Reds trade former All-Star Jair Jurrjens to Rockies

Jair Jurrjens used to be an All-Star caliber pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, and now he is not. On Wednesday Jurrjens’ descent into oblivion got a little bit more dire as he was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Colorado Rockies.

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The Reds got back a young man named Harold Riggins, a double-A first baseman who in Aaron Gleeman’s words “isn’t considered a prospect.”

If Jurrjens is intimidated by the prospect of pitching in hitter-friendly Coors Field…well, he probably shouldn’t worry about it too much, since he himself is not actually in the majors right now. He had been toiling away at triple-A for the Reds and will presumably remain in the minors for Colorado.

The 28-year-old Jurrjens is now three years removed from his All-Star season in Atlanta. He went 13-6 in that magical year of 2011 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.224 WHIP, but then the arm troubles set in.

He went just 3-4 for the Braves in 2012 with a not-sparkling 6.89 ERA. The right-hander became a free agent after 2012 and landed with Baltimore and then Detroit. He landed with Cincinnati in May of this year and, lo and behold, the Reds managed to flip him for a double-A first baseman.

So basically, the Reds got a free first baseman out of the deal. And Colorado got a pitcher who is still young enough to get his career back on-track, though things are looking pretty bad after four different teams gave up on him.

Is it too late for him to take up soccer?

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