the stands being peppered with his home runs. Instant legend.
His game-tying dinger against Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the 9th in the 2018 All-Star game was also incredible:
What Happened to Scooter?
Scooter was a highlight waiting to happen in 2017 and 2018. Scooter had some misfortune to start 2019, only appearing in 21 games in the first half of the season due to injury. A pending free agent at the end of the 2019 season, there were talks swirling about extending him. A few folks started to become concerned that he was blocking some hot "prospects" like Dilson Herrera, Shed Long, and Nick Senzel before he was moved to CF, calling for Scooter to be traded. Obviously, hindsight vision is 20/20, but none of those players ever made an impact at the Major League level, let alone for the Reds.
But no, instead of an extension or even a well-timed trade, Scooter Gennett was sent (with cash!) to the San Francisco Giants at the 2019 trade deadline in return for the whopping return of a player to be named later. That player has never even been named, leading me to believe that some more money was moved around to complete the deal. To this day, I cannot believe how little Reds fans talk about what happened to Scooter. The Reds almost seemed eager to move the star player and did not even get anything in return. With his exit, playing time ended up going to Jose Peraza and Josh VanMeter. We know how that turned out.
Michael "Moose" Moustakas
In case you did not know how it turned out, it did not go well. Scooter's departure created a major void at 2nd base. None of the major prospects or young players on the roster stepped up. Before the 2020 season started, Mike Moustakas was signed to a 4-year, $64 million contract. An All-Star in 2019 with 35 homers, this was the largest free agent signing in Reds history. Moustakas, who only played 47 games at the position in his career, was to immediately fill in as the starting 2nd baseman for Cincinnati (cue the red flags?). At the time of the signing, Moose was entering his age 31 season (more red flags?). Scooter was let go during his age 29 season, for reference, so his age could not have been a fair reason for the moving on from him.
Moustakas was an injury black hole. When he was on the field, he never got it going. Over three seasons, 2020-2022, Moose hit an abysmal .216 with 21 home runs and 74 runs knocked in. He only made it into 184 games and had an OPS of .683. Scary numbers for the largest free-agent contract in Reds history at the time:
Stats and image courtesy of Baseball Reference
What Happened to Moose?
Mike Moustakas was released by the Cincinnati Reds on January 5th, 2023. He is still owed about $22 Million over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, of which the Reds will pay every dime.
What Could Have Been
Scooter was younger than Moose, had a strong clubhouse presence, was loved by fans, played his natural position, and had strong ties to the city. He was vocal about wanting to stay in Cincinnati. He likely could have been extended with a 3 or 4-year deal in the neighborhood of $30-40 Million. Compared to what was shelled out for Moose, this would have been a more affordable and productive bridge to Jonathan India. Who knows how the 2020 playoff season or 2021 3rd place finish would have been improved if Scooter had remained a fixture at 2nd base, instead of trying to find players to always fill in for the injured or struggling Moustakas.
While some warnings of decline may have been there for Moustakas, the signing itself was not awful at the time. At least Bob Castellini finally spent some money, right? Despite that, the point is that there were many more reasons to extend Scooter than there were to explore older and pricier options on the open market. Unfortunately, and arguably unexplainably, the Reds traded Scooter Gennett for virtually nothing, leaving his fans with only questions and some cool memories.
Comments