“This was a very difficult trade for us to make because of how our fans, ownership and everyone in our organization feel about Jay, but we acquired two quality players who better fit the direction our organization is heading,” Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty said in a statement. “Herrera is considered one of the brightest young stars in the game today. Wotell fits in with the other good, strong arms we’ve been trying to stockpile in our minor league syste.”
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Earlier reports indicated the Reds were getting 23-year-old outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo as the top prospect in the deal. However, that was soon followed by indications a potential medical issue was holding up finalization of the trade.
Bruce has spent his entire professional career with the Reds since being drafted in the first round out of Beaumont West Brook High School in Texas in June 2005, hitting 223 home runs in nine major-league seasons.
Herrera was the organization’s No. 4 prospect and a top-50 prospect overall according to Baseball America in 2014 when he made his major-league debut.
The 22-year-old split time between the majors and Triple-A in ’14 and ’15 but has spent all of 2016 in the minors so far. He is hitting .276 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs in 86 games at Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League this season.
Wotell is a left-handed starting pitcher who was a third-round pick in last year’s draft. He is 3-1 with a 3.94 ERA in rookie ball this year.
Nimmo was a first-round pick of New York in 2011. MLB.com rates him the No. 5 prospect in the Mets organization.
He has split 2016 between the Big Apple and Triple-A Las Vegas, hitting .236 with a home run and five RBIs in 18 games and 55 at-bats at the major-league level. He hit .336 with seven homers and 45 RBIs in 72 games in the minors this year.
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