The D-Backs Are Fond of Former Reds… Apparently.

You may not realize that the Arizona Diamondbacks were once to the Cincinnati Reds what the Nationals are now. Well, maybe not to that extreme.

What do I mean by that? They seemed to take in all sorts of broken down, former Reds just like the Nats have done for the past… well since they became the Washington Nationals.

Let’s begin, shall we?

1. Chris Jones – OF – The Reds drafted him in ‘84 and he played 52 games in 1991. He bounced around the league and eventually landed with the D-Backs terrible ‘98 team towards the end of his storied career. This one’s a stretch, I know.
2. Lenny Harris – UTIL – Harris was drafted by the Reds and served two tours of duty with us (’88-’89, ‘94-’98). He bounced between a couple of teams before landing with Arizona where he saw limited action. Then he was traded again. And again, and again, and again. I liked Lenny Harris though.
3. Greg Swindell – LHP – The Reds traded Jack Armstrong and Scott Scudder to the Indians for him to only play one season (’92) with the Reds. He did well: 12-8, 2.70 ERA. For some reason (perhaps he was seeking too much money), the Reds decided to grant him free agency and he signed with the Astros. He would later finish his career in Arizona where he would win a World Series title in ‘01.
4. Mike Morgan – RHP – What team didn’t Mike Morgan play for? He spent part of ‘96 and all of ‘97 with the Reds and then bounced around before spending the last three years of his career in Arizona. He too won a World Series with the D-Backs.
5. Johnny Ruffin – RHP – Ruffin came to the Reds in a trade with the White Sox for Tim Belcher. He went 10-6 with a 3.88 ERA in his time with the Reds (’93-’96). He was eventually granted free agency and spent several years in the minors before resurfacing with the D-Backs in 2000.
6. Reggie Sanders – OF – Who could forget Reggie Sanders. I remember him fondly as a young Reds fan. He was drafted by the Reds and played in Cincy for eight years. Sanders was traded to the Padres for Mark Sweeney and Greg Vaughn (who hit 45 HR in his one year as a Red). Later, he spent a year in Arizona helping them win the ‘01 Series.
7. Elmer Dessens – RHP – Dessens played four years for the Reds (’00-’03) and was involved in a confusing three team deal that brought Felipe Lopez to Cincinnati and Dessens to Arizona.
8. Felipe Lopez – SS – Lopez had a decent time with the Reds. In 2005, he was elected to the NL All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger award the same year. He was a part of the deal that sent Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner to the Nationals for Bill Bray, Gary Majewski, Daryl Thompson, Brendan Harris, and Royce Clayton. What a blockbuster deal. Felipe Lopez is having a pretty good year out in Arizona right now. Speaking of Royce Clayton, he played for Arizona in ‘05 and had a decent year. His only real claim to fame though is striking out to Dennis Quaid in “The Rookie.” Really it was Jim Morris, but you know.
9. Donnie Sadler – OF/UTIL/ – Sadler was traded to the Reds from the Red Sox in exchange for fan-favorite Chris Stynes. He appeared in 39 games for the Reds in 2001 before being traded to the Royals. He finished his career in Arizona making a few appearances in 2004 and one appearance in 2007.
10. Kevin Jarvis – RHP – Jarvis, I would venture to say, grew up a Reds fan in Lexington, KY. He was drafted by the Reds and spent three seasons (almost four) with the club. He spent 12 years in the majors and ended his career in Arizona and Boston in ‘06.
11. Adam Dunn – OF – The most recent deal in the history between the two clubs, that I’m aware of. Dunner went to the D-Backs for Micah Owings, Dallas Buck, and Wilkin Castillo. As it turned out, he was merely a rental player Arizona hoped could push them into the playoffs. That didn’t quite work out and they were unable or unwilling to resign him. 
12. Scott Schoeneweis – LHP – Check that. The most recent former Red (other than Felipe Lopez) to take the field for the Diamondbacks is this guy right here. He spent the latter part of 2006 with the Reds and played for the Mets the following two seasons. He’s now, of course, in Arizona.

To be fair, we were on the other end of some bad deals too (Chad Moeller, Tony Womack, Quentin McCracken, etc.), and not all of these previously mentioned deals were bad. I just thought it might be fun to point out a little history between the two clubs.

Tonight we’ll see Bronson Arroyo face Jon Garland.

I don’t care how bad Bronson was last time out, I have to say I like the Reds’ chances tonight.

It’s almost a scientific fact that Bronson Arroyo is going to have a bad night about every fifth start. And every season, one of those fifth starts is going to look like last week. Here’s a good example.

Arizona is struggling right now. They just fired 2007 Manager of the Year, Bob Melvin.

I think they’re under new ownership as well. They’re also without their ace, Brandon Webb.

In the game of baseball, a lot of your success has to do with when you face a team. This might be a good time to see Arizona.