Freel vs Deno vs Hamilton

[Fishercat]

Will you guys just play Ryan ****ing Freel and let him be? My goodness, all he's done is perform well, and he keeps getting benched.

[redsrbetter]

I can agree with that sentiment Fish. I have been calling for that for 2 straight seasons. But now that Freel's only option is to play the outfield, he is very much in contention. And for the first time in two years, I will say that this is rightfully so.

Prior to this season, the Reds outfield has had many occassions where the RF spot was a spot with a lot of competition. Kearns was the young "phenom" coming in and he had a lot of guys ready to step up and take the job from him. Guys like Juan Encarnacion, Jose Guillen, and Wily Mo Pena gave him a run for his money. But eventually Kearns drove them all out of town. Deserving or not, I see a similar scenario in the works now.

The difference in this one is that the new "phenom" is fighting for the position he likely has no chance at getting. For now, Josh Hamilton is simply fighting for a spot on the roster. Whereas the other deserved individual(s) (namely Freel) will get there shot as Hamilton looks on from the bench.

We could say that this is the right way to go as Freel very much deserves a chance to start. He is the spark plug for this team. He doesn't fit anywhere else as a regular other than in the outfield.

But the team would be taking a whole new direction with this approach. If Narron chooses the scrappy veteran over the young untapped potential with an amazing ceiling that none of us can fathom, he may be doing the right thing in many fans eyes. But what happens when that potential wastes away on the bench ie Wily Mo Pena? Will we see another multi-talented would be star in the making become nothing but a glorified pinch hitter? And what happens when Narron chooses Conine as the RF regular when Freel is out?

Mark my words, that will be the biggest complaint from every Reds fan this season. As Hamilton is getting limited ABs, Conine will be sulking in his opportunities to show a "veteran presence." I guarantee you this will be our most talked about topic until Bailey comes up this season.

And then what happens to Denorfia? Does he take a step back due to Hamilton? Or does he sit higher on the depth chart in Narron's eyes? Much of this questioning could be avoided if Narron chose to only play Conine at 1B against LHP. Then it would be a classic battle between Freel, Deno, and Hamilton for the job.

And I never even mentioned Crosby or Hopper. What if one of them impresses Narron a little too much? This could get real sickening.

[volzok]

You bring up a good point with Crosby at the end. Last year Denorfia was sent down after a few games b/c of the healing of McCracken. Lets hope that it doesnt happen again.

[NFLman2033]

You bring up a good point with Crosby at the end. Last year Denorfia was sent down after a few games b/c of the healing of McCracken. Lets hope that it doesnt happen again.

yeah no kidding.. I mean lets face it, no matter how excited we can get about this teams personal.. Jerry Narron is still the Manager and he still sets the lineup.. and if we get guys like Conine or even worse yet Crosby making this team, he is going to screw us with the lineup... man I wish, just once that we could have a real manager.. I mean Lou was fantastic, and Davey was good, but since then its been hacks..