Encarnacion

	Young

BOSTON -- Cincinnati and Detroit traded outfielders Tuesday, with Dmitri Young going to the Tigers and Juan Encarnacion heading to the Reds.

Cincinnati also picked up 23-year-old reliever Luis Pineda in the deal, which was announced at the baseball winter meetings.

Young hit .300 or higher in each of his last four seasons with the Reds, batting .302 with 21 homers and 69 RBIs in 2001. He became the first player traded away as part of the Reds' move to keep their payroll down.

"It's very rare that you get a chance to acquire a .300 hitter, much less one that's done it for four years in a row," Tigers general manager Randy Smith said.

The Reds had the second-lowest payroll in the NL Central last season -- $45.2 million on opening day -- and plan to keep it in the same range this season. Young made $3.5 million last season and was one of 11 players eligible for arbitration.

ESPN.com analysis

In the short term, this move does very little to help the Reds. Last year, Cincinnati finished 10th in the National League with a .324 on-base percentage, and in Encarnacion they're getting a free swinger with a .310 career OBP ... and Encarnacion's .444 career slugging percentage is lower than Young's .468 career mark. That said, Encarnacion is much better than Young defensively, and he should fare better, at least power-wise, after escaping from pitcher-friendly Comerica Park. And the dark horse in the deal is 23-year-old pitcher Luis Pineda, who throws in the mid-90s and, at three levels last year, struck out 111 batters in 112 innings. If Pineda develops, it's a good deal for the Reds. -- Rob Neyer

"At the end of the year, after our last game, everybody was packing up and we just said goodbye to each other, that hopefully we'll all play together again next year, but we knew that was not going to be the case," Young said.

The Tigers feared that Encarnacion, who hit .242 with 12 homers and 52 RBI last season, was taking a step backward from the year before, when he batted .289 with 14 homers and 72 RBI. Despite the raw talent that could make him a star, he didn't take instruction well and his fielding was spotty.

"Juan Encarnacion did not take the next step," manager Phil Garner said. "He's a good player who somewhere down the line is going to put up some good numbers. But we feel like what we got in this deal is going to help us a great deal."

Young also impressed the Tigers in a three-game series at in Detroit last year, hitting .636 with a homer and three RBI.

"We feel Dmitri will provide a much-needed bat that's tailor-made for our ballpark," Smith said. "He's posted excellent numbers in interleague games versus AL Central teams and will help our offense immediately while giving Phil versatility defensively."

Young played four different positions last year for Cincinnati. The Tigers will use Young and Robert Fick in right field or at first base and bat him in the middle of the lineup.

Young is acquainted with Fick, but doesn't know much about the Tigers. He hopes to avoid being a designated hitter.

"That's not my cup of tea," Young said. "I heard I'm going to be doing a lot of things, actually."

Young was primarily a left fielder, but moved to third base while Aaron Boone recovered from three hand fractures. He also played first base and one game in right field.

The Reds now have an outfield of Ken Griffey Jr., Encarnacion and Adam Dunn, who was promoted July 20, played right field and hit 19 homers in 66 games.

"They've got a very athletic outfield," Smith said.

Pineda moved from Single-A to the majors last year, and went 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in 16 games for the Tigers.