Reds inform Kearns he’s not on the block

[Guest oldschooler]

[quote][size=5][b]Reds inform Kearns he’s not on the block [/b] [/size]
[size=3][b]Interim GM says team has no plans to trade outfielder [/b] [/size]
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Interim Cincinnati Reds general manager Brad Kullman called outfielder Austin Kearns yesterday to tell him that the team is not on the verge of trading him for a pitcher.

"I just thought it was important to let him know," Kullman said. "We have no active trade discussions about Austin Kearns. We have no plans to trade him, period."

After the Reds fired GM Dan O’Brien last week, two major trade rumors sprouted involving Kearns. One had Cleveland offering pitcher Jake Westbrook for him. The other had Kearns going to the Indians in a threeway deal that would have brought pitcher Matt Clement from Boston to Cincinnati.

Kullman and the baseball operations staff met Thursday and Friday to talk about potential ways to upgrade the club’s pitching heading into spring training.

"It’s no secret what we need," Kullman said. "We had a lot of good discussions about what we have and what we have coming up in the organization. We feel that Austin Kearns is not part of the problem. He’s part of the solution playing right field every day. We think he can win a Gold Glove and that he will hit again like he did in ’02 and ’03."

A first-round choice in the June 1998 draft, Kearns was headed toward a breakout season in ’03 when he suffered a shoulder injury in a home-plate collision with St. Louis pitcher Ray King in late May. The injury eventually required season-ending surgery.

The shoulder still bothered him in ’04 and he fell out of favor with O’Brien. At the end of the season, the Reds sent Kearns to the Instructional League to work out at third base. That experiment ended with the signing veteran Joe Randa to play the position in ’05.

An unhappy Kearns wound up platooning in right with Wily Mo Pena and spent part of the season at triple-A. The off-season trade of first baseman Sean Casey will allow the team to move Adam Dunn from left field to first base. Kearns will play right and Pena will be in left.

Dunn said Thursday that he played most of last season with a broken right hand — and it still hurts.

He hit .247 with 40 home runs and 101 RBI but said a hairline fracture developed after he dived into third base on a pickoff play in a game last May in Houston. Later in the year Dunn was hit by a pitch on the same spot, he said. Dunn downplayed the injury and said it wasn’t a big deal, even though he still feels some pain. "Yeah, I had it checked this week and the doctor said I should put a splint on it, but the heck with that," Dunn said. Reds manager Jerry Narron said he was aware of the injury and that Dunn wouldn’t let the team X-ray the hand because he wanted to play. Dunn, 26, is in salary arbitration with the Reds. He’s asking for $8.95 million for this season. The Reds are offering $7.1 million. The Associated Press contributed to this story.[/quote]


[url="http://www.dispatch.com/reds/reds.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/29/20060129-E11-02.html"]http://www.dispatch.com/reds/reds.php?stor...129-E11-02.html[/url]

[JC]

My gosh our outfield is stacked

if everyone can stay healthy...we will have one hell of a offense.

now we need a group of ground ball pitchers.

and not to have a fire sale in the middle of the season.

[dieselman44]

i wouldnt be opposed to trading kearns. personally i think he is our best all-around outfielder when healthy but he is never healthy. Everyone knows pitching is what this team needs and id take westbrook for kearns any day. Westbrook is 28 yrs old, and has 2 years left on his contract at 3.5 a year. Plus he is a sinkerballer.

[Guest Master Shake]

Good move not trading Kearns...we'll be glad to have his bat in the lineup a month and a half in when Junior pulls up lame again.