Breaking news
Lots of it. Jery Narron and Wayne Krivsky just announced the following:
--Chris Denorfia needs "Tommy John" surgery.
--Bobby Livingston and and Gary Majewski were optioned to Louisville.
--Jeff Keppinger, Bill Bray,Elizardo Ramirez and Jerry Gil will go on the DL and will rehab in the Florida.
--Jerry Gil and Eddie Guardado will go on the DL and come north with the team.
--Either Matt Belisle or Kirk Saarloos will be the fifth starter.
--The last position player will be Norris Hopper or Chad Moeller.
--The final bullpen spot will go to one of these three: Right-handers Victor Santos and Jared Burton and left-hander Jon Coutlangus.
posted by John Fay at 3:55 PM
25 Comments:
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Librariman said...
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JO said...
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John Fay said...
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Rob Dicken said...
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Post a Comment*"--Either Matt Belisle or Kirk Saarloos will be the fifth starter."
So does that put Milton in the 4 hole then? I cannot believe he's going to make the team, let alone be the #3 or #4 pitcher.
Big difference in the no. of starts between the 4th and 5th spots. It's one thing for Milton's contract to guarantee him a roster spot. Quite another to affect the number of starts he gets in the first 2 months of the season. Why would the Reds hurt their chances like this?
In the spirit of keeping Milton and optioning Livingston, here are the top 5 things to look for in the first month of the season:
5. Narron refuses to use Castro as a late-game defensive sub at third; Encarnacion costs the team 2 games with late game throwing errors.
4. Josh Hamilton hits 2 homers in a game but does not start the next day.
3. Starting pitchers will be taken out of the game after 6 innings with the lead and having a quality start only to see the bullpen lose the game late.
2. First base is a revolving door of 3 players who combined hit .210.
1. Ken Griffey, Jr. only plays 13 games in April.
Everyone shutup already about Milton. Harang's ERA is over 6 in the Spring and nobody is whining about that. It's a contract year and he will do as good as anyone else who would pitch in his spot. He has every incentive to have a decent year. The biggest thing you guys have to worry about is the manager who mismanaged the pen last year and walked the winning run to third with nobody out in a loss to Philly.
Everyone shutup already about Milton. Harang's ERA is over 6 in the Spring and nobody is whining about that.
The difference is that Harang has pitched good in the regular season for the Reds, while Milton hasnt had an ERA under 5.00 with the Reds.
The ignorance seen on a daily basis on forums and blogs really makes me wonder if Cincinnati is the "baseball smart" town we believe we are. Milton has a track record of doing exactly what he did this spring so the conclusion is, he will be as bad or worse. Haran has a track record of being a pitcher deserving of Cy Young consideration so his spring is likely an abaration. I guess the real worry is Narron because he made that one bad move in the one loss last year. How could I have forgotten that?
"Everyone shutup already about Milton. Harang's ERA is over 6 in the Spring and nobody is whining about that. It's a contract year and he will do as good as anyone else who would pitch in his spot. He has every incentive to have a decent year. The biggest thing you guys have to worry about is the manager who mismanaged the pen last year and walked the winning run to third with nobody out in a loss to Philly."
Milton didn't go 16-11 last year and lead the league in wins, strike outs, complete games and shut outs and near the lead in innings pitched.
my question is, if belisle and sarloos are battling for the 5th spot, won't one of them end up the swing man in the pen?
how are there going to be two spots for coutlangus, santos, and burton.
with hermanson, stanton, weathers, coffey, and cormier, that only leaves two spots total.
would they send belisle or sarloos down just because they didn't make the rotation?
ok, the first 2 points in that list of 5 above are good, because they reflect the questionable decisions we see almost daily by Narron. but the other 3, come on, that's just typical Cinci-style negativity. our pen isn't as bad as in previous years, so to already whine about the pen, that belongs in 2003, not in the now. our 1B players all hit for average, so again, typical Cinci-fan expecting the worst from their own team before the season even starts. and of course, lets whine about Griffey some more, because he's just a bum, right? get real.
re: Milton, I hate having him on our team, but in his defense, his bad games usually are bad because he gives up a bunch of runs in the first inning, after he gets out of that he's as average as anybody else we could get. i'd rather not see him on the roster, but he's there and can only do better... i'm pretty sure he'll make me regret having said something in his support...
Really sad to see Livingston sent down, but I understand the rationale because he will be on a set pitching schedule in Louisville.
When John said that either Belisle or Saarloos will be the fifth starter, I think he was just meaning the fifth starting pitcher on the roster. I still think that there is a chance Milton will be the actual fifth starter.
To clarify: My guess Saarloos or Belisle will go in the bullpen, if they aren't the fifth starter. Doomglobin is correct. I wrote that two of the group of Santos, Burton and Coutlangus would make it. One will. I've since corrected it. The roster math often gives me a headache.
"5. Narron refuses to use Castro as a late-game defensive sub at third; Encarnacion costs the team 2 games with late game throwing errors."
This is an utterly preposterous statement and, in fact, is the exact opposite of reality. Narron has no confidence in Encarnacion whatsoever, and consistently pulls the trigger on a defensive replacement in late game situations.
Frankly, more than I would like, given that as bad as teh Reds' pen is, you need Edwin's bat if the game is extended.
Milton will make the team because our last general manager was an idiot and signed him to a 9 million per year contract. He will be there because he makes too much to be in Triple A. Sure, we have better pitchers in Triple A that deserve the spot over Milton, but because this city has had crappy owners and general managers in past years, we're stuck with the guy.
A couple sports analysts are saying to watch out for Homer Bailey. Although he was optioned to Triple A, many believe he will be called up soon into the season. And that he has, and I quote, "NL Rookie of the Year potential."
And if I hear one more 'Griffey will get hurt' comment, I may explode from the neck up! I am sick of that crap! Griffey is a true professional, and he's doing right now what is best for the team (moving to Right Field). If he is going to get hurt, he has a more slim chance of doing it in RF than CF.
John, How did Livingston take his option to AAA? Are your blogging skills going to continue in the regular season?
He was OK with it. He knew there was a chance of it because he had options. He still got a little choked up about it. Yes, I will blog during the season.
I'm a Japanese Reds fan, I watch the Reds games from Japan with the internet every day. I'm shocked to send Livingston to Louisville. Livingston were fine in the big league. I want Belisle to be the fifth starter.
To John:
Your blog is very important to me because it's hard to get many informations of this team. I'm glad you'll continue in the regular season.
"The ignorance seen on a daily basis on forums and blogs really makes me wonder if Cincinnati is the "baseball smart" town we believe we are. Milton has a track record of doing exactly what he did this spring so the conclusion is, he will be as bad or worse. Haran has a track record of being a pitcher deserving of Cy Young consideration so his spring is likely an abaration. I guess the real worry is Narron because he made that one bad move in the one loss last year. How could I have forgotten that?"
Please. Like Narron only had 1 bad game. This was just one horrible example. In the same game, he used Elizardo in relief and still allowed him to start the game the next day! In a critial series in St.Louis, he used Coffey in a game with a large lead and depended on some hack the next day who's name I can't even remember now in a close 1-1 game in which we lost. It should have been vice versa.
Go look at Milton's game log from last season. Between his 2 injuries, he put together a pretty decent string which included a good deal of quality starts. He's not going to pitch as bad as in the spring. Get your facts straight before you whine about Cincinnati sports fans not knowing enough.
And if I hear one more 'Griffey will get hurt' comment, I may explode from the neck up! I am sick of that crap!
I hate to be the guy who does it, but Griffey will get hurt.
In his 7 seasons in Cinn., he averages 100 games played, and his highest games played year was 2005, when he played a whopping 128 games.
Here's what we as Reds fans are getting with Junior. You be the judge.
7 year average
play 100 games
.268 batting average
24 homers
65 RBIs
Now, from where I see it, those numbers are pretty average. Nothing spectacular about 'em. There's quite a few guys who can do that for ya and not cause as much of a stir in your clubhouse.
I'm glad Junior's a Red, but the facts tell me he's now an average player at best.
Griffey played 145 in games in 2000. But the average is correct -- 699 games in seven years.
I hate to be the guy who does it, but Griffey will get hurt.
In Right Field? If he was in Center Field, absolutely. But the move to Right Field is going to narrow the man's chances at getting hurt, and only betters the team's defense in the outfield with Freel now in Center. I agree that Griffey does get hurt a lot, but the typical consensus of Cincinnati is to ASSUME "The Reds will do terrible this year," or, "Griffey will get hurt this year." There was a comment earlier about this, and I've got to agree.
Now, from where I see it, those numbers are pretty average. Nothing spectacular about 'em. There's quite a few guys who can do that for ya and not cause as much of a stir in your clubhouse.
A stir in the clubhouse? What's your source on this accusation? Griffey used to be an egotistical kid in Seattle, but since his move to Cincinnati, I don't remember reading anything about him 'causing a stir in the clubhouse.' In fact, there is a rather interesting article written by a reporter on ESPN about Griffey. I believe Barry Bonds is in the article as well. Very interesting read. Check it out.
As far as his numbers being average...who would be a better bet to get those numbers at his position? Chris Denorfia? Norris Hopper? DeWayne Wise? All three of these guys wouldn't thouch the 25 homerun per year mark. If Griffey was healthy, he would've easily hit over 30 homers per year, and possibly 40. So averaging out his numbers is not a very good estimation on his performance if he were to play the entire year. For 100 games per year, those are pretty decent numbers.
DOH!! Missed that one, John. Sorry.
Here's something else for everyone to ponder. Junior played 145 games in 200 as a 30 year-old......7 years ago.
Now, as anybody closing in on 40 (myself included) can tell you, the physical difference between a 30 year-old and a 37 year-old is significant.
Your body simply isn't the same at 37 as it was at 30, regardless of how fit you stay or how physically gifted you are.
There's 2 chances, Slim & None, of Junior being the guy that can put the team on his back and carry them, and I think I see Slim headed outta town.
Again, I'm a Griffey fan, but the fact is that he's not 30 any more.
I want to jump and defend Griffey on this count. He'd rather be playing center. And he is'nt very happy to talk about the switch with the media. That said, it has not affected his mood or attitude toward his teammates. He jokes, participats in clubhouse gags and is same guy he always was in the clubhouse.
Robert, to respond to a few things.
First, when I mentioned 'a stir in the clubhouse', I didn't mean that Griffey was a bad guy or anything. What I meant was the overall attention he gets. Y'know, like this whole CF/RF thing? A lot has been written about it and it's caused a stir. Junior simply being Junior draws attention.
Second, when I was referring to Junior's average numbers, I didn't mean to imply other players currently in the Reds organization. I meant players in MLB as a whole.
Boy, did I just kinda stumble on something interesting!
Lemm throw out some numbers of another guy and compare them to Junior's.
averages over last 7 years
133 games played
.281 BA
12 homers
69 RBIs
Now, I'd say this mystery guy can get it done. 13 points higher than Junior, 12 less homers, but drives in 4 more runs. Wanna know who the mystery player is???
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Jeff Conine.
And over the past 7 seasons he was age 34-40.
33 games makes a big difference! Do you honestly think that if Griffey played an extra 33 games a year that his average, homers, and RBIs would be near the same? Absolutely not! They would significantly climb.
I can see an average sticking around .270-.280, but homers and RBIs would increase significantly. Comparing Conine to Griffey is like comparing bananas to oranges. Totally 2 different players that hasn't put up NEAR the same numbers their entire careers.
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