A Reds-A's trade to give the Cincinnati offense a power surge

It's no secret that the Cincinnati Reds offense desperately needs offensive help this season. Before the year began, Cincinnati was going to lean heavily on their sophomore superstars, Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz.

Fast forward to a fourth of the way through the season and De La Cruz has been the only regular in the lineup. McLain has been sidelined with a shoulder injury and he'll likely miss at least 80% of the year. Marte was dinged with a half-season suspension for PEDs. Encarnacion-Strand has been horrible in limited time, finding himself on the injured list on multiple occasions.

It's gotten to the point where Cincinnati is rostering (and playing) the likes of Jacob Hurtubise and Conner Capel. A trade with the Oakland Athletics could look to bolster this offense up.

A potential Reds-A's trade that sends Brent Rooker to Cincinnati

The biggest holes in the Reds lineup have been right-handed outfielders and power bats. Brent Rooker would fill both these holes.

The Athletic's Jim Bowden listed Rooker as the most likely member of the Athletics to be traded by the July 30 deadline.

Rooker would slot perfectly into the Cincinnati lineup. He would play nearly every day, rotating in the outfield as well as in the DH slot. It would allow a fully healthy Cincinnati team to trot out three lefty outfielders against a RHP with Rooker in the DH.

Rooker fills the power hole, already having slugged 11 home runs, which would lead the Cincinnati Reds on the season. His .935 OPS also jumps off the paper for Reds fans.

In return, the Reds could give up two MLB ready prospects, Lyon Richardson and Blake Dunn. Dunn would replace Rooker in terms of outfielders for the A's and Richardson would give them a high potential pitching prospect.

For the Reds, neither of these two prospects would really hurt the farm system as a whole. Cincinnati has much better pitching at the MLB level and in the farm than what Richardson provides. Dunn, on the other hand, is outshined by players at the MLB level.

The A's need to enter a more full scale rebuild anyway. Trading Rooker while they have the chance just makes sense and Cincinnati could be the perfect suitor to send him away to. The Reds need a kickstart to their offense this year and a trade for Brent Rooker would be the perfect deal to send them in the right direction.