On March 20, 2006, just a bit more than a week before the start of the regular season, the Cincinnati Reds swung a trade for a lanky right-hander named Bronson Arroyo, sending outfielder Wily Mo Pena to the Boston Red Sox in exchange.
Arroyo was 29 and coming off his second year in the Red Sox rotation. He was known for getting outs without throwing very hard and wearing a notorious set of cornrows in 2004. No one could have predicted the type of run he’d go on for eight years with the Reds – 265 starts, 1,690 1/3 innings and a 4.