Narron and Krivsky get their contracts extended

[redsfan28]

Just came across the local news.

Good news for Kriv, but not for those who want Narron gone.

[redsrbetter]

I think this is good news all around. Did we expect Lou Piniella to really come on over? And even if he did, could he do much better with this team? I think some of us need to stop worrying about getting into the past and look at what we have now. Its like I said in my last write up, Narron is a good manager bad lineups or not. He is a winning manager and that is the bottom line.

I am fully aware that some will argue this point and strongly suggest that I receive a different view point. And that I may, you guys are awfully good at convincing me otherwise. But I still like this extension.

[missionhockey21]

Getting into the past? If you mean that those who wanted Lou wanted him to relive old memories... I can assure you I wasn't in that camp even though if it did happen, that's how the Reds marketing department would sell it. Lou had a good track record, had ties here and was without a job so obviously it made sense to entertain the thought. But I really think it's too soon for Narron. Are we better than I anticipated? Of course and is Narron at least partially responsible? Of course. But it's not the fact that he makes mistakes, he's human and that's to be expected, but to me it seems like he refuses to adapt and change based on said mistakes. Maybe he is showing confidence in struggling players, maybe he's stubborn, or maybe he just refuses to look at the stats. I mean he eventually changes, but it just seems to be so delayed and we really can't afford to be making those types of mistakes. But for dealing with numerous injuries and not the greatest roster in the world, he's doing much better than I would of guess. I guess I am just saying, I would of preferred if they would of waited until we're getting close to the end of the season to see where we stand. But maybe this will put a spark in the players, all who seem to like Narron, that management belives in him and what he's been doing.

I don't think this was the best move at this time, but I am not upset either.

[missionhockey21]

I also wanted to clarify that obviously Narron isn't my type of a baseball guy... but no matter how much anyone dislikes his baseball mind, we can't exactly expect Kriv or RCast to fire the dude or not keep him around if we do continue to play above .500 baseball. (Despite all the horrendous lineup decisions he has made in key spots.)

But hopefully he keeps it up. I can live with McCracken hitting leadoff or Aurilia batting 4th against righties occasionally if that means we're in the hunt for the playoffs still.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I like seeing Krivsky extended but hate seeing Narron extended.

The chances of us making the playoffs over the next few years went down somewhat because of Narron being retained.

Jumping to conclusions on a guy with Narron's track record doesn't seem to be a smart business decision by Castellini.

[missionhockey21]

RCast is old school, evervyone should of expected stuff like this. I just hope we don't get stuck in the same cycle we have been in for years (firing someone midseason, keeping the interim without looking for better options seriously, and repeat.)

[CincyRedsFan30]

I hope we don't either.

I definitely am not looking forward to seeing Aurilia batting cleanup for the next few years, which I'm sure Narron will push for.

I also won't like seeing him trying to make guys like Dunn make more contact and causing their stats to drop in the process.

[redsrbetter]

Thats the kind of stuff that I agree with. I am not feeling kindly toward Narron on these issues. We know that it is not going to change with Narron either. He will continue to bat Aurilia in the cleanup spot. And if he is traded, look for Hatteberg to be there. He just likes having contact guys in that spot of the order. But I can't argue that it is a good decision from him, because I believe it isn't.

My thing is that the positives outweigh the negatives on this situation. The lineup looks bad on paper, but they still get it done. There are plenty of games where we could say we had a better shot at winning if the lineup were different. But there are also plenty of games where we have to thank Narron for putting the lineup up the way he did. Those games even include some where Aurilia worked out nicely as the cleanup hitter.

There is definitely a method for success when it comes to managing a baseball team. And part of that success has to do with setting up the right players for the right situations. We will all argue that Narron has not mastered that concept yet. But we still cannot say that he is not getting it done.

I don't know, maybe its just me, but I think this was a nice move. I really like how it gives the FO its closure and allows them to know what is in place for the future. Now Krivsky can concentrate on things that are very important.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Aurilia has worked out poorly against RHP pretty much all year long, a few good games aside. His OPS of just over .600 against them is poor, so the decision to ever hit him 4th is not a wise one, unless he has ridiculously good numbers against that particular pitcher over his career, covering a LARGE number of AB.

[homerun21]

CRF Adam Dunn OBVIOUSLY needs to make more contact. If he's simply going to be an OPS machine with a .230 batting average he's not worth 11 million a year. I need to see some progress from this guy, yes the homeruns are great but he's simply not getting it done this season so far. I could live with .240 from Dunn but he's been under .230 most of the season. A walk is not as good as a hit most times from a middle of the order guy.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Do you realize that Dunn is 20th in MLB in Runs Scored?

Do you realize that Dunn is tied for 3rd in MLB in Home Runs?

Do you realize Dunn is 4th in MLB in Walks?

Do you realize Dunn came into tonight 30th in MLB in OPS(despite recent struggles) and after tonight is around No. 25?

Do you realize that the difference between Dunn hitting .228 as he is now and hitting .243 is FOUR hits? The difference between his .228 and .250 is SIX hits.

Even going back to last year and the issues many had with him in terms of his average(even though his OPS was very good) with RISP, the difference between his .248 average with RISP and a .302 average with RISP was a mere SEVEN hits over the course of the entire season.

I like Dunn batting second and I hope he continues to do so. I think his production will just increase there. And really, BB are as good as hits most of the time, because they get you on base. The fact that he's scored a lot of Runs says a lot. Someone has to get on base for someone else to knock them in.

Sure he could improve some, most players can, but his "problems" are severely overrated by many.

Just leave him in the two-hole and watch him produce. I think his numbers will start heading more in the direction of his very good numbers of last year. Narron needs to stop trying to make him make more contact though, because that's just not the type of hitter he is. Avoiding outs is what he does when he's right. Just let him be.

[missionhockey21]

I think everyone can agree that Dunn delivers. I think we also can agree that we would LIKE to see him make more contact. But the problem lies with whether we would just like to see that through natural progression of Dunn developing as a hitter. Or if we want to see reckless intervention to change the hitter that Dunn is and end up with a crippled Adam Dunn (remember what happened when Boone and the countless stream of hitting coaches started to mess with his swing? I still think all of that effects him to some degree today.) I am not saying that's what you were suggesting homerun, but I am gunshy (with good reason) when it comes to any tinkering with Dunn. Gotta be careful with a big swing like Dunn's, who is an anomaly for a hitter obviously.