The Reds, trades, brawling with Pittsburgh, and feeling dirty

Poke the bear long enough and eventually the bear roars. Years of lambasting the Reds’ front office for standing pat, for playing it too close to the vest, for standing idly by while the rest of the baseball world danced, it all came to an end as the Reds front office went rogue—or the closest thing to going rogue the Reds do. Do something, Reds. So, they did.

Taylor Trammell was supposed to be the future, or at least part of a future we were promised, a down payment for all the losing. He did his part, making himself the darling of the Futures game in 2018 and walking away with the game’s MVP hardware. But, baseball’s top 30 prospect regressed in Double-A this season and, well, who knows,…