CINCINNATI (AP) — Rob Bell, one of the Cincinnati Reds’ promising young starters, was traded to the pitching-poor Texas Rangers on Friday for outfielder Ruben Mateo and another prospect.
Bell will go into the Rangers’ starting rotation, which ranks last in the American League with a 6.60 earned run average. The Rangers plan to start him next Tuesday against Anaheim.
The Rangers have scored 355 runs, third-most in the AL, with a lineup featuring Alex Rodriguez, but their pitching staff has given up 377 earned runs, most in the majors.
They’re getting a 24-year-old pitcher who jumped from Double-A to the majors last season and went 7-8 with a 5.00 ERA in 26 starts. He also gave up a team-high 32 homers in 140 1-3 innings.
Bell was 0-5 with a 5.48 ERA in nine starts around a stint in Triple-A this season. He has been hurt by homers again this year, giving up nine in 44 1-3 innings.
Bell was stunned when general manager Jim Bowden called him Friday to tell him he’d been traded.
“It was beyond anything I expected,” Bell said. “At the same time, I’m pretty happy about it. It’s an opportunity to right my ship a little bit somewhere else. Maybe a change of scenery will help. Maybe there will be a little bit more stability there.”
It was a surprise that the Reds would trade away one of the things they need most — a young starting pitcher.
“Jim had just been saying to me a week ago how Chris Reitsma and myself were the future of this team, and we’d be the No. 1’s and 2’s (in the rotation) for a long time,” Bell said. “That’s just the way the game is.”
Besides Mateo, the Reds got infielder Edwin Encarnacion, 18, projected to play second base or third. He was assigned to Class A Dayton.
Bowden has tried for years to get Mateo, 23, who will play for Triple-A Louisville. He hit .248 with one homer and 13 RBIs in 40 games for Texas this season.
“He has a tremendous amount of talent,” Bowden said. “It’s very hard to get guys like that. I’ve tried to get Mateo for a long time, ever since Doug Melvin took over as general manager there. I’ve made a lot of offers, and a lot of key players have been turned down year after year.”
Mateo broke a bone in his upper leg on June 2 last year while lunging to try to beat out a ground ball. He had a rod inserted to help the bone heal and missed the rest of the season.
Bowden said Mateo hasn’t completely recovered from the injury.
“In another year, we think he’ll be 100 percent,” Bowden said.
Bowden also likes Encarnacion, who hit .306 in 45 games for Class A Savannah this season after batting .311 in the Gulf Coast League last year.
“It’s hard to get everyday position players,” Bowden said. “You hate to trade pitching when that’s your biggest need, but we had the opportunity to get two players that we think can be everyday players. That’s tough to do today.
“If at some point you’re stuck with too many at one position, maybe you trade for pitching — maybe better pitching than what you just traded to get him.”
Story #2:
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds on Friday traded right-handed starter Rob Bell to the Texas Rangers for two prospects, outfielder Ruben Mateo and infielder Edwin Encarnacion.
Bell was 0-5 with a 5.48 ERA in nine starts. The 24-year-old pitcher was 2-2 with a 3.33 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance for the Reds’ Triple-A Louisville affiliate.
The Reds plan to assign Mateo, 23, to Louisville. With Texas this season, Mateo hit .248 with one home run and 13 runs batted in during 40 games. He also batted .216 with a homer and eight RBI for Triple-A Oklahoma.
Last season with Texas, Mateo batted .291 with seven homers and 19 RBI in 52 games.
Encarnacion, 18, was chosen by Texas in the ninth round of the June 2000 first-year player draft. He batted .311 with 36 RBI last season in 51 games in the Gulf Coast League. With Single-A Savannah this year, Encarnacion hit .306 with four homers and 25 RBI in 45 games. The Reds plan to assign him to Single-A Dayton.
Story #3:
CINCINNATI (TICKER) — After making a flurry of moves, the Cincinnati Reds on Friday acquired Ruben Mateo, who is considered one of baseball’s top outfield prospects although he had been a bust with the Texas Rangers.
The Reds sent righthander Rob Bell to the pitching-starved Rangers for Mateo and minor league infielder Edwin Encarnacion.
Rated as one of baseball’s top young outfielders by Baseball America, the 23-year-old Mateo has struggled this year, batting just .248 with one homer and 13 RBI in 40 games for the Rangers.
After being optioned to Class AAA Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League, Mateo hit just .216 with one homer and eight RBI in the minors and will be assigned to Class AAA Louisville by the Reds. Last season, he hit .291 with seven homers and 19 RBI in 52 games for Texas.
Originally signed by the Rangers out of the Dominican Republic in 1994, Mateo hit .296 with 61 homers and 313 RBI in 466 minor league games.
Encarnacion, 18, was a ninth-round pick of the Rangers in 2000. He is batting .306 with four homers and 25 RBI in 45 games for Class A Savannah and will be assigned to Class A Dayton by the Reds.
The Rangers have the worst ERA in the majors with all of their starters giving up more than five runs a game. The 24-year-old Bell will likely move into the rotation, although he fared poorly with the Reds, compiling an 0-5 record and 5.48 ERA in nine starts.
The Reds purchased the contract of lefthander Lance Davis from Louisville to replace Bell on the roster.
Earlier in the day, the Reds activated shortstop Barry Larkin and third baseman Aaron Boone, recalled righthander Brian Reith and purchased the contract of lefthander Justin Atchley and designated outfielder Deion Sanders and infielder Donnie Sadler for assignment and demoted pitchers Osvaldo Fernandez and infielder D.T. Cromer to Louisville.
The Reds have made 56 roster moves this season, including 11 on Friday.