On Thursday December 11, the Reds not only traded Simon to the Tigers, but they then also traded Matt Latos to the Miami Marlins. The Fish sent right-handed starter Anthony DeSclafani and minor-league catcher Chad Wallach to Cincy. The objective to trade Alfredo Simon was the same for Matt Latos, as the left-hander also becomes a free agent after the 2015 season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJUOTryhEgo
By adding Latos to the starting rotation, the Marlins get the left-hander they needed as before, the rotation was right-handed heavy. Matt is listed as the #3 starter right now, behind the 2013 NL ROTY and the man with 3 shutouts in 2014, Henderson Alvarez. What Latos brings to Marlins Park is a 6 foot 6 inches, 245 pound body frame that has produced at least 193 innings pitched in each of the last 3 full healthy seasons, but unfortunately 2014 was not. Last season he dealt with withdraws from elbow injuries that he had surgery for last October and also knee injuries. This limited him to 16 starts that resulted in a 5-5 record with a .500 win-loss% and a 3.25 ERA. After his rookie campaign in 2009, he started in at least 31 games each of the next 4 seasons, before he had his first career set of injuries in 2014. When he is healthy, he is a great #3 for any rotation in the MLB. During his 2012 and 2013 seasons he went 28-11 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.186 WHIP in 419.3 innings pitched. He fits perfectly into the Marlins rotation as the average age of starters for Miami is now 26 (assuming Haren decides not to retire), and having a lefty right in the middle of the rotation will bring balance. Even though Latos is the only left starter on Miami, its not like he is a #5. He is a solid #3 who could very well win 15 games, while the young established Fernandez and Alvarez do their work at the top of the rotation. Meanwhile the 24-year-old Cosart and veteran Haren will clean up behind Latos.
Matt Latos is a big loss for Cincy though; as it may be even a bigger loss than Simon was because Latos was already an established starter in Cincinnati, while Simon only had one year on the mound. But in return the Reds received a good well-rounded college graduate in Anthony DeSclafani and well educated Single A hitting catcher in Chad Wallach. Anthony DeSclafani only pitched 33 innings in 2014, but had very impressive numbers in the minors as it only took him 3 short seasons to make it to the big leagues. Chad Wallach has only so far played in 140 games in Single A, while being very impressive at and behind the plate. So far he has batted .293 with 141 hits, 70 RBI’s, and 73 walks, while only striking out 73 times. Behind the plate has put up a 26% caught steeling (2014 MLB league average was 27%) and has put up a fielding percentage of .991. These two guys could very well be part of the Reds future plans, but no matter how much potential these two have, the Reds could have gotten more from the Fish for Latos.
Overall grade for Marlins is an A, because of the dynamic presence Latos brings to Miami and most likely a good chance he will re-sign at the end of 2015 since there should be no reason that he has an excellent season. The grade for the Reds is a C+ because as far as prospects go, they got 2 pretty good ones who have a lot of promise.
