Atkins to Reds - Sanchez for Sanchez?

Everyone says that Garrett Atkins is going to the Boston Red Sox, I don’t think so. I think he’s going to the Cincinnati Reds. Here’s why.

It’s was widely reported earlier this week that the Red Sox have talked with the Rockies about Atkins. They need to be prepared to get a bat if Mike Lowell (hip injury) is out long term. They have bullpen depth to give that makes Takashi Saito expendable. But it’s hard to see the Rockies sending Atkins to Boston in a deal unless it involves Manny Delcarmen and these teams have so much bad blood in botched trades, Boston remains a long shot.

My sources say that the Reds considered trading him for Yorvit Torrealba last winter; they didn’t pull the trigger (money was the reason), but haven’t lost interest. The Rockies are reportedly asking for reliever Nick Masset making only $418,000 or David Weathers who has $1.6 million left on his salary. Atkins is owed about $3.4 million for the remainder of this season and that’s still a problem.

Also, I continue to hear buzz that the Giants are making a strong play for the Pirates’ Freddy Sanchez. I say the deal that gets done is Jonathan Sanchez for Freddy Sanchez. I know they’ve had discussions about it previously; I think that there is a good chance that they do it now (I don’t think the Randy Johnson injury helped.) Let’s see how Jonathan does tonight against the Padres. - Blake Kearny

Blake Kearny is a retired baseball scout from Los Angeles, California. He currently runs a baseball school for children in Los Angeles.