Reds Acquire Mat Latos from Padres for Yonder Alonso & Edinson Volquez

The Reds traded Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, and former 1st round picks Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger for Mat Latos this afternoon.

Can you tell we’re less than thrilled?

There are two ways to look at this trade. One is that basically in return for Josh Hamilton, we have now just Latos to show for it. We also threw in Yonder Alonso and two promising first round prospects just to sweeten the deal for the Padres.

The other way to look at it is the Reds traded a surplus to fill a need–and acquired the only proven Major Leaguer in the deal. I choose not to look at it that way because I felt Alonso shows more at the plate than Jay Bruce or Drew Stubbs or any other young Reds player. Now what will they do when Joey Votto skips town?

While I like Latos’ stuff, his numbers aren’t that impressive when you factor in that he’s been pitching in a pitcher-friendly ballpark his entire career. He’ll only be 24, but I would expect his numbers to and productivity to decline in Great American Ball Park.

UPDATE: FanGraphs likes the trade. I will still resume crybabying.