Reds Insider: I'm back

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I'm back

Just got back in town. Trip was great, except for the unplanned night in Atlanta. As you may have heard, the West has gotten a lot a snow. Great for skiing. Bad for traveling. Missed a connection . . . but that's not why you called. Let's talk some Reds.

While I was gone, they took a giant step toward Arizona. As I wrote before I left, I can't blame them. Goodyear is being proactive. Sarasota is dragging its political feet. If all things were close to equal, the Reds would stay in Florida. But it's not even close. When you can get a much better facility for $9 million less, it's hard to turn down. But it's not completely over -- the Reds still have to get a deal with Goodyear. As for the other bits of news while I was gone:

--I think the Matt Belisle deal works for both sides. Arbitration is never a good thing for a player's psyche. But Belisle needs to show consistency before the Reds lock him up for more than a year. The one-year deal should be great motivation.

--Signing Paul Bako is a low-risk deal that could pay off. Beyond the David Ross and Javier Valentin, the Reds have no catchers with much big league time. Bako has a reputation of being good with pitchers and good in the clubhouse, i.e, a nice insurance policy if one of top two gets hurt.

--I got my Baseball America Prospect Handbook in the mail. If the Reds actually have 11 prospects better than Jared Burton, the minor league system is in better shape than I thought. BA rates the Reds' No. 3 overall in baseball, behind Tampa Bay and Boston. That's up from 12 last year and 30th (last) in 2006.

And, Jack in Blue Ash, 21 of the players currently on the 40-man arrived on the Wayne Krivsky's watch: Jeremy Affledt, Bronson Arroyo, Bill Bray, Burton, Francisco Cordero, Jon Coutlangus, Bobby Livingston, Gary Majewski, Marcus McBeth, Alexander Smit, Mike Stanton, Daryl Thompson, Sergio Valenzuela, Edinson Volquez, Ross, Juan Castro, Alex Gonzalez, Scott Hatteberg, Jeff Keppinger, Brandon Phillips and Drew Anderson.

If something you attempt to post gets rejected, e-mail me (jfay@enquirer.com) and I'll tell you why.

52 Comments:

at 3:29 PM

Anonymous said...

Glad you are back in one piece. Time is dragging toward the start of Spring Training. Any additional thought or comment on the probability of the Reds moving Spring training to AZ?

at 3:50 PM

Anonymous said...

Glad to have you back John! When do beat writers report to ST?

at 3:54 PM

John Fay said...

I would say it's 80/20 Arizona at this point. I go to Sarasota Feb. 15.

at 3:57 PM

Anonymous said...

just a couple of hours before the Super Bowl and I'm checking out the Reds' blogs. Spring Training can not get here fast enough. And no, I'm not a Bengals fan.

Glad to have you back John. Can't wait to see the pitchers battling it out in Spring Training. The rotation battle and the center feild battle are going to be 2 very interesting items to watch for this spring.

at 4:09 PM

Anonymous said...

glad you're back. it is interesting that as we are only a couple weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting. can't wait until the season starts. having a farm system that's rated as 3rd best in baseball in two short years, proves that scouts get paid for a reason and krivsky has the intelligence to put them out there and listen to their recommendations. that's how you develop a team. they may have been 18 games under .500 last year, that's a fact, but it takes kids time to contribute. jerry narron was 20 games under when he was finally fired and he obviously wasn't a quality hire. He wasn't successful the first time he was a manager and proved he won't be the next time either. only a few days left before we get a feel for what this season brings. Go Reds! and by the way...jack in blue ash...looks like 52.5% of the 50 man roster came under krivsky.

at 4:33 PM

Anonymous said...

TUTORKEY..

ITS QUALITY... NOT QUANTITY THAT COUNTS

I CANT COMPETE WITH EVERYONES HOPE , ENTHUSIASM, AND WHAT IFS DURING THE OFFSEASON.

BUT YOU ARE CORRECT, THE REDS FINISHED 18 GAMES UNDER 500..13 GAMES OUTTA FIRST PLACE

THEY DID NOT MOVE FORWARD DURING WAYNES SECOND YEAR,, THEY WENT BACKWARDS..SIGNIFICANTLY MAY I ADD

ONLY TIME WILL TELL

at 4:50 PM

rpa said...

as far as bako goes.... i like the signing. you have to have a 3rd catcher who has at least tasted the majors before. bako actually has some solid experience.

as far as belisle goes... well, as a starter, i think $1 is too much for him. i've never seen anything to lead me to believe he can be an effective major league starting pitcher. same goes for affeldt, honestly.

i'm worried if belisle and affedlt are 2/5 of this team's starting rotation at the end of spring training. it's not easy to win a division (even a division as weak as the nl central will be this year) when you know that your starters will have given up 3 or 4 runs and be out of the game by the top of the 6th inning.

at 5:31 PM

Anonymous said...

About Jack:Before everyone jumps on Jack,lets look at the facts.Our team was a joke most of last year!W.K. gave multi-year contracts to guys who should have been or are now out of bb.& Naron.Last May Cluless said our pen would do the job.Noone could have been more Wrong!Bob C.wisely hired Walt J. for good reason..W.K. is toast, he failed!Until proven otherwise we still stink! KRIV....SUCKS

at 8:01 PM

Anonymous said...

I like World Series commercials much better than Superbowl commercials!

at 9:48 PM

24/7 said...

john,

do you think the reds should be taking a look at sean burnett?

at 10:21 PM

Anonymous said...

Anyone one else here think Jack in Blue Ash and the "Anon" WAKE UP CINCY FIRE KRIVSKY" are probably the same guy?

at 11:50 PM

Anonymous said...

Phillips and Arroyo are 2 huge additions, esp considering what we gave up for them. Somebody please give me one comparison our previous GMs gave us. w/o these two our team is no-where. Our previous gms gave us nothing (i.e. Milton), yet kriv should be fired. doesnt make any g*d-d*mn sense if u ask me

at 7:34 AM

Anonymous said...

anon 10:21

be direct and just ask me.. no I am not the two bloggers you refer to..nor do I hate WK.

Yet this franchise has not been very good, it is transitioning and it would be nice to have a General Manager that is respectful and courteous to the sportswriters and community in general.

Any further questions just ask me ..I will be glad to answer... thank you

at 8:00 AM

Anonymous said...

jack...let's not forget, castellini is in on the hiring of managers. narron got the job, not just because of krivsky, but castellini had to sign off on that too. maybe he was krivsky's guy all along, but mackanin proved that team wasn't as bad as the manager. he was 2 games over and went the last 3 or 4 wks with a lineup that should've been at Triple A. Wonder what would have happened if Narron hadn't botched the first 82 games. I'll give you that as General Manager, Krivsky is responsible, but he never stopped trying to make the team better when he could. They just had no shot with Jerry Narron.

at 9:13 AM

Anonymous said...

No offense John, and I am a former sports reporter also, but I couldn't care less if Kirvsky is forthcoming with the media or courteous to sports writers and the community (unless of course I was covering the Reds ...).

As a fan, all I care about is him making the team better. Which he has done. Think any Patroit fans complain that Belicheck is a jerk to the media? Well maybe some this morning, but I doubt it...

Some of the best coaches, GMs, etc. are jerks. So don't say Krivsky is a bad GM because he's not courteous. He's at least more courteous to the players than Bowden. Remember when he had Pete Harnish (I think that's who it was) drive up from Louisville thinking he was getting called up only to get a call halfway telling him he was done. Or how Bowden treated Larkin...

at 9:14 AM

Anonymous said...

Hey John can you put that number of players Krivsky brought in in perspective? Is that a lot? I can't really wrap my head around it. It seems like a lot.

at 9:41 AM

Anonymous said...

tutorkey et.al

let me clarify so that we can put this running discussion to rest and move on.

I love the reds..i attend many games.. yet I just don't think there will be a miraculous turnaround this year.. I am hoping for some progress. If we were to play 500 ball that would be a tremendous improvement

To continue, I think that when a team is performing badly..having a manager/and or general manager that is curt does not help matters or win over fans

We regressed badly during WKs second year..make excuses all you want..what is..is

I hope they do better. I would prefer to not sit in a ballpark with 1000s of Chicago fans again and have our team trashed as was the case last year.. thank you

at 11:45 AM

BMB said...

Jack or anyone else bashing WK, what exactly are you expecting?

The Reds have no salary flexibility. They will never be big players in free agency, they can't trade for expiring contracts because they can't afford to resign...all you can hope is they trade off expiring contracts and get solid young talent in return and draft well of course.

Being frustrated by a lack of success is one thing, but blaming WK and not recognizing that the Reds have to build from within and spend what little money they have judiciously is foolish.

at 11:56 AM

John Fay said...

Mike C.: I've got no problem with Krivsky in the way he deals with the media. He doesn't tell anyone much, but that's his proragative. He's not standoffish, though his quotes sound that way.

The roster turnover is a lot. But you're going to see that with struggling teams.

at 1:06 PM

Anonymous said...

From my perspective, WK (and to some extent O'Brien) has drafted/traded for very good young guys who in 2 years should make the Reds more like the Indians of last year.

Does that help the Reds this year? No. But I don't see any trade that could of been made that would of gotten the Reds to the World Series this or next year. that would of been the point of trading young talent away, right?

WK has been a good GM who had very little to work with when he arrived. Let see how the Reds do with Baker and hope injuries don't hurt the pitching core like it did early last year.

Adrian

at 1:06 PM

Scott In Louisville, KY said...

JOHN,

Do you have any idea when Fox Sports Ohio is going to release their broadcast schedule??? Or how many games they are planning to show???

at 1:29 PM

Al in Ohio said...

Let me add this, in defense of Jack in Blue Ash's position on the outlook for the Reds this season:

Last week when the blog thread got on the subject of where people thought the Reds would finish in the division, I have to say I was shocked (and a little bemused) by some of the predictions. Some said the Reds could win the division, some said they would give the Cubs a run, some said come in behind the Brewers, etc.

While I understand (and encourage) optimism as much as anyone, these predictions can only be based on these premises:

1. Everyone on the roster who underperformed last year will improve dramatically this year.

2. Every blown save or lead from last year will not happen this year, as a result of the Cordero signing.

3. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Homer Bailey, and Johnny Cueto will not only match, but exceed, every bit of success they had in the minors. They are all dead solid locks to be stars.

4. Every new player signed or traded for by Chicago, Milwaukee, Houston, and St. Louis will crash and burn, or, at minimum, not be as good as their corresponding Reds player. Also, every player who had a good year last year for those teams will fail to approach those numbers again, facilitating the Reds march to the division title.

Guys, the Reds were 18 games under .500 last year. They've made one free agent signing of note, and one trade for a potential starter who's proven nothing at the major league level (Volquez). They go into the season with only two spots in the rotation definitely filled. Center field, arguably the most important outfield position, will either be manned by one of two role players or by a 21-year old rookie.

Again, I admire the optimism, but I'm afraid they're might be some disappoint in store. It's like the hysteria about the Bengals a couple of years ago, without the division title from the year before.

at 1:50 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

One thing's sure...if they start 11-17 or some such record, the boards will be burning, Mr. "WAKE UP CINCY" will be reveling in his hatred and sticking pins in a Krivsky voodoo doll, Jack in BA will have proven his point, and all us optimistic types will look like pollyannas. I love it!

at 1:56 PM

Anonymous said...

Cincy has got to have some of the stupidest fans in the world. This subject of coaches being "nice" to the media is about as assinine as it gets.

Who the @!$@%@!#$!% cares if the coaches and general managers are nice to the media, who the @!$@%!%@^#^% cares if they answer the questions they are asked with more than a "no comment" or some sort of coachspeak jibberish that says in more word, but means "no comment".

Sorry it is not the coaches and general managers job to share 100% of the information they know with the media. Just because they refuse to answer a question does not mean that they are disrespectful, it just means they don't want to answer.

Cincy fans must not pay attention to any other teams because some of them have apparently deluded themselves into thinking that coaches of other teams are "nice" to the media, therefore they expect that out of their coaches.

Man is that so wrong, coaches in tons of markets don't like to talk to the media, and in some they barely tolerate them. I mean we could come up with a list a mile long of coaches and managers that have no use for the media, but are obligated to have press conferences.

I for one could care less how the coach or general manager behaves towards the media, and could care less if they EVER share inside information with the media, they just need to do their jobs and make the team better.

at 2:00 PM

reaganspad said...

Al in Ohio, if everything happens the way you say, the Reds will win 137.5 games in 08.
Nobody has predicted that.

This also is not the talent level of 2001-2004 when we had no chance to win 85-90 games, like we thought might be the norm after 99.
We have that chance this year. I thought the wins by starters stat of 65 games is very telling.

We have a chance to do that this year

at 2:05 PM

John Fay said...

Fox Sports will do 145 games. That's pretty much all games except weekday day games.

at 2:16 PM

Anonymous said...

shaking...

calm down dude

in any position..in any type of organization.. in any type of business..you can interface with others in a respectful fashion without divulging "too much information" or "inside info"

but you hit the nail on the head..give us a consistently good program nobody cares about your demeanor. When your program is bad, bad demeanor is magnified

al in ohio thank you for your excellent critique

at 2:49 PM

Anonymous said...

"Fox Sports will do 145 games. That's pretty much all games except weekday day games."

When will the Reds be in HD? I'm addicted to it.

at 2:58 PM

KY side of Cincy said...

Wayne Krivsky is a fine guy, but frankly, anyone who doesn't think he is a "lame duck" isn't paying attention. Walt is reporting directly to Mr. C, that should be a tell-tale sign.

Wayne is a really good scout, period. He has done a poor job from a P.R. perspective, not to mention, I hear his provincial style (and not looping ownership in on enough things) has worn thin on Pete Rose Way.

I can assure everyone that when (not if) Dunn is signed to a long-term deal it'll be Walt / Phil / Bob's handywork and not Wayne's. Of course, to many on here, that is probably a badge of honor for Wayne. Sad really....

at 3:12 PM

Al in Ohio said...

KY, I'm not sure, but I think it's very common in baseball for a team's GM to report directly to the owner/owners. I know that's the case in Milwaukee, and I'm pretty sure Doug Melvin's not on the chopping block. I think that's nothing more than how some clubs set up their management structure: a President/CEO to handle "business" matters, and a GM to handle "baseball" matters, with both reporting to the owner, at the top of the management pyramid. Reporting to Castellini certainly isn't a sign that Krivsky's in trouble. In fact, I can't wait to read this blog when he gets his contract renewed/extended.

at 3:19 PM

24/7 said...

al in ohio,

the reds had a managerial issue in the clubhouse last year. guys weren't buying what narron was selling. they weren't playing hard or smart.

they hired a reputed players manager known to turn around the ship in a hurry. 3 time nl manager of the year.

the reds blown 28 saves and even more leads.

they signed the best closer on the market from your favorite team. they signed a lefty with good stuff and decent upside that may fail in the rotation but is proven in the pen.

the reds needed a proven 200 inning arm, but they weren't available at a fair price. so they traded their 50,000 chip for a highly talented pitcher who is ml ready. i would be worried about my center fielder if i didn't have the top prospect in baseball in the wings and pitchers translated smoother to the bigs than hitters. but the reds do and pitching doesn't.

the lineup will hit. the bench will hit.

the reds were making a run until a week before sept. callups. yea, they melted down, but after that doubleheader loss in pittsburgh that was a triple-a squad.

6-3 vs your brewers before sept
7-5 vs the cubs before sept

8-7 and 9-9 overall, respectively

the brewers signed gagne. gagne! couldn't set up in boston now he's supposed to close in milwaukee. that bullpen may look like the 07 reds...

the cubs can hit, but have a very streaky lineup that depends on lee and soriano to hit. zambrano can't beat harang. we seen how fragile a psyche ted lilly has. arroyo is proven in the clutch.

it's gonna be a hot summer in the central...

at 3:21 PM

Anonymous said...

John, can you list the 11 prospects BA listed higher than Burton??

at 3:42 PM

Anonymous said...

reganspad..

aside from Cordero..minus the outstanding defensive ability of Josh Hamilton..this team is not much different than last year when we went 72-90

I know John does not like me that much..but even he would agree.. for a ballclub to improve 8 or ten games in one year is pretty darn remarkable.

Id be happy with an improvement to .500

at 4:01 PM

Anonymous said...

I'm on the side of WAKE UP CINCY FIRE KRIVSKY !!So far we have gotten worse with him...there is hope for improvement this yr.! (we will see)Lets get real, we have lots of holes to fill!Fact is W.K. has been replaced for good reason.He is a jerk & that is not good when BOB C. is trying to fill seats!With Walt J. in control ,I'll buy tickets again!!..Coach

at 4:05 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

AL in Ohio and Jack in BA,

THAT'S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAME!

If it seems improbable to you that the Reds can achieve great things this year, that's just how it seems. I think most people want you to realize that you may just be surprised - just as you want people to see they may be disappointed. Myself, I can't possibly be so gloomy about what I see with this team. The bengals injuries killed them last year - and the team make up in general - I can't see the correlation of a young cf and young staff similarly effecting the Reds.

at 4:37 PM

Al in Ohio said...

24/7 -

I'm going to respectfully have to disagree with some of your assertions.

Dusty may have a rep for "turning teams around in a hurry", but there's little doubt he had help from his front office: His first year with SF was also the first year for a young man named Barry Bonds, and his first team in Chicago had a rotation of Kerry Wood, Matt Clement, Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, and Shawn Estes. The Reds rotation doesn't quite look like that. As to Bronson Arroyo being "proven in the clutch".....well, I'll just say "9-15". I'm not sure what your definition of "proven in the clutch" is, but he sure doesn't meet mine.

Your post largely seems to agree with what I've said: Reds fans, understandably, are looking at every development on the Reds as a "likely positive", and every move by other NL Central teams as a "probable negative".

Also, unless Zambrano faces Harang every time either of them faces the other's team, it's mostly irrelevant how they do head-to-head. And, regarding Gagne', I think the Brewers' assumption (which I've also heard elsewhere) is that it was BECAUSE he was a set-up guy that he struggled last year.

For my money, the Cubs were easily the most underachieving team in the division last year. Position for position, I just don't think the Reds match up with them (or the Brewers), and, if we're taking managers into the equation, I'm not sure I'd take Dusty over Piniella.

My prediction (not HOPE, there's a difference) is that the Reds will improve 5-10 games over last year. But, I also predict improvement from Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. I stand by my belief that too many fans on here are assuming too many positives for the Reds, and too many negatives for the other teams in the division.

at 5:18 PM

Anonymous said...

Here is my biased side-by-side comparison of the three contenders for the NL Central. The best player gets 3 points, 2nd best gets 2 points, 3rd best gets just 1 point.

Position Cubs Brewers Reds
1B 2=Lee 3=Fielder 1=Votto
2B 1=DeRosa 2=Weeks 3=Phillips
SS Theriot 3=Hardy 2=Gonzalez
3B 3=Ramirez 1=Hall 2=Encarnacion
LF 2=Soriano 3=Braun 1=Dunn
CF 1=Pie 2=Cameron 3=Bruce
RF 1=Fukadome 2=Hart 3=Griffey
C 3=Soto 1=Kendall 2=Ross
#1SP 2=Zambrano 1=Sheets 3=Harang
#2SP 3=Lilly 1=Gallardo 2=Arroyo
#3SP 3=Hill 2=Suppan 1=Belisle
#4SP 1=Marquis 2=Bush 3=Volquez
#5SP Dempster 3=Capuano 2=Bailey
Closer 2=Howry 1=Gagne 3=Cordero
#1SU 3=Marmol 1=Turnbow 2=Weathers
#2SU 1=Wood 2=Riske 3=Burton

3-pointers 5 4 6
2-pointers 4 6 7
1-pointers 7 6 3

3-ptr total 15 12 18
2-ptr total 8 12 14
1-ptr total 7 6 3

Total Points 30 30 35

So it is scientifically (LOL) proven that the Reds have the best team and should win the division!

at 5:25 PM

Bogey said...

As my old grand pappy used ta say:

If "if and buts was candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day".

at 6:28 PM

Grizzlyfox said...

Everyone should stop giving in to Jack- Once he was told that the Reds had the 3rd best record among current NL Central teams in the last 17 years, behind St. L and Houston, he has stopped using that and now just says everyone else is better than us. The Cards just signed Juan Gone. The Stros pitching staff is in terrible shape. The Brew Crew struggled in the 2nd half last year, and added a closer that was named in the Mitchell report, and has struggled over the last 3 years since the whole drug testing thing has been going. The Cubs? Well there is your likely division champs. Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez. We can throw Dunn, Phillips, and Jr. at that, and well, we won't be as well off. Zambrano, Hill, Lilly vs Harang, Arroyo, ??. Once again, they got it. Anything can happen once the season starts, but The Reds are a top 3 team in this division.

at 7:31 PM

24/7 said...

al,

all i'm saying is that the reds match up better than some of us think they will. we have if's in the rotation, but so does milwaukee and chicago. chicago has if's in mid relief, as well as the reds. the milwaukee pen looks flat out bad, imo. it's the definition of hoping a couple guys will come through.

again, the reds played well against chitown and milwaukee last year, and THAT team had holes.

sure dusty walked in at the right time in sf and chicago, but what does that say about cincinnati?

the reds have phillips, encarnacion, bruce, griff, dunn, and votto in the lineup. that's 75% and when gonzales' head was in the game he was impressive at the plate for a guy not known for his bat.

arroyo pitched well in some tough spots for boston in that 2004 run, espescially in the ser. he gave up some runs, but he was often cleaning up a mess.

the reds were bad on the road. milwaukee was worse. i don't think any of the 3 teams are world beaters, which is why cincinnati has a chance.

mlb.com cited that since 1995, 12 teams have came off a losing record to make the playoffs. 11 improved at least 20 games.

at 7:32 PM

Anonymous said...

AL: If W.K. has his contract extended I'm done with the Reds. His arrogant approach & lack of competence turns me away from the GABP!The fact is that Bob C. has already replaced him!THANKFULLY WAKE UP CINCY FIRE KRIVSKY.....DAYTON

at 7:36 PM

Anonymous said...

grizzly..I have no idea as to what you are typing about. and frankly, I have, very rarely, ever mentioned another team..You have me confused with someone else

jon, have injuries hurt the Bengals the last 19 years?.. I think they have been to one playoff game in that time

again..should this team rebound and play 500 ball..it will be remarkable

at 7:48 AM

Anonymous said...

24/7

this is the beauty of off season and spring training. High hopes and every team starts out with the same record. Enjoy

Again..be grateful if this team improves to .500..this would be tremendous improvement

grizzly I always get condemned on this blog for looking back on the Reds past record.

Yet, if you are suggesting that this franchise has been successful for the past 17 years, I think the majority of people living in this town would share in a collective laugh

at 10:19 AM

Anonymous said...

the more I read this the more I realize I dont care how the reds do, I just want the season to start.

When I watched them last season (and I saw 75% of the games...maybe more) it was obvious we weren't performing up to our potential, the record was bad...yes I know, but we were better than it and that showed later in the season when we played better (see: Mackanins record/the stats of our record against contenders in our division someone else posted)
so the 18 under I really dont buy into that its too sweeping a generalization just like saying all our prospects are going to work out.

Al/jack - your making neg arguments just as sweeping as the positive ones.

odds are they will perform somewhere in the middle of the two, and be fun to watch, thats all i want

if you stop watching a team because of who the GM is then your a moron and quite frankly i dont care if you stay a fan of my team. this is why I respect jacks opinion even though i disagree with it.

my percentage picks for division winner and what they need to win:

Cubs:30% stay healthy
brews:21.5% sheets/bullpen perform
reds:21% rooks perform/good midseason trades
asstros: 18% starters surprise
cards: 10.5% rotation/rooks/trades/luck
rats:0% baseball gods perform miracle

at 10:23 AM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

"AL: If W.K. has his contract extended I'm done with the Reds. His arrogant approach & lack of competence turns me away from the GABP!The fact is that Bob C. has already replaced him!THANKFULLY WAKE UP CINCY FIRE KRIVSKY.....DAYTON"

Does Dayton have an educational system?

at 11:09 AM

reaganspad said...

You are right as always Jack. Just how will Dusty Baker, that novice be able to play this team over 500?
After all Dusty is more Jerry Narron (20 games under) than Pete Mackanin
(2 games over).

It does not matter to you that they underachieved in the first half and got their manager fired.

Then, they played several games over 500 under Pete before the team limped to the finish.

Man, you are so right... this team is the exact same team as Jerry Narron had. Why did they fire him again?

Saarloos probably is #2 starter behind Milton, with Livingston at #3, Dumatrait and Tom Shearn. Forturnately we still have Ramirez as the swing starter

34 Starts 7-18 with a 7 ERA. I am sure Dusty Baker will stay with that....

at 12:44 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

"rats:0% baseball gods perform miracle"

hahahah!

at 12:47 PM

Anonymous said...

reaganspad..you need to read before you attack

as I have conveyed..if a major league team improves by 8-10 games in one year..thats a significant accomplishment..hopefully this team will.

if you are suggesting that a Dusty baker is somehow gonna take this team to the promised land in one year..you are being unrealistic

yeah the team is pretty much the same dude

We signed a good closer in Cordero.. thats pretty much it

at 1:18 PM

reaganspad said...

But here is the rub Jack.

You maintain that this 08 team is the 20 games under 500 team of Mackanin.
Pete proved you wrong.

Cordero for Milton, Saarloos, Dumatrait, Shearn, and Livingston ensures that this is the team post July than the one you keep referring to.

That is without Dusty doing anything but smiling at the postgame interviews

at 3:27 PM

Al in Ohio said...

People, PLEASE, stop the madness. Is Francisco Cordero a definite upgrade as a closer for the Reds? Yes. Is moving the other relievers up an inning potentially a positive for the Reds? POTENTIALLY, yes. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get over this notion that blown leads/blown saves are now a thing of the past simply because they signed Cordero!

Koko has 18 blown saves over the last two years. The simple law of averages dictates that he will probably have 8-10 this year, because that's been his history, on average. Add that to the absolute likelihood that Weathers, Burton, and others will have bad days and blow leads that can't be made up.

PLEASE stop this insane premise of taking the number of blown leads after the 8th inning last year and automatically adding them to the Reds' win column for this year because of signing Cordero! It is absolutely pie-in-the-sky to think that will happen. Good Lord, people, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley blew saves, but you're sounding like Cordero's some combo of Bruce Sutter, Rich Gossage and Lee Smith!

at 3:50 PM

Anonymous said...

Al

What is this notion that moving pitchers up and/or back an inning or two will improve their performance?

Aside from the 9th inning..most of our relievers pitched in the 5th,6th,7th,or8th inning with terrible results

at 4:09 PM

KY side of Cincy said...

Al, if Krivsky gets extended I'll eat all the crow you can serve up. In fact I'll add this: NO CHANCE.

Secondly, obviously the GM reports to the Owners. I never said otherwise. My point was not that Kriv reports to Mr. C, it's that the new "special consultant" reports to Mr. C and not to Wayne. That is not normal. If Wayne is running the baseball operations, why is a "special (baseball) consultant" reporting around him? That was my point.

Previous Posts

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I'm back

52 Comments: