Random Reds Rumblings

[CincyRedsFan30]

Our brilliant manager decided to leave Arroyo in to get the final out of the 7th after he had him intentionally walk WARD to get to SORIANO.

The complexion of the last couple innings changed after things turned into our first blowout loss of the year.

And I really don't understand the logic behind sitting Hamilton today. He should be playing everyday one way or the other right now. Instead we get Castro batting 7th. He gets a bit hit as a PH sometimes, but he is NOT a starter, even with Gonzalez gone.

Dropping back to .500 tomorrow is a decent possibility. I hope Lohse is on his game against Lilly.

[redsrbetter]

My new article is up.

I really hope you guys can support us on these. It will only turn out for the best for all of us. Go in there and submit these articles to DIGG, delicious, and YB. The writers deserve the recognition and the site as a whole deserves to grow.

[brewersfan19]

Hey there Reds fans. Nice job this weekend against the Cubs. Reds/Brewers series should be as entertaining and even as last year. At least that is what I am hoping for at least.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Speaking of the Brewers, I wonder if Dan O'Brien will be in town to watch his "$8 Million Baby," starring Eric Milton as the boxer who gets knocked down but gets up over and over for more abuse.

[redsrbetter]

Haha CRF,

Thanks for the kind words brewersfan19. Your team is the one I really worry about. They are a year older and have a little experience under their belt and a revamped Ben Sheets to boot. Nasty! Good luck this week bro. If your pitching shows up at all, you will see dividends on your end for sure. Well, that is of course only if our lineup continues to struggle like they have been.

[missionhockey21]

Speaking of the Brewers, I wonder if Dan O'Brien will be in town to watch his "$8 Million Baby," starring Eric Milton as the boxer who gets knocked down but gets up over and over for more abuse.

Milton is awful, but I just can't knock O'Brien (as much) since we will have two superstar cornerstones to build around thanks to him.

With how awful this offense has been, I can't wait for the possibility of Dunn, Bruce, Ed E, Hamilton, Phillips, and Votto comprising a future lineup. That's drool worthy.

[redsrbetter]

Which reminds me of something I was thinking about today. I will be making a new thread concerning the topic right now though as it is worthy of its own discussion.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Milton is awful, but I just can't knock O'Brien (as much) since we will have two superstar cornerstones to build around thanks to him.

With how awful this offense has been, I can't wait for the possibility of Dunn, Bruce, Ed E, Hamilton, Phillips, and Votto comprising a future lineup. That's drool worthy.

Oh, I can knock him as much.

His GM tenure is one of the worst ever IMO, if not THE worst.

I think we give him too much credit for some of his draft picks. Sure some of them were better (especially on the pitching end) than what we had in the past, but any halfway decent minor league guy is able to make a few good picks every now and then.

[missionhockey21]

Oh, I can knock him as much.

His GM tenure is one of the worst ever IMO, if not THE worst.

I think we give him too much credit for some of his draft picks. Sure some of them were better (especially on the pitching end) than what we had in the past, any halfway decent minor league guy is able to make a few good picks every now and then.

Obviously the results have not shown, and that will be the true test of it all, but do you really think any team has as good of a 1-2 prospect combo (hitter and pitcher) in the minors? I am not arguing his success rate, which was absent at the MLB level, but at this point our system would be literally nothing without those two to headline it since Krivsky has not given much focus at all to acquiring talent for down the road yet. Bailey and Bruce really is an amazing combo, whether it was luck or skill those two will make Krivsky job a lot easier than had O'Brien had poorer drafts but a slightly better MLB roster to work with. If anything, leaving the roster in somewhat shambles I think allowed Krivsky to throw enough moves out there, some of which we might have never done if we had depth (Brandon Phillips) to really hit the jackpot in a few cases.

He is without question an awful GM though obviously. I think he is a pretty good guy with some baseball knowledge of players, but definitely his skill set wasn't suiting at all to being a big league GM.

[CincyRedsFan30]

No, other teams probably don't and I will give him credit for that.

But I think Krivsky is better than him any day of the week. O'Brien was more of the "let me build the minors" type and Krivsky seems to want to win now, though some of that is obviously the difference between Castellini and Krivsky. I bet Castellini has told Krivsky not too focus TOO much attention on the minors. I prefer that strategy. Now, I do think he needs to start focusing in on the minors a little more, but I'm starting to think he has a plan. He is slowly but surely tipping the scales toward pitching and defense. I think he realizes the offense might be a little short now as a result, but I think between his scouting abilities and Castellini's wallet size, he will take care of the offense (what players like Votto and Bruce don't bring inherently that is).

[missionhockey21]

Krivsky came into a system perfect for what he what he is capable of doing, making lots of changes with most of them being positive ones. Dan O refused to let go of our young talent unless the price was right, and perhaps we missed our chance to get a better deal for Kearns/Lopez (I don't think that is hard to argue) but from that same perspective, his other move of the young talent was obviously a franchise changer with getting Bronson Arroyo. Dan O kept the minors intact for the most part, outside of losing Mosely for Ramon Ortiz, so Krivsky had a system with some gems but not much depth. O'Brien just didn't bring us forward at all, thankfully he didn't set us back so far (like completely gutting the team with potential poor deals for minor league talent) that Krivsky wouldn't have a chance to get the wheels turning forward once again.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Yeah, I agree with all of that.

What has impressed me most about Krivsky lately is his ability to add players such as Coutlangus, Burton and Hamilton for nothing.

Oh, although it is certainly still very early, it is nice to see the Reds currently 4th in MLB in team ERA. I don't think we've seen that much lately and really in franchise history overall.

When was the last time we didn't score in 25 of 27 innings in a three game series and managed to win 2 of 3 as we did this weekend?

[missionhockey21]

Don't forget Phillips. That has indeed been his saving grace since the minor league acquisitions have pretty much been non existent. With his moves though, we have been able to add young, cheap talent to bolster our future.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Although I doubt Krivsky thinks of it that way, it seems he almost employs some "Moneyball" principles when adding some of the players he does (not in the sense of looking at newer statistics in all likelyhood, but in using his scouting eye to see undervalued talent or talent that he thinks has potential). It's not exactly Moneyball, but the "quality players for cheap" part is at least similar.

[CincyRedsFan30]

In other news, 5-star college hoops recruit Yancy Gates has apparently agreed to sign with UC (he's a 2008 recruit). He is rated one of the top players in the class. Huge signing (other schools fighting UC for him include Georgetown, Indiana, Florida, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Xavier and Ohio State.)

Additionally, it sounds like Anthony McClain(2007 4-star recruit who is rated the sixth best center in the country for this coming season) will also be announcing he will be playing for UC (the Bearcats have been battling Florida, Tennessee and UConn for him).

If so, this is huge news for Bearcats fans.

Nice job, Mick!!!