GET NOTICED.
League Team Name DIV WC WS Since TBSL CINCINNATI REDS 0 0 0 2010 SBSL KANSAS CITY MONARCHS 2 1 0 2008 TPSL LOS ANGELES ANGELS 3 0 1 2007 S3SL SEATTLE MARINERS 1 0 0 2026
Wilkin Castillo. Now can I complain?
Hey redsr, this is the new Reds team. Defense and pitching.
We don't need to score runs because our pitching is just the balls.
.: My Last.fm
Where did scoring runs get you this year? Last year? The year before? In Jocketty we trust.
I love pitching, I love defense, but the management seems to really have no clue about what we need which are bats to score runs. Maybe it will be addressed this offseason, god I hope it will, but for a team that for all purposes is in a "win now" mode, they should have done some adding to the lineup with at least one of these moves (Griffey/Dunn.) We have one potential big run producer on the team and that's Bruce. Winning teams have more than one impact bat.
A highly ranked pitching staff and slick defense coupled with an anemic defense will be pretty similar to the 2005 Reds (best in the NL in runs and worst in runs allowed.) Signing some Jocketty type position players will not be it, he needs to make an impact move like when he got Rolen for the Cards, someone who would make an impact with his whole game.
.: My Last.fm
He's an athletic kid who projects well behind the dish, but if he manages to produce a .305 OBP in AAA at his age.... I really don't know what we could hope for. Me? I hope I don't have to spend the next few years suffering while seeing our catcher get on at a sub .300 clip.
Of course the scouts could see something that we can't from the stats, but given his age and AAA performance and other statistic suggestions (plate discipline), I don't know if we could honestly expect anything more than a defensive backup.
.: My Last.fm
Ryan Freel was fun as a backup.
Bruce, Votto, Phillips and Encarnacion can get you runs. Reds need pitching more than they need bats or Dunn for that matter. I don't see any signs pointing to "win now" mode before the season or now. Am I curious to why you think it is? The Cordero signing? Reds will have enough money freed up to get another bat and arm.
Harang - Locked up, pretty big money, no talks of dealing him at all during or before the season.
Arroyo- Same as above.
Phillips - Same as above.
Cordero- Signed to a record contract for a reliever, only when you think you are trying to win do you spend that kind of money and give that long of a commitment to a RELIEVER.
Unless those four are being actively shopped in the offseason, this team is in a win now mode. Either go all out and make the best MLB roster or go all out and rebuild.
And I am talking about an impact bat, not a role bat to supplement. Griffey, during his comeback season, and at various points Dunn, were both high impact bats that changed the dynamic of the lineup. Bruce could be that. Votto, Encarnacion, and Phillips are not and will not be that. As Bruce is not yet that and still might not be, if the Reds are planning to keep Harang-Arroyo-Phillips-Cordero, they need to sign a bat that could be placed #4 with Bruce at #3 and not hope that Brandon Phillips somehow morphs into a cleanup hitter the longer they leave him there because he is not that and our tolerance for stomaching GIDP's is wearing thin.
.: My Last.fm
.: My Last.fm
Harang and Arroyo are only locked up for two more years. Counting on those two to win now isn't the smart way to go. I always saw Phillips more as of a #5 type hitter and he has hit well tis year with RISP. Votto might be able to bat cleanup as he looks like a 30 HR guy who can actually hit for some kind of average. Bruce, Votto, Phillips and Encarnacion can provide runs. Pat Burrell and Raul Ibanez are about the only OFers worth getting this offseason. Maybe Bobby Abreu. I see 2010 as the year the Reds finally start to creep up the NL Central.
I love Freel as a backup.