Reds 4, Braves 2
The next step to building a good bullpen is get some guys who can get the game from the fifth or sixth to Jared Burton in eighth.
Bill Bray has done that in last couple of wins. Mike Stanton, the much maligned one, did that Wednesday night. Stanton threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
“I feel like we've got him back on track,” Pete Mackanin said. “With Mike and the other guys, we're hoping we've got a good bullpen.”
Burton, of course, is making everything work by pitching so well in the eighth.
“He's so confident out there,” Mackanin said. “(General manager Wayne Krivsky) has been taking a lot of heat about a lot of things. But how about picking that guy up?”
Burton, the Rule 5 pick, has a 1.71 ERA since All-Star Break.
By the way, there was nothing wrong with Bronson Arroyo -- 5 1/3 innings, 100 pitches were simply enough on a hot night.
posted by John Fay at 10:37 PM
16 Comments:
at 11:12 PM 
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Post a Comment*Mackanin gave Burton a second chance to prove his worth and its paid off. You can tell he is a lot more confident on the mound than earlier in the season.
The pity party for Krivsky is pretty ridiculous. While most fans are more than happy to applaud Krivsky's succcessful moves, he has made some, he has also made many poor decisions, and some have set the organization so far back its really incalcuable. But even that's not what makes most fans loathe the guy. He simply does not relate well to the press or the fans, and he seems repulsed by the fans' desire that he articulate, at least at 30,000 feet, his vision for the future. When he does speak, he is so inarticulate, you're almost glad he doesn't speak more often. No one expects the guy to give away the store, but he could at least say something like, we're going to focus on pitching and defense, and if we need to move some hitters to get there so be it. Instead we get less than zero ... and let's not forget that he built on last year's success by refusing to re-sign the one guy who played clutch down the stretch last season (Rich Aurilia) despite the fact that Aurilia could have been re-signed for peanuts in today's dollars. Shed a tear for Wayne? Give me a break!
How many GMs find not one, but two Rule 5 picks that pan out in one year? John what's the percentage of Rule 5 picks that stick in the big leagues a whole season? It's got to be under 25 percent.
Rag on Krivsky all you want but he's finding talent for this team a little at a time.
I like the job that Mackanin has done with the team. I think he has demonstrated that he knows the players in the organization and how they can perform. Sure, he is still running Stanton and Guardado out there. But I think that has been mandated by Krivsky.
Still, I would like to see Girardi or Brenly coaching next year.
John, if Mackanin does NOT get the head coaching job next year, then what are the chances he continues to be part of the Reds organization?
Just to set the record straight: Krivsky didn't refuse to resign Aurilia. Aurilia never showed any interest in coming back once the Giants became involved. The guy is revered there.
Anon
Why don't you at least put a name up there with a stupid post? Please explain how Krivdog has set the team back years. He owes the fans nothing except a winning team, he does not have to articulate anything to the fans. Agreed, he could improve with the press; but, so much of the "press" now is out to sensationalize everything, criticize and make good radio, tv, or blog material. I am sure that while John and the other beat writers may not agree with everything, they are building a relationship with him, that over time will improve and Krivdog will open up to them more.....you can't blame the guy, he has been under fire since he got here. At least he is trying to improve this team, it might not be how you like it, but, it is working and they will be better, check out the record in the second half......find the positives, Burton, Hamilton, Cantu, Hatteberg, Hopper, Keppinger, etc....come on get a clue....sorry for the ramble, but, you anons make me mad!
The team is hitting right now, and the bullpen is performing well. With those two things in place, they are good enough to compete in this division, and in the league as a whole.
One minor thought - Ryan Freel is a spark plug, but doesn't get on base enough. Is he odd man out right now?
Who cares if a guy is media friendly or fan friendly? I'll take Rain Man if he makes the right baseball moves.
He's rough around the edges and I'm glad he's not grandpa to my kids, but let him see his plan out.
Incalcuable set backs to the organization? What are those examples?
“I feel like we've got him back on track,” Pete Mackanin said. That sounds more like one of the K-mans stupid remarks.
I'd take Mackanin over Girardi. At least Mackanin has proven that he can post a winning record. And unlike Mackanin, Girardi does not seem to play well with others.
I like Mackanin, and I think he has performed well, but we saw this same scenario play out when Narron took over for Miley as an interim manager. Sometimes just the arrival of a new manager can change things in the short term, but short term success does not always equate to long term success (again, see the Narron model). I'd love to see the Reds hire someone who has a track record of more long term success.
I think what Mackanin is doing is managing like he has a long-term contract. He pulls starters early, criticizes players in the media and plays who he wants.
It's worked so far. But he's had no pressure on him because the season was lost when he took over.
At this point, I'd still rate him as long shot. But if they keep playing .570 or so ball, who knows?
What's the Reds' past history with interim managers have to go with Mackanin? He should hired or not on his own merits, not because of the history of Miley or Narron.
Citing those two as reasons not to hire Mackanin is like saying the Reds should never sign another left-handed free agent becuase of Eric Milton.
He doesn't have anything to lose. Nobody really expected much out of him once he took over the club. So he is just shooting from the hip. More power to him.
Don,
I'm not going to advocate a push to hire Giradi. In my opinion the Reds should not overpay for a big named manager. I don't think this is where the Reds' problems are. Unless they are going to go after a big named free agent this winter and they think having a big named manager is going to help. The only place that I've seen, recently, were it has worked is in Chicago with Pinella and the Cubs. Marlin's Owner is as much to blame to the downfall of Giradi as Giradi is. Marlins Owner seemed to take a more hands on approach on everyday lineups and Giradi's pitching moves. I don't think that Giradi would have that problem with Bob C. Bob C. only cares about one thing. Winning. By all counts Giradi was winning. Giradi seemed to get along very well with Marlins young players. He wasn't afraid to snatch one of them up when they were acting stupid. See Olsen incidents. I don't see Giradi becoming the Manager. I think Krivsky will sign Mackanin to a one year deal for a minimun salary and use the extra 2 Mil on free agents. Besides Giradi will not come here unless we overpay. The only big named Mgrs even remotely interested it seems is Brenely. And God please, I'll take my chances with Mackanin. Besides you have to love the fact that Mackanin has a personality and thus far has a winning record. I say wait till next year and see how the players play when Krivsky doesn't have to threaten them with DFA and Releases. And see what, if any, players Krivsky can pull this Winter.
I wonder what are these Krivsky moves that have set the Reds so far back? Apparently, according to anon 10:36, not signing Rich Aurilia is one. Yep, the Reds sure did blow it by not giving the aging and struggling utility-man Aurilia 8 million for two years - which is what he got in SF. Wow, the Kriv must be losing a lot of sleep over that debacle. Meanwhile, perhaps it would be instructive to look at the Lopez-Kearns giveaway by examining how those two players were replaced: Gonzalez, an obvious upgrade over Lopez, is a bargain at 15 million for three years and Hamilton is a steal over the mediocre Kearns who got a 16.5 million / 3 year extension from Leatherpants. Also, while Majewski is looking like a bust, let's not forget Bill Bray is finally pitching like a solid back-end guy who may just be the closer of the future ... while it would have been great to get more value out of Kearns and Lopez, to say it broke the organization is an exercise in hyperbole.
Oh what a sad story that Krivsky doesn't outline his plans for whining Reds fans. Judge him by his actions - the man has made a lot of innovative low risk, high reward moves. Many have paid off - picking up Hamilton & Phillips for nothing, unloading Pena for Arroyo, using the rule 5 to get Burton ... maybe Jorge Cantu will be another such coup. Until the Reds' owners jack up the payroll the 40% it will take to equal others in the Central division, I'd expect more of the same. I, for one, think the guy is on the right track.
- Monroe.
I think all of you are acting silly..we have been through this "the interim manager is doing great" how many times in the past 5 years?
For the life of me I dont know why you would not want a top notch proven manager running this team
Kelly.. how do you know krivsky will slowly open up over the course of the next couple of years. you are wrong, he owes the fans much more than putting a winning team on the field. Hes pompous and rude and frankly his overall evaluation of talent is very poor.
mark t..freel is not a spark plug he is a marginal utility player and without him the team is doing much better
you all can try and identify a couple of players that Krivsky has brought us but the majority have been failures and certain contract extensions are killing this team.
let us not forget that this team went into a deep slump last May(2006), terrible pitching and poor hitting and Krivsky did very little to improve this team during the off season.
You all need to get some spunk and not accept mediocrity and not try to make gold outta this crap that has been on the field
But here we are typical Cincinnati fans...Krivsky will turn things around and Pete will become a very successful big league manager.Yeah and I will win 250 million in the lottery. Too funny.
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