Check this out. At first I thought it was a mistake: the Reds are sending Edwin Encarnacion back to Triple-A. Sure, he's struggling: he's hitting .218 with an OBP just over .300. But...come on now. First off, it isn't like the Reds have any better options. Second, Encarnacion is a big part of their future. This is eerily similar to what the team did with Austin Kearns not too long ago...and now he's in Washington, traded for a banged up reliever.
To put this is perspective, it's a lot like demoting J.J. Hardy if he got off to a bad start...this year. Encarnacion has proven he's a major-league caliber hitter (his OPS+ was 105 last year as a 23 year old) and deserves better. As Rotoworld points out, teams ought to be calling to see what washed-up middle relievers it would take to pry him away. Hell, if I were Doug Melvin, I'd be calling--Craig Counsell might be right up Wayne Krivsky's alley. We'd have to flip Encarnacion later, but I'd certainly take him as a stopgap solution for now.