The Reds decided they were gonna get busy today, so they traded CF Willy Taveras (since DFA'd) and IF Adam Rosales to the A's for 2B Aaron Miles, then signed SS Orlando Cabrera for $3MM. It's a nifty little series of moves that shores up one of the Reds' biggest needs – middle infield depth, particularly at shortstop – at little cost. Miles will make $2.7MM this season, $1MM of which will be paid by the Cubs; in essence, the Reds are paying $4.7MM for a couple of useful enough infield guys. Consider that Willy Taveras was going to make $4MM, and he's awful, and there wasn't room for him in the Reds' outfield anyway, and we're left with the fact that the Reds essentially paid $700,000 to make themselves a better team.

How much better? Well, Mr. Taveras was worth -0.3 wins last season. So the Reds literally could have plucked anyone from AA or AAA and he would've probably been better than Taveras was. Which is fun. Mr. Miles is primarily a second baseman, and a fairly average one in the field, at that. He was even worse than Taveras last season, though, being worth a full 1.3 wins below replacement level – a remarkable feat, really. But he was worth 2.1 wins in 2008, where he had about twice as many PA as last season. So his true talent level is somewhere in the middle there – either way, he should make a positive contribution for very little cost. Mr. Cabrera is an above-average shortstop with a great pedigree of health – which is important, since he's going to need that good health to avoid the curse that Barry Larkin's spirit has apparently placed upon the knees of Reds shortstops (Gonzalez also missed nearly a month with a bone bruise in the same knee). He's only marginally above average, having been worth 0.7 wins cumulatively in the last three seasons, but he's got a useful glove and should at least bring some depth.

Does it really matter, in the short term? Eh, not really. The Reds certainly have talent on the squad, and if their stable of high ceiling young pitchers pans out to even something resembling their collective talent level, they will be contenders in the near future. Right now, though, they're probably not talented enough to compete with the Cubs and Cardinals of the world, and adding low-impact guys like Miles and Cabrera certianly won't change that. But, smart thinking like this shows that they're at least on the right track – commendable for an organization that prominently features Dusty Baker.

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