Each Journey begins with a single step - The 90’s
December 3, 1990
Eddie Taubensee drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 rule V draft.
Eddie Taubensee is eleventh in at bats (for a catcher) in Reds team history. A left handed slugger Eddie was obviously wanted by the Reds, wanted enough that they drafted for him twice, and traded for him after they lost him later on. Along with Joe Oliver Eddie would be the face of the Reds catching in the 1990’s, despite howls of his defense and poor throwing arm. His presence in the lineup pointed out to the masses that the running game was waning and power at all eight positions was being pursued.
CINCINNATI REDS AT BATS AB 1 Johnny Bench 6771 2 Ernie Lombardi 3980 3 Ivy Wingo 3091 4 Joe Oliver 2408 5 Johnny Edwards 2377 6 Bubbles Hargrave 2367 7 Heinie Peitz 2290 8 Ed Bailey 2227 9 Jason LaRue 2226 10 Larry McLean 2126 11 Eddie Taubensee 2097 12 Farmer Vaughn 1883
Eddie’s Reds saga
June 2, 1986: Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 6th round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1986.
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December 3, 1990: Drafted by the Oakland Athletics from the Cincinnati Reds in the 1990 rule V draft.
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April 4, 1991: Selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the Oakland Athletics.
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December 10, 1991: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Willie Blair to the Houston Astros for Kenny Lofton and Dave Rohde.
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April 19, 1994: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for Ross Powell and Marty Lister (minors).
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November 16, 2000: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Cleveland Indians for Jim Brower and Robert Purgmire (minors).
November 27, 1991
Traded Eric Davis and Kip Gross to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Tim Belcher and John Wetteland.
The Reds needed pitching and the Reds felt that Davis was brittle from the pounding the Riverfront turf had dealt out over the past six seasons (they were right) So they made a deal to send ED west to the grass of Chavez Ravine and the open arms of his childhood. The problem was that ED still couldn’t play everyday, only accumulating 730 trips to the dish and a weak .677 OPS in his brief stay in L.A. Belcher was a red for a year and a half and traded for Johnny Ruffin. Later in 1995 he signed with the Reds as a FA and then was dealt 12 days later to Seattle for Roger Salkeld.
November 3, 1992
Traded Paul O’Neill and Joe DeBerry (minors) to the New York Yankees. Received Roberto Kelly.
The trade that looks so bad in retrospect that some still fume over it in the Tri State area. Well, the fact was that the Reds had no CF. ED had been dealt and the Reds had flipped Weeteland (who came over for ED) for Dave Martinez, in hopes that Dave could fill the void that ED’s departure opened up.
He didn’t, and he became an FA after the 1993 season, leaving the Reds without a CF and they didn’t care for Reggie Sanders out there. Instead the Reds planned to slot Sanders in RF and dangle O’Neil, a week later they got Kevin Mitchell to play LF, giving them what many thought was a pretty good outfield. O’Neill, who has a Red had come to the plate almost 3000 times and had a line that was not too impressive .259/.336 .431/.767, but passable. The world did not expect that O’Neill’s next 5300 trips to the dish would produce a .303/.377/.492/.869 line, but he did and so folks still think that he could have done it in Cincinnati. I myself don’t think so.
November 2, 1993
Traded Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala to the Seattle Mariners. Received Erik Hanson and Bret Boone.
Many a seamhead will tell you that drafting a catcher with the first pick is a nothing but a risky move. The Reds drafted Wilson #1 (Pick 7) in the 1990 draft, 3 years later they needed a second baseman and they traded Wilson. Dan went on to be a fan favorite in Seattle, but in reality only had several good seasons. Hanson never worked out, but Boone was a little good, a little bad and in the end he helped the Reds get Denny Neagle.
November 4, 1994
Signed Damon Berryhill as a free agent.
Lord knows that Damon Berryhill was a MLB player, a catcher too. However he was never a 400 ab’s a year type of receiver and when Jim Bowden forfeited the Reds 1st round pick the next season by signing Berryhill (A Type-A FA) it was a bad move, one highlighted by failing to see that Berryhill’s 1994 season in Boston was enhanced by playing 1/2 his games in Fenway. The Damon Berryhill the Reds got was horrible, garnering only 82 at bats and .552 OPS. Another folly in the free agent market for the Reds.
December 26, 1995
Traded David Wells to the Baltimore Orioles. Received Curtis Goodwin and Trovin Valdez (minors).
This dealt reeks of the difficulty that would follow the Reds for the rest of the decade. First and foremost Marge was becoming a liability. Her battles with Wells led to him being on the market rather then he being inserted in the Reds starting rotation. That was a crime, and the crime increased twofold when Bowden began to show a weakness for swift center fielders with no on base acumen and accepted Curtis Goodwin in return for David Wells in an attempt to get Wells and Marge far apart. Just plain sad in retrospect.
October 28, 1996
Eric Davis granted Free Agency.
More realization that the Reds were on a downward trend. Davis had returned from a .582 OPS and an illness in Detroit to a .917 OPS player on the 1996 Reds. However his performance priced him out of the shrinking payrolls future budget and he like many other Reds walked away in hope of finding success. He ended up in Baltimore and had one great season with them in 1997, which also happens to be their last playoff season.
November 10, 1997
Traded Jeff Brantley to the St. Louis Cardinals. Received Dmitri Young.
November 11, 1997
Traded Mike Kelly to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Received a player to be named later. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Dmitri Young (November 18, 1997) to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the trade.
A flurry of moves that secured Bowden’s reputation as a wheeler-dealer and a snake. Exhibit A. the trade of Brantley to the Cardinals turned out to be highlighted by Jeff being hurt, or should I say, finished? The cardinals have not traded with the Reds since, and folks wonder why some of us look at Bowden askew. Exhibit B. Bowden cuts a deal with the new Devil Rays franchise to get them (and him) the players they both want. The Rays want Mike Kelly, former can’t miss prospect (who missed) so Bowden trades him to the Rays. The Rays have pick #1 in the draft, Bowden doesn’t want to expose an extra player so he cuts a deal with Tampa to get a PTBNL for Kelly, and that player will be the Rays first pick from the Reds… Dmitri Young. Very crafty for the Rays, who also traded Bobby Abreu for Kevin Stockwell that day. Whoops.
November 10, 1998
Traded Bret Boone and Mike Remlinger to the Atlanta Braves. Received Rob Bell, Denny Neagle, and Michael Tucker.
November 11, 1998
Traded Paul Konerko to the Chicago White Sox. Received Mike Cameron.
A quick two day remake of the Reds, finally the fleet centerfielder is acquired and a front line starter. Bret Boone never found himself on the good side of the Reds fans, his batting average driven line suffered and often caused him great problems (Demotion to Indy and being replaced by his brother) Konerko was cast aside in favor of Casey and his sweet left handed swing and Cameron provided the Reds with the best CF defense since ED roamed Riverfront in the late 1980’s. None of the 4 players obtained by the Reds were with the team by the time the 2002 season started.
October 30, 1999
Traded Stan Belinda and Jeffrey Hammonds to the Colorado Rockies. Received Dante Bichette and cash.
This move was made because Greg Vaughn was leaving the Reds, it was months prior to the Griffey trade, and hints of it occurring were barely heard of when Bichette was acquired. On the end of the trail Bichette was beaten by all the statheads and his slow start didn’t endear him to anybody of time. By mid season he was gone in a deal to Boston for Chris Reitsma. But know this, the Reds were last .500 for the season when Bichette was a Red, so in retrospect it wasn’t that bad.