ESPN's Schoenfield suggests a move to help the Reds win it all

Who is it?

ESPN Sweetspot blogger David Schoenfield recently published an article titled Five crazy free-agent ideas in which he explores five scenarios with five different teams and a number of free agents that he thinks make complete sense. I clicked on it, not necessarily expecting to find the Reds on the list, but lo and behold there they were at no. 3 on his list. Cincinnati doesn't exactly have a whole lot of money to spend on free agents, so it was a little bit of a surprise to see them on the list given the title. I figured to see the Reds on this list would mean a big splash, crazy idea of a signing like that Josh Hamilton everyone on Twitter seems to think is a logical idea. Nonetheless, the one mentioned certainly does seem to make sense.

Without further delay, the player Schoenfield says the Reds should sign is none other than OF Angel Pagan, who played for the World Champion San Francisco Giants last year. You may remember them from the playoffs. (I know you couldn't hear it, but I was cursing while typing that.)

It's this guy.

Anyways, here is what Schoenfield had to say concerning his proposed Pagan-to-the-Reds deal:

3. Angel Pagan to the Reds.

The Reds would like to re-sign left fielder Ryan Ludwick, but the outfielder they need to pursue is Pagan. Dusty Baker loves Drew Stubbs' defense in center field, but Stubbs has become so ineffective against right-handed pitching that he's really nothing more than a platoon guy now.

Pagan fills the three primary holes for the Reds: a better center fielder, a leadoff hitter and a left-handed/switch-hitter to help balance all the right-handed bats in the Cincinnati lineup. The Reds have to give Joey Votto a $7.5 million increase in 2013, but his $19 million drops back to $12 million in 2014 (before rising again). But they've axed $14 million worth of Scott Rolen and Ryan Madson. It's a tight squeeze, but this is a team that can win it all with just a move or two. Pagan should be that move.

As much as I hate to admit it, this move would make pretty good sense. It's something I've had in the back on my mind as I have perused through the numerous free agent rankings on different websites. I just don't like Pagan for some reason though. If mainly he can lead off better than anyone on the Reds did last year though, and do the other stuff mentioned above while playing some left field too, though then it's worth a shot I'd say. The Reds aren't going to be able to do much more than that value-wise via free agency or via trade unless they throw financial responsibility and the farm system to the wind.

What would be your reaction if the Reds signed Pagan this offseason?