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John Fay
John Fay has been the Reds beat writer for the Enquirer since 2001. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Enquirer: backup Reds writer, UC beat writer, backup Bengals writer and as a general assignment reporter. He is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Elder High School and the University of Dayton.

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Sunday, August 5, 2007

Rain out; changes coming?

The Reds and the Pirates were rained out Sunday. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Aug. 28 beginning at 5:05 p.m.

Pete Mackanin all but promised roster changes before the series with the Dodgers opens on Tuesday at Great American.

“It would be a good idea to think that we’re going to be different,” Mackanin said. “I don't know anything specific. But we've talked briefly about it. They're may be changes made, depending upon certain things.”

He mentioned Eddie Guardado, Bill Bray and Gary Majewski as possible replacement relievers.

Todd Coffey, who's ERA is up to 6.04, is probably out. Michael Gosling, who's allowed five runs in his last 6 1/3 innings, may be as well.

“I assume we're going to do something,” Mackanin said. “We're always trying to improve. Every time you go out you’re auditioning.”

The Reds are also may make a move with Ryan Freel. His knee will be examined today.

"So are you going to call up Jay Bruce?" I asked Mackanin.

"I heard he's a nice player," Mackanin said.

I don't think there's any way we'll see Bruce. But it would be fun to see how he'd do.


19 Comments:

at 6:26 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

John - Besides recycling the same pitchers who have struggled in the majors, what changes can Petey Mack make?

I can't wait to see how Jay Bruce plays with the Reds but what purpose would it serve to call him up now?

 
at 11:12 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Out with a couple bad relievers, in with a few more. Nothing new.

Gosling looked good against lefties and could be counted on to get them out.

Guardado isn't ready. Why even bother using him? Let him rehab. It's not like we're in the race.

Majewski stinks. Period. Wasn't that good for the Nationals either, unless you're looking at the wrong statistics.

 
at 12:26 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

John,
Do you think there is any chance of Bruce being a September callup? A taste can't hurt anybody. What else would he be doing? September is a wasted month if you are a minor leaguer and your team didn't make the playoffs right?

 
at 2:13 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

They could call up Bruce...I'd assume it would be a short stay until Hamilton came off the D.L. He's probably coming up in September anyway, so get him three, four starts up here now, give him a taste while he's tearing up triple AAA, and then let him come back up in September. Reliever wise I'd assume Guardado and Bray come up, but Majewski has been pitching the best of the three at least number wise in the last three weeks. Maybe they go all out and give the DFA to Stanton and bring up all three. And I hear Fernando Cabrera is still looking for a new home.

 
at 8:57 AM Blogger Patrick said...

No way they bring up bruce.

 
at 9:26 AM Blogger BMB said...

any idea why Homer went back home to Tex?

 
at 9:26 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

any idea why Homer went back home to Tex?

 
at 9:29 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I HAVE THE BEST ADVICE REGARDING NECESSARY CHANGES

CASTELLINI SHOULD HIRE THE BEST GM AND MANAGER AVAILABLE AND LET THEM MAKE THE DECISIONS REGARDING THE TEAM

POINT... END OF POINT

 
at 9:46 AM Blogger RickNMd said...

For all the fans who keep saying DFA Stanton:

$600,000 still due for 2007
$3 million due for 2008
$500,000 buyout due for 2009

TOTAL: $4.1 million.

Get real.

 
at 9:55 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

What are they going to do when Hamilton comes off DL?
Hopper sit or goes down?
They have to keep playing Keppy.
So unless Freel goes on DL, you have to many position players.

 
at 11:38 AM Blogger John Fay said...

I'd be shocked on Bruce. As for Homer, personal reasons.

 
at 1:35 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sorry RicknMD but teams that want to win get rid of players like Stanton. And if my memory serves me correct the Reds DFAd a guy that still had over 2 million on his contract earlier this year.

 
at 3:18 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's $4,099,999.99 more than Stanton is worth. What a joke.

Krivsky, with his brilliant work on Dunn's Milton's and Stanton's contracts, must be held accountable!

A new GM is probably the most important change the Reds need to make. He's already been paid enough as thanks for Phillips and Hammie and Bronson.

 
at 4:37 PM Blogger Mr. Redlegs said...

It's time for Justin Fernadnez to be held accountable for his seasonlong rants of irrationality:

Krivsky didn't sign Milton, Dunn's contract remains cheaper than going to arbitration for two years and the Stanton contract is an example of how the Reds have to grossly overpay to lure free agents.

At a time when the team had few options for a closer and the price tag was too high, a joint effort of Weathers and Stanton wasn't such a bad idea. The two of them combined are cheaper than anyone who was willing to play for the Reds.

But Justin would know this if he ever read anything but his own blabbering.

 
at 7:13 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. Redlegs, so I erred while insulting your beloved Saint Wayne? That doesn't mean Krivsky is BLAMELESS for this lousy team's awful pitching!

Dunn should have been signed to a much longer-term deal or traded, not signed to a short-term deal.

Krivsky did handle the Dunn arbitration and re-signing in 2006, right?

Stanton should have been signed for one year only--a good rule of thumb for older players--pitchers, especially--unless they're big name players whom you expect to have monster years immediately.

Krivsky gave Stanton too much money over too long a period of time.

Krivsky has made some good moves.

Phillips, Keppinger, and Hamilton seem to be "building blocks" for a great team some day. Saint Wayne gets an A+ for those moves.

He also gets A+'s for not giving DUNN away this July 31st for nothing, and ditto for Griffey.

But Krivsky did add David Ross, Lohse, Shoeneweis, A-Gon, Santos, Conine, Yan, Bray, Cormier, Franklin, Saarloos, Moeller, McCracken, Castro, Clayton, Mays, and Majewski....while getting rid of LaRue, Aurilia, German, Harris, Wily Mo, Lopez, and Kearns.

Those moves were "C" or worse. I know that David Ross and A-Gon hit lots of Home Runs but with Ross's low-low average and with A-Gon's "average" fielding this year, those players are not part of the "championship foundation" which should have been Saint Wayne's SOLE FOCUS.

We have maybe, MAYBE, two starters better than Germano (though I'd take Germano over Arroyo). I'd take Felipe Lopez A-GON too. The jury is still out on several moves but I'd rather have Wily Mo pitching than Majewski pitching, even if Wily Mo (with a noticeable recent exception) is hitting like Majewski hits...

Has Krivsky made some GREAT MOVES?

Absolutely YES.

Has Krivsky made some inexcusible BLUNDERS?

Arguably YES.

I'm not saying he needs to be "perfect." But right now I'd rather see a new GM.

I hope Saint Wayne proves me wrong because he'll probably be here 10 years (unless you sychophants finally get tired of losing seasons after about, oh, 8 more of them...)

Krivsky's avalanche of deals includes players who were here a year or less, such as Schoeneweis, Cody Ross, Sun-Woo Kim, Jason Johnson, Todd Hollingsworth, and Royce Clayton

Are Krivsky's good moves luck or genius? He seems at times to be from the "throw it on the wall and see what sticks" school, which seems more like luck masquerading as talent...at best.

What does "hold me accountable" mean, Mr. Redface?

Getting a couple of facts WRONG does not make all my posts this season "irrational" (especially the ones that were meant to be funny).

You didn't like the Porgy & Bess post, Mr. Redlegs? Oh come on, you know you laughed at the image of Junior rolling to first base on a goat cart (which would have been faster than Norris Hopper's home-to-first time the other night against the Bucs).

In case you missed it, here's the Porgy & Bess bits again:

Here is the list of songs for the putative Reds' production of the remake of Porgy & Bess:

1. "I Ain't Necessarily Slow" (duet by Hatteberg and Gonzales)
2. "The Buzzard Song" (sung by Griffey as he rolls to first base on a goat cart after hitting one in the gap)
3. "Summertime (and the Losing Is Easy)" Sung by Krivsky
4. "A Winning Streak is a Sometime Thing" sung by Pete Rose and Tom Browning with back up by Dick Pole and Eric Milton
5. "Mac, You Is My Manager Now" Sung by Castellini
6. "I Got Plenty o' Losin" Sung by Krivsky
7. "Where is my Austin Kearns?" Sung by a chorus of drunk fans in the bleachers at GABP
8. Lullaby (reprise): "Summertime" sung by the Ghost of Marge Schotte as she brushes a spectral Schottze at homeplate of the old Riverfront Stadium with the 1990 World Series Banner hanging in the background.
9. "My Season's Gone (Again) Now" Sung by a chorus of season ticket holders vowing not to renew in 2008 for more of the same old, same old!

The words to Two of Those Songs:

Summertime (Sung by Wayne Krivsky)
And the losing is easy
Bats are slumping
And the ERAs high
Daddy Casti is rich
And those free agents good lookin
So hush little Reds fans
Don't you cry.

One of these seasons
We're gonna rise up swinging
Then we'll flap our arms
And lead the NL in Wins
Until that moment
There ain't nothing can help us
Your Bruce(y) and Bailey are standing by.

I Got Plenty O' Losin' (Sung By Wayne Krivsky)

Oh, I got plenty o' losin',
An' losin's plenty fo' me.
I got no closer, got no ace, got no middle relief.

De teams wid plenty o' plenty
Gotta pay out 'til dey are sore.
'Fraid somebody's agoin' to leave `em
For a team who's payin' 'em more.
What's for?

I got no lock on Adam Dunn,
(Dat's no way to be)
Dey can steal him dat's okeh wid me,
'Cause I done overpaid him
The things dat I prize
Like cheap rookies and rule fives
All are free (well dey nearly be)

Oh, I got plenty o' losin',
An' losin''s plenty for' me,
I got my job, got my fat paycheck,
got Hebben de whole day long!

No use complainin'!
Got the press kissin' up to me, got my Lawd Bob lovin' me, got my song!

 
at 10:41 PM Blogger Mr. Redlegs said...

I rest my case on Justin Fernandez. He indicted himself to the nut house.

 
at 3:11 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Come on guys...now's the time to make some changes that can actually help the Reds in 08! Bring Guardado, Bray and Majewski up if they're healthy, send Santos, Goesling and Coffee down and get rid of Stanton whatever it takes! If you can dump Stanton, bring up Salmon and give him a real chance. Righties Weathers, Burton, Majewski and Salmon and lefties Guardado, Bray and Coutlangus make up the bullpen. Keep Harang, Arroyo, Belisle, Livingston and ? in the rotation.

I have to laugh when Mackanin says he has to find more playing time for Keppenger! Duh...THIRD, THIRD, THIRD base...skip! Encarnacion is a back up at best. Kepp at 3rd, Gonzo at short, Phillips at 2nd and Hatteberg at 1st. Conine joins Encarnacion as backups and when Hamilton gets back, he starts with Grif and Dunn. Hopper and Freel are backups. Ross and Valentin catch. When Sept. 1st gets here, bring up Votto and play him at first! And get Bruce some big league time as well! This isn't rocket science!

 
at 1:19 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr. Redlegs - do you think it could be one of the following for our songwriter:

1. Booze
2. Meth
3. Narcotics
4. A near fatal mixture of Mountain Dew, Snickers, Red Bull, marathon chat sessions that will have this person meeting Chris Hansen very soon, and the crushing reality that life has passed them by so they need to make up song lyrics and post them for us to read.

 
at 3:30 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read some of Mr. Redleg's blog and it's obvious that he's a pal or supporter of Krivsky's and LOVES A-Gon, so it's pretty natural he'd try to insult me when I criticized both harshly on Fay's blog.

3 years and 14 million for A-Gon was a horrible move. It will take more than picking up a Cantu to make up for that.

Sure, just what the Reds needed, a slow chubby no-steal SS who porks a few more HRs than his baseline while fielding THREE TIMES WORSE than LOPEZ is fielding for the Nats this year.

Brilliant.

If that was such a good trade, why not have Krivsky take EVERY up-and-coming low to mid 20s Reds player and trade them each for 29 and older guys who are slower and have no developmental upside!

Krivsky gets a few right but most moves horribly wrong; he has given several mediocre players too much money while signing them for too long, and that is no small reason why the Reds are where they are today.

Hopefully Krivsky is fired after one more losing season which is inevitable given the net damaging effect he's had on the Reds.

For every Hamilton and Phillips and Cantu and yes, Arroyo trade he's made, he's also made 4 or 5 bad ones.

Hey Redlegs, if you play golf, come on out and play! Bring A-Gon and Stanton with you too if you like, or even Krivsky. I don't need to hide behind anonymous tags!

It's pretty easy to act tough and nasty in the land of make believe, isn't it?

Why not talk trash in person? How about 18 holes of golf, a few beers, on me? Interested? Can you break away from your needlepoint long enough?

In this forum, a hot stove league blog, it should be UNDERSTOOD that critiques are on performance and results, and not personal--why John Fay allows you little pooches to nip at my ankles while not allowing me to call Narron a "dummy" is obvious--Fay has a job to do and has to at least appear to be "On the Reds' side."

If you're going to be a big league ball player and be slow and fat (or a little of both, and needlessly so) then you should be able to take the criticism without trying to deflect it by getting nasty on this blog!

But call me whatever, that doesn't change the fact that Krivsky is a lousy GM, and A-GON and Stanton are overweight underachievers being grossly overpaid by Wayne's World.

 
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