Zack Cozart is among the National League leaders in batting average at .347.
Zack Cozart is having his best-ever season offensively this year.
Zack Cozart is one of the top candidates to be the starting shortstop for the NL in the All-Star Game.
Zack Cozart is one of the top three defensive shortstops in baseball.
Zack Cozart is a leader along with Joey Votto on the Cincinnati Reds.
Zack Cozart is probably going to be trade.
This is the way of modern-age baseball.
Cozart is enjoying a banner year and although the Reds are four games under .500, they are still in the hunt for the NL Central Division title, just four games out of first place.
But Cozart also happens to become a free agent at the end of the season and at the age of 31 and only a little more than a year from a torn ACL injury, he needs to strike while the iron is hot.
The Reds won’t lock him up at $18 million a year for three, maybe four years. The organization is already paying Votto $25 million and they are helping pay Brandon Phillips’ salary even though he’s now with the Atlanta Braves.
And there’s that $10 million a year salary the Reds signed with pitcher Homer Bailey who has been injured so much the past two and half years that he’s made more appearances at the doctor’s office than on the mound.
As much as fans and teammates would love to keep Cozart, it’s probably not going to happen. The Reds have to find a team in need of a shortstop or just looking to upgrade on a short-term basis. Once they do, look for a one-sided deal as they take whatever they can get since they know Cozart holds all the cards at this point.
With some young talent in the minors maybe not quite ready to make the jump to the big leagues, the Reds could move Jose Peraza from second base to shortstop and insert Scooter Gennett at second.
Long-term, the Reds would most likely shift Eugenio Suarez from third base back to his natural position of shortstop and return Peraza to second. The hole at third base would go to top prospect Nick Senzel.
But with the Reds you just never know. They expected to be better this season and they are looking toward the future, so they may just bring Senzel up early and break him in.
However, the Reds are very service conscious. They want to keep Senzel as long as they can before he becomes eligible for free agency, so they may leave Senzel in the minors.
Regardless of what they decide to do, they won’t be asking for any input from the fans.
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Jim Walker is sports editor of The Ironton Tribune.