Reds Insider: Congrats Bats

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Congrats Bats

From the Reds:

Class AAA Louisville went 16-11 in April, including today’s 4-3 win vs Toledo, to tie the franchise record for victories in the season's first month...team pitching leaders in April included RHP Homer Bailey (6gs, 4-2, 2.29), RHP Justin Lehr (3-1, 2.20), RHP Tom Shearn (5gs, 3-1, 4.15) and RHP Jon Adkins (10g, 0.52era, 4sv)...OF Jay Bruce leads the Bats in hitting (.316), HR (5) and RBI (19) and ranks second in stolen bases (6).

83 Comments:

at 3:25 PM

Unknown said...

Does Justin Lehr have a chance of getting called up? Is he on the 40 man roster?

-Brennan

at 3:51 PM

Aaron said...

HELP IS NOT FAR AWAY!!! C'mon Walt make it happen. If we are going to lose, let's lose with young talent that will try...Look at the Marlins over the past few years.

at 4:33 PM

hey hey redlegs said...

why do the reds suck so bad? why don't we start calling some of the kids up from AAA can't be any worse than whats going on up here now? oh ya and cut patterson!

at 4:37 PM

Red Faced said...

I see a couple of names that need to move North.

at 5:48 PM

Unknown said...

outside of the injured bobby livingston... do the reds have any realistic left handed starting pitching prospects?

at 5:57 PM

firefly118 said...

Like a broken record...I will say it again. If anyone in the Reds management had any sense, Bailey and Bruce would have both made the team in the first place. I don't know how in the world, you stand on the premise of keeping your young guys (and not trading for now) and rebuild for the future, and then turn around and send that future to rot in AAA and play guys like Hatteberg, Patterson, and Fogg! Now here we are, we still suck, and these young guys have no more MLB experience than you or me!

Do you think that Cueto is being brought along right? You better believe it, he is getting valuable lessons taught that reap rewards by next year, maybe even sooner.

WALT, its your turn! Trade Dunn for some young talent who can hit...not 500 ft. long balls with a 100 K's, someone who can hit to all fields with a 300 avg. Send Hatteberg away, put Fogg in the valley and get Bruce and Bailey and maybe even this Lehr kid up here to learn.

at 6:00 PM

Swan Lewis said...

I KNOW!!!

Why don't we just CHANGE the Bats team with the Reds?!

Surely that will fix it!!! Dusty, Wayne, and crew just picked the wrong 25!!! They will never realize as much about Balls and Strikes, as we the fans do!!!

Redlegs!!!

at 7:15 PM

JF said...

A couple? Try 8 or 9 guys that need to move north.

With Cueto now a question mark, we're down to "no support" Harang and Voltran the Destroyer.

At least we have two good starters...

Cueto needs to step up soon or this team is in even bigger trouble.

Then again, how are you going to win anything with a Freel-Patterson leadoff platoon?

Until Jay Bruce starts everyday, the Reds are wasting their time, and ours.

at 7:42 PM

Redleg city said...

The good news: Halladay averaged a mere 111 pitches in his three straight CGs.

The firing of Krivsky: A question of style

Walt Jocketty's arrival signaled the end for Wayne Krivsky. (Al Behrman / Associated Press)

Wayne Krivsky made more good moves than bad. The Reds are better off than they were when they hired him. Thus, there are only two logical explanations for his firing:

The impatience of owner Bob Castellini.

The inability of Krivsky to adjust to Castellini's appointment of former Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty as a special advisor.
The arrival of Jocketty in January was the beginning of the end for Krivsky, who lasted only two years and two months. Krivsky's critics say he became almost paranoid about Jocketty, leading to breakdowns in communications. Krivsky disputes that assessment, allowing that the situation was "awkward" and a "work in progress," but insisting that his relationship with Jocketty was improving and would have improved further over time.

Castellini should have anticipated that Krivsky, a first-time GM, would be uneasy under Jocketty. The new arrangement created tension and inevitable friction, as Krivsky and Jocketty operated with different styles.

The question now is whether Krivsky will get another chance. Some in baseball view him as too rigid a personality. Others, recalling his success under the Twins' Terry Ryan, see him as more of an assistant GM.

Then again, if given the opportunity, Krivsky might become a front-office version of Joe Girardi — someone who made political mistakes in his first job, but was smart enough to take a different approach in his second.

This is a good article by Ken Rosenthat from Fox

at 9:44 PM

Todd McElmurray said...

A couple of teams that I would deem "young":

Arizona 20-8 (best record in baseball)
Tampa Bay 14-12 (1 GB just swept the Red Sox)

Ideally you want a nice balance of youth and veterans, but give these teams credit for giving their kids a chance to play and get MLB experience. They are proof positive that it can work.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained . . .

at 10:29 PM

mentalmidget said...

Baptism by fire!!!!!

Toss the kids in there!!! Really, my understanding is, Bailey needs to learn to hold a runner on 1st. So! What's his ERA???

Bruce? Look at his numbers! Strikes out too much??!! Who gives a F%(k??!! He's hitting .326!!!! Give me a f*$king break!!! I'm sick of the B.S.!! He's the F&&king Minor League Player of the Year!!!! Kick Griffey AND Dunn out on the G.D. curb!!! They could care less!! They're just there for the check!!!

Belisle? Everyone was talking about Belisle being #3 pitcher back in January!!! I said it then and I'll say it again, 'Belisle is nothing more that a mop up guy!!!' Yeah, every 6 starts, he'll give you a quality start and back on the skids!!!!! F()k him, too!!!

Thompson can take his place right now!!!! Do it Now!!!!! Stop this B.S., Walt!!!! S.O.B!!! What happened to common sense??? 7+ seasons of sub- .500!! Why in the f%^k don't someone in the front office apply common sense and take charge?

Goodness gracious, it's like the 3 blind mice!!!

No, I don't want to hear you say "jump off the wagon, then". This has been my team since 1970!!! 7+ seasons of B.S. is unacceptable!!! Avg. or less won't do it!!!!

Sorry, but I'm sick of it!!! I've gone to 4 games so far,,,and a 5th wed for business mans' special against the Cubs. THAT COULD BE IT FOR ME!!!! After seeing Dunn's "wonderful arm", and the base running B.S. last night told me I can see better baseball at any 12 or 13 year old knothole b.b. game!!! That just might be where I'll go watch some QUALITY baseball!!!

It just breaks my heart to say all of that, but enough is enough!!!!!

at 11:29 PM

Cheviot Sports Authority said...

Just in case anyone is interested, Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam tonight and now has 32, thats right 32 RBIs. Not knocking the trade, just so ya know.
ST CSA

at 11:36 PM

Unknown said...

Just a note, Dunn has had a few multi-hit games recently, and his average has climbed from a horrid .190 to a still-bad .224. Give him a few weeks of this (he usually goes on a tear early on), he'll be at .260 or so with good homer numbers...and people will still be complaining. Look, I wish the guy played gold glove defense, hit .300, and stole bases, but until we find a better LF out there, I don't see any good reason to bash a good guy who produces.

at 12:03 AM

Unknown said...

To address "why to the Reds suck?" It's not Griffey and Dunn, it's not lacking some rookie in the outfield or a guy with a 5.50 ERA in the rotation (though both will be stars). Our problem is depth. Take a look at the rosters of the
Yankees http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=nyy
the
Red Sox
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=bos
or the
Dbacks
http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=ari

The common thread is DEPTH! A-Rod goes down, the Yanks put Morgan Ensberg out there, Melky Cabrera is their 4th outfielder, and Joba Chamberlain can stay in the bullpen. The Red Sox feature Coco Crisp as OF #4, have 6 pitchers (including Schilling), and are solid at each position. The Dbacks have Byrnes and Randy "Jurassic" Johnson to go along with a bunch of under-30s who have learned on the job. They are also solid from 1-25.

We have Ryan Freel and Corey Patterson (poor men's Coco Crisps, not on par with Cabrera) - starting.

We throw Belisle and Fogg, instead of Wakefield and Dice-K. Two other members of the rotation are under 25 and in their first full big-league seasons.

Cormier, Stanton, Lohse, Mercker, and Lincoln (last two are solid) - does any of them even get a shot on those other teams?

We finally start developing some depth with a top-notch scout in the GM's seat, giving us hope for the future, and Dan Castellenata (we're owned by the voice of Homer Simpson, how laughable) fires the guy. I like Walt Jocketty, but I hope and pray he keeps building the minors and has some patience for the next 10 years - we're a year or two away from being really, really scary.

CF Stubbs
3B Keppinger
RF Bruce
LF EE
RF Votto
2B Phillips
SS Janish
C Mesaraso

Backed up by Dickerson, Gil, Valaika, and another C. Fielding, hitting, and some speed.

We all know the rotation, but with Belisle, Roenecke, Bray, Burton, and Affeldt in front of Cordero, we're much improved.

Does anyone not think this team is much deeper and better-prepared to handle the titans of MLB far better than one that runs out Paul Bako catching Todd Coffey, while backed by Dunn, Griffey, and Patterson in the OF?! Have patience guys, we'll be okay.

at 7:59 AM

jdeezman said...

I guess those 32 RBI's for Josh Hamilton are like the "meaningless" home runs from Dunn.

Texas is 10 - 18.

7.5 GB in the standings.

It's lucky for us that we traded for Volquez, or we'd be worst than the Rangers...

Oh yeah, Jorge "ManLove" Cantu went 0-4 with 5 LOB in his teams second straight loss.

at 8:21 AM

Steven Ross said...

Jeez, why such negativity for Fogg?
Granted, he's a 4th or 5th start at best but he's a career .500 pitcher who averages 10 wins a season. Every team needs someone like him in their pen. His ability to come in for a starter who fails early is important.

at 9:45 AM

s said...

Does anyone know whether there are financial reasons for not calling Jay Bruce or Bailey at this point? Do the Reds benefit by waiting until June/July to call those players up because it will otherwise delay Bruce and Bailey's eligibility for arbitration?

I can not comprehend any other reason for not calling up Bruce or Bailey at this point.

The Reds can not score runs & they do not have a reliable 5th starter.

at 9:49 AM

Unknown said...

Guys this whole things begins and ends with Griffey, Phillips, and Dunn all sucking it up. I mean seriously. When your 3,4 and 5 hitters are all hitting under .300 and 2 of them under .250 do we really need to question why we suck? It would be one thing if they all had 8+ homers, but they have 4,5 and 4. I mean seriously why do we need to blame anyone else. We should drop them to the 6th, 7th, and 8th spot until they figure it out!

at 10:19 AM

HoosierVirg said...

Since Bailey was called up last year, I am sure his "clock" has already started. In Bruce's case it could be financial but from what I have read it seems to be more the talent evaluators for the Reds want him to work on some things at Louisville. Josh is also leading the AL in RBI's and fourth in batting right behind Rameriz. Of course, Voltron is leading the NL in ERA, IMHO, it was a good trade for both teams filling needs for both the Rangers and Reds. Herrera was lights out with the Lookouts and is now with the Bats, taking Bray's place. He has been great with the Bats, an added benefit of the trade with Texas.

at 10:22 AM

AndrewHSmith7000 said...

John, love your work, and here's one suggestion. When the Enquirer posts a series preview on the internet, their a section entitled "TV." The only info listed in this section is whether or not the game is on FSN Ohio. Why not include every network each game is on? For example, the Reds are on FSN South a few times a week, but it's never mentioned in the preview. And Reds/Cubs games are sometimes on WGN. If you listed this I wouldn't have to check tvguide.com every day.

Just a suggestion. Thanks. You rule.

at 10:25 AM

Reds Fan of Toledo said...

Scott by waiting until after June 1 for Jay Bruce pushes back his arbitration eligibilty by one year. I am unsure on Bailey because he was called up last year.

at 10:40 AM

Cheviot Sports Authority said...

Cantu was 0-4. That's terrible, but I thought you didn't care.
St CSA

at 10:48 AM

Unknown said...

John,

Is Sarasota really going to build a mini-Fenway park for the Red Sox after they couldn't come up with the money for a new Reds park?

at 10:51 AM

Reds Fan Canton said...

Good thing we've got the scary-talented Corey Patterson keeping that no-talent Jay Bruce in AAA. Dusty's AWESOME! (I will now light myself on fire.)

at 11:07 AM

Unknown said...

Phillips doesn't belong in the cleanup spot, mostly because he doesn't hit right handers well or for power. If you take a look at his split last year, you'll see the glowing difference. With most pitchers being right handed, this is an ill advised spot for him. Not that the manager takes the time to do that.

AVG/OBP/SLG
2007 vs. RHP : .262/.310/.428
2007 vs. LHP : .341/.378/.606

All Dunn needs is some protection and pitches to hit. That's happening more lately with Edwin leading the team in HR.

at 11:15 AM

Unknown said...

Does anyone not think this team is much deeper and better-prepared to handle the titans of MLB far better than one that runs out Paul Bako catching Todd Coffey, while backed by Dunn, Griffey, and Patterson in the OF?!

Depth has nothing to do with it. It's the fact that the guys in the starting lineup aren't getting the job done. Griffey, Phillips, Dunn, Patterson have been lousy. Look for Jr to turn it up in May. He always has a pretty slow April.

at 11:34 AM

Arden Dulou said...

Based on month #1...

The team must bring up Janish, Bruce, and Bailey. The team must trade either Griffey or Dunn. The Reds must play EE at 3B. Kepp must start 80% of the games... somehow.

The fans must be patience with the young guys if we insist on a youth movement. That means taking the good and bad from Cueto and Bailey.

The trade for Volquez looks brilliant right now. It would of been epic if the Rangers would of been suckered into taking Dunn instead.

One point on Phillips, it isn't his fault if pitchers don't have to pitch to him because who bats after him... if you bat Kepp or Votto 5th then you know he would see more pitches to hit.

at 11:58 AM

John said...

I still blame Juan Castro for everything.

at 12:50 PM

Jason said...

In an article from ESPN.com "Most even deal of the winter -- Josh Hamilton from Cincinnati to Texas for Edinson Volquez. Who got the better of this deal? Maybe nobody. Hamilton leads the major leagues in RBIs (32), and leads the AL in extra-base hits (17). And Volquez leads the NL in ERA (1.23), and trails only John Smoltz and Jonathan Sanchez in strikeout ratio (10. 1 per 9 IP). When was the last time any trade looked this rewarding for both teams? "

That says it all.

at 2:24 PM

Unknown said...

If I didn't know any better, perhaps the writing on the wall was the 10 run outburst against the Giants Sunday while Dunn/Jr. were sitting. Of all the OFers that are on the roster, none of them bring enough to the table in all phases of the game to compliment each other in the lineup and on the field. Dunn this year has an OBP nearly equal to his SLG % (.391 OBP, .400 SLG) while sporting a robust .224 avg. Right there we have hitter in the lineup who is supposed to be our main run producer but he is putting up pre-2008 Bako type numbers. This guy is hitting 5th in the order everyday. BP and Jr. have struggled lately, though they seem to be poised for a big month of May... however, when Dunn is sitting in dead center of the order and isn't even making enough CONTACT (22 K's/24 BB) to even score someone who MIGHT be on base in front of him, he's creating a vacuum. My observation is this: Dunn has no business hitting in the middle of the order, he needs to be no higher than 7th.

Secondly, Patterson has no business being the everyday CF and lead-off guy. At best he serves as late inning D replacement and PHer. Freel took issue with his PT the other day and expressed his frustration. Look at the results it produced the following day: hitting lead-off against a RH pitcher no less, has 3 hits and knocks in 1 of the only 2 runs scored. Why not at least give Freel 4 starts a week and make Patterson express his frustration at not getting any PT? Maybe it's because Dusty probably has too big of an EGO to make it seem as though he could possibly have been mistaken when assessing the players on hand (Freel & Hopper) and going above WK's head to BC about signing CP & JHJ? On top of all of this, WK admits that he was induced into signing CP... now WK is the one who's out of a job and to save face Dusty has to keep playing CP and hope that he will be productive in order to justify sitting Freel and giving Hopper the shaft.

To wrap this all up, the obvious solution to the problem with the offense is to make Freel/Hopper/JHJ the leadoff guys and put Patterson as back up exclusively to Dunn and Jr. CP brings nothing but some pop, speed and avg. defense and is a good back-up behind Dunn/Jr. No more CP at leadoff - no more Dunner batting 5th.

Lineup configuration:

1. Freel/Hopper/JHJ (in that order)
2. Kepp
3. Jr.
4. BP
5. EE
6. Votto
7. Dunn/Patterson
8. Bako/Ross/JV

When facing RH, flip EE and Votto in the order. If Bako is starting, bat him 7th and move Dunn/CP to 8th. If Ross is playing, bat him 9th.

at 2:49 PM

Anonymous said...

I had about all I can handle of this Hamilton love fest that goes on on this board. The guy is injury prone to begin with, also left handed which wouldn't help our problem of lack of right handed power even if he was here, plus on road trips he had to have Johnny Narron carry his money for him, at home his wife had to drive him everywhere... that doesn't sound like someone who is over their addiction, that sounds like someone who is very close to falling off the wagon and doing drugs at the first opportunity.

you people wanting to blow up the roster are also nuts, there is a reason all of those are in AAA, they aren't MLB ready... if you recall Belisle had something like a 1.30 ERA in AAA this year, see how well thats worked out so far. I am 100% positive that Dusty, Walt, Bob and the rest of the Reds staff and front office understand and know much more about the game than you all, and myself included so let them do their jobs.
If the front office had decided to go with youth and had struggled this year, everyone would have bashed them for not caring and not trying to win... so regardless you are going to complain

Finally,
"Dunn and Griffey are only there for the paychecks" That is an outrageous statement... Dunn plays in more games every year than almost anyone else on the team, and when he sits he doesn't like it... he's play 1000 games in about 6.5 years... or roughly 154 games a year... Griffey - he's a hall of famer who still loves to play the game, stop ripping on the guy... if he hit three homers tommorrow night you all would be saying, "this team has chance now that Griffey is on fire" - Stop being fareweather fans... its annoying and you ruining these boards, let the real fans who actually care about the Reds and not just rooting for a winner speak

at 4:47 PM

mentalmidget said...

jstri210,

I stand by my statement regarding Dunn & Griffey!! I don't care how many games Dunn has played!! Dunn is a defensive liability! He IS NOT a clutch hitter! Come to think of it, neither is Griffey!! Griffey WAS the best around. Not anymore.

THEY, Dunn and Griffey, are lazy!!! NO hustle!!! Dunn is more of a liability than asset!!

THEY, Dunn and Griffey, are overpaid and it's hamstrung this organization!!

This team would be much better without THEM, Dunn and Griffey!!

at 5:08 PM

Reality Czech said...

The owner has changed. The GM has changed three times and the manager has been changed three times. Sorry for playing the broken record and agreeing with those that say the Reds still do not have clutch hitters and vocal, effective clubhouse leadership. And, that the Reds do still have too many slow, subpar defense, left-handed hitters, who strike out a lot (but who have good OPS). We have not had a good catcher in so long that we almost don't think about it. The bright spot is the young players and the much improved farm system. My only suggestion (which is intended to be constructive) would be either to watch/listen to the team less and/or drink more beer.

RC

at 5:10 PM

Cheviot Sports Authority said...

BOOM! Exactly what this team needs.
St CSA

at 5:31 PM

REddlegg in Colorado said...

The team has issues, bottomline.It's hard to root for this team,yet I'm binded by loyalty.I watched yesterdays game, and fell asleep watching it.That's how bad it is.

There is nothing exciting about the 08' reds.

Dump: Dunn,Griffey,Hatty,Freel(Maybe hold onto freel),Ross(Until a better optipn arises),Javy,Fogg,Belsile,Patterson,Hairston,& Coffey.

Start rebuilding for next season,it was hard for me to come to this point but enough is enough.I can't take even watching the games anymore,it's just outright depressing to watch this squad be so bad.

Mismanaged,out played, out smarted, out hustled, out pitched, & they shoot themselves in the foot at the plate w/ RISP.

A recipe for disaster.

I try to be optimistic,I'm just having a hard time doing so.

at 6:20 PM

Cheviot Sports Authority said...

I keep hearing how we have all of these great prospects in out minor league system. Other than Jay Bruce, who else is ready to contribute at the major league level? Please don't tell me Homer Bailey. AAA seems to be filled with a bunch of retreads like Cabrera and Phillips (although I would like to see him here). I don't hear of any catchers being near ready. I will believe in Matt Maloney when I see it, same with Daryl Thompson. Seems all the real talent in somewhere in A ball. How does this always happen and how does that help us win?
ST CSA

at 6:30 PM

AndrewHSmith7000 said...

To all you Griff and Dunn haters, recall that the team played without them the last 10-15 games of last season and won about 30 percent of its games. We probably should we use the 30 million those 2 would command next year to find different types of players, but to suggest that THIS year's team would be better without them is just wrong. They represent 180 Rbi's that a combo of Freel/Bruce/Hopper can't come close to replacing.

at 7:22 PM

reaganspad said...

Hey, Felipe Lopez won a game in the 12th inning. Boy, I wish we still had him, and kearns and pena.

If we just had that trio, why we would have 22 RBIS.

The Nationals are just flat tearing up the bigs, because of the trade fleecing

at 7:28 PM

MJ said...

I think sending Bailey down to start the season was the right move. He had command issues and is slowly working them out. He's always lit up AAA hitters but hasn't translated it to the MLB level. Once he's called up I hope this time like the Cowboy says that he does stick. Bruce I don't get. He should have been with the team from the start instead of wasting April on Patterson.

at 7:45 PM

Al in Ohio said...

If the Reds still had Josh Hamilton and Jorge Cantu, they would be 29-0 right now, and printing playoff tickets. We'd all be sitting in the upper deck with the bottles of water we brought in ourselves, watching the boats, and seeing our Cy Young candidate, Bronson Arroyo, throw no-hitter after no-hitter. Our leadoff hitter, Rycorris Pattfreelhopper, would be leading the major leagues in batting average, steals, and letters on the back of their jersey, and Francisco Cordero would have already set a record by notching 32 saves in the first 29 games. Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey would have both been traded to the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League for a supply of daikon radishes and Fuji apples, which are now availabe through the Castellini Co., and all of MLB would have forgotten they ever played here. Our race to the pennant would have been assured after the late spring training trades of Todd Coffey to the Padres for Jake Peavy, Mike Stanton to the Yankees for Alex Rodriguez, and Jack Billingham to the Twins for Joe Mauer.

(Just one man's brief, satirical, synopsis of the last two months of blog posts.)

at 8:17 PM

Steven Ross said...

I wouldn't call myself a Griffey/Dunn hater when's the last time either one put this team on their back and carried us? Honestly, I can remember.

My patience for Dunn is a tenuous rope. I cringe when he "walks" to the plate. I have zero confidence he'll deliver when it counts.

Team-wise: fundamentally, we stink. Baserunning blunders at an alarming pace, no emotion, passion or heart. It's tough rooting for this team not to mention, we're boring too. The silver lining: I have faith in Walt Jocketty though.

at 8:19 PM

Anonymous said...

Mentalmidget,

Salaries hamstrung the organization?

Try finding me two corners outfielders that will combine for 65-70 homeruns, and 180-200 RBI for a total of 25 MILLION!!!!!!

Better without them? yea your right... this struggling offense would do much better with Freel and Jerry Hairston in the corner outfield spots... o thats right you're gonna put in the unproven rookie to make all the offense reappear... good call

at 8:44 PM

jdeezman said...

Now Al in Ohio... that was downright hilarious!

Now that the regular season is here, and the time for offseason dreaming is over, I actually welcome your bashing of these Don Quixote wannabe's.

Although I think you forgot about the sharkfin soup that we traded David Weathers for!

Good one Al.

at 8:52 PM

Zippy said...

Reagans,

Lopez has more RBI's per plate appearance than Jeff Keppinger. And Lopez has been hitting 1st, 7th, and 8th in their lineup. And he hasn't played a single game at GAB.

I think the team would be a bit better off with Lopez and Kearns rather than the 1.2 innings of mop-up relief pitching they got in return. Oh, and let's not forget that Kearns would be by far our best corner outfielder....

at 9:13 PM

reaganspad said...

kearns, pena and felipe all have ONE hit tonight, and kearns scored a run.

that hit by kearns has his average UP to 186. What were we thinking????

pena has been smokin hot, has his average OVER 200 for the first time (208).

Not all good news:
FIELDING
E: Lopez (2, fielding).

at 9:39 PM

Dan H said...

Tonite's Hamilton update: 0 for 3 with 2 K's and the Cantu update 0 for 4 with 1 K I couldn't resist maybe now we can move on, they're not coming back to the Reds.

at 9:58 PM

KevinFtMyers said...

As if Hamilton and Cantu werent enough, now were starting on Kearns and Lopez.

Why stop there?
What if it was 1976 again?!!!

at 10:34 PM

mentalmidget said...

JSTRI210,

I don't remember saying an unproven rookie will make the offense reappear!! Where did I make that statement? Our Reds can lose with him or without him. At least we know the kid plays with heart.

I can't argue with your numbers. You make a very good point. However,your $25million duo is the laziest $25million duo in the NL!! Dunn produces when the game has basically been decided. His defense? What a JOKE!! He is a Major League ballplayer. I would think the man would play LF like a Major Leaguer!!

Again, no leadership, lazy, no hustle, no heart!!! They play like they don't care. It's like they're going through the motions. They DO NOT produce when they're needed the most.

7 years of losing is old.

I enjoy the debate with you. Do we agree to disagree?

at 12:04 AM

Mr. Redlegs said...

Ah, the ol' Lopez and Kearns slobberfest continues, this time with the Reds being better with those two turkeys.

Let's see: Who would be sitting in favor of Lopez? And Kearns would have to be playing center, not a corner slot.

There's also this little issue of salary, like NINE POINT FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for the two of them.

So, with a $75 million payroll budget, who are the players the Reds would not currently have because of salary constraints to accommodate these two World Series-difference makers who combined have 3 homers, 20 RBI and are batting .217?

Would the loss of those players to make room for said turkeys' salary make the Reds better or worse? An answer not worthy of the syllable.

at 1:32 AM

robby said...

I still think the trade with the Nats was a failure from the Reds perspective, but agree that Kearns and Lopez would add nothing to make the current Reds team any better. Although if Kearns is playing in the bandbox 81 times a year he probably hits 25 home runs.

Frankly, the current Reds team is so poorly put together, and the team chemistry is so bad it will take a long time to get things straight. Mr. Castellini needs someone to help him understand there are no quick fixes. The talent is just not there.

What can be addressed and what I think Mr. Castellini thought was being addressed with the hiring of Dusty Baker is the lackadasical, fundamentally inept play of the team.

Unfortunately, it appears that Dusty Baker may have been another multi-million dollare mistake by an organization that just can't seem to develop a plan and stick to it.

I wasn't a fan of Krivsky, but what owner fires his GM less than a month into the season as if that is going to improve the play of the team?

The organization is floundering and Mr. Castellini may not be the savior that everyone thought he would be. Good luck Walt Jockety.

I'm hoping he can do something to change this losing culture that permeates through the organization. Maybe it will turn the corner when Dunn and Griffey are gone. I don't know, but at this point one can only hope that will help because they are clearly not going to be back next year.

at 9:00 AM

JackBlueAsh said...

Dusty Baker seems to be a good guy..but not the right manager for this group of players.

I said all along we need a Ron Oester/Joe Gerardi type of manager

Most people would go to the park to see the youngsters play..Not many are enamored with Dunn and Griffey

at 9:57 AM

Cheviot Sports Authority said...

It is amazing that some don't understand why the Kearns, Lopez deal was a bad deal for the Reds even though Kearns and Lopez have done little in Washington. At the time of the deal stock was very high on Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez. Both were regarded as top young players with big futures. To trade these two guys, 1/4 of your starting lineup for an injured run of the mill (when healthy) middle reliever, an unproven lefty specialist and a washed up never was SS was ludicrous. In fact it may have cost them the division that year. If you will recall, the departure of these 2 guys from the lineup caused major run producing problems for the team which continue today. The fact that one of the throw-ins (Thompson) may pan out 5 years later would be pure luck if it happens.
Simply put: The value of a Kearns and Lopez at the time was much greater than what we received in return. Not to mention that Majewski was injured and that was Krivsky's responsibility to be sure that was not the case.
St CSA

at 9:57 AM

omnired said...

Which "youngsters" besides Bruce are ready to take Dunn's & Griffey's place? And it's not those two who are keeping Bruce in AAA. It's superstar lead-off hitter Corey Patterson.

at 10:17 AM

Hugh D. Pohl said...

Don't know if I posted this here before but it's worth a repeat for those interested in whether Dunn is a clutch player. It's a study I did myself comparing his clutch versus non-clutch performance. Thr results may surprise. See next entry.

at 10:22 AM

Hugh D. Pohl said...

I did a little analysis of his stats using the Bill James concept of clutch situations. Here is what I found:

Dunn gets 14% less hits overall and 62% less doubles
He strikes out 21% more often in clutch situations
"Ah, ha!" you say. I knew it all along-hie s is terrible in clutch! Not so fast.

He homers 21% more often in the clutch (at a rate of 46 HRs per 550 AB vs. 38 non-clutch)
He drives in runs at an incredible 90% higher rate in clutch situations (on pace of 165 RBI per 550 AB)
He walks 56% more often in clutch situations.
Grounds into 56% less double plays in the clutch (only 4 GDIP per 550 AB)
My conslusion? In clutch situations Dunn turns into Uber-Dunn, kind of a cariacature of himself where, if his clutch production was projected into a full major league season, would look like this:

BA .214 OBP .505 2B-12 HR-46 RBI-165 BB-159 SO-201 GIDP-4

Would you accept a .214 Batting average with a .505 OBP, 46 HRs and 165 RBI? Yeah, those strikeouts would be so aggravating...if he would just put the ball in play more often, hit to the oppsite field and stop clogging up the bases!

at 10:33 AM

Mr. Doom and Gloom said...

good news...matt moris has announced his retirement...let's hope walt won't try to talk him out of it.

at 11:18 AM

Zippy said...

Folks,

Check to see who brought up Lopez in this thread. Hint: It wasn't zippy.

But since you can't seem to let it drop, let me point out that there's this thing called "the bench." And I'd be much happier having Kearns and Lopez on that bench than Hatteberg and Ross. Instead, we've got Bray in the bullpen for mop-up duty. Great.

Oh, and Redlegs: Kearns would NOT be playing center. Patterson, Freel, and/or Hopper would be playing center. Kearns would be playing left or right field against left-handed pitchers, and he'd also give us a right-handed pinch hitter with some power.

Nobody's claiming those two guys would turn this team into a contender, but they'd certainly help more than Bray and a guy in the minor leagues. I don't see how it's possible to deny that.

at 11:22 AM

Mr. Doom and Gloom said...

turnbow dfa'd by milwaukee, what's happening to that once might brwer pen al?

sure hope he ends somehwere in the central, but not in cincy

at 11:50 AM

JackBlueAsh said...

Griffey and Dunn are not the answer for this team.. Bring up anyone that can hit.260 and play a whole year..It would be an improvement over Griffey and Dunn

Griffey and Dunn dont work..even with decent pitching..wake up

Keep the same people expect the same results. why do people keep debating and analyzing players that contribute to losing

7 plus losing seasons in a row..pitiful

team would be much better with Kearns ,Lopez, Hamilton and Cantu

at 12:04 PM

robby said...

Completely agree. The trade with the Nats was a disaster for the exact reasons you mention and you are absolutley correct that the offense has not been the same since. However, I still maintain that given the diminished skills of both players neither would make the Reds a better team today.

at 12:24 PM

wardog said...

I have seen Bruce play centerfield and it can be brutal. I have season tickets to INdy INdians.

He has trouble tracking the ball the reds should showcase the older talent pitchers and position players to make june and july trades.

Based on this blog you guys will eat the rookies up too. Next when grif and dunn are gone you will want to bring up drew stubbs who isnt ready yet either.

All Jockety supporters need to look at the horrible roster the cards have.(with a few exceptions) They will come back to earth and middle of the pack. This guy cant always work magic.

at 12:47 PM

travis said...

How does anyone know what the true trade value of Kearns and Lopez was unless you were one of the other 29 G.M.'s in the league at the time of the trade.
Just to assume that Kearns and Lopez had high trade value is a big assumption, it has been proven after seeing what these two players have produced since the trade, that the only GM that was high on Kearns and Lopez was old leatherpants.
It seems that old Wayne got the best deal he could at the time and took a shot at improving the bullpen, which was the Reds weak point on the club and was killing the Reds.
Did it work out? No but hindsight is 20/20. I would hate to read this blog if these two players put up even decent numbers.

at 12:58 PM

reaganspad said...

And I can't believe that we still don't have Aaron Boone on this team. Everyone knows he was the heart of this team. Yup, Aaron Boone, model of consistancy. Yea, and Dmitri Young.

Lopez, Kearns, Pena, Boone and Young. Thats all we need. And this lamp. and that is all we need

at 1:07 PM

NVreds said...

Wow...kearns/lopez part II, remastered.

I'm in shock, krivsky gets fired and we're still arguing about these moves.

Hamilton, I wish the absolute best to this guy (he's tearing it up for both my fantasy teams), but I'm real tired of the hammy vs. volquez comparisons. This doesnt even compare to how I feel about getting a daily update on the florida marlins 3B, I for one would love to have him on the team still, and in hindsight I wish he wasnt released (he's a way better option than castro thats for sure)

problem is this is the reds blog, not a marlins blog, If I cared to know what his stats were I would go to a box score. please i wish we would drop this guy and others because constantly updating us on stats to win a stupid argument on a REDS blog...is well pretty dumb

"just in case" we wanted to know about a hamiltons night!?? If i actually did care (and I do) I would already know before reading this blog (and I did) that means that no one on here cares, nobody comes here to read about every game former reds players do good in.

hamilton or volquez? while hamiltons bat/defnese is rare, a young, strike-out, top of the rotation arm is much harder to find in a trade and especially the free-agent market. neither is/would be instantly making this team a winner.

at 1:21 PM

NVreds said...

Oh and I'm pretty sure we all do understand that the kearns/lopez deal was bad because of the value we should have got. THEY WON THE TRADE. we're not idiots, everybody with half a brain understands that. personally I see it as we got nothing they got nothing (kearns wouldnt want to be a bench/platoon player he would demand a trade and lopez cried like a baby when they tried to bench him)

seriously this is sad, listen to yourselves arguing about how much better our bench would be with cantu/lopez/kearns

drop it please, at least the team losing means castellini will maybe ok trades instead of "the win now" mentality that kept weathers/griffey/dunn here last year.

at 1:23 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

If we had kearns we may not have volquez. kearns=so overrated. lopez=ee-offense. hatteburg>either one. either one>ross.

at 1:28 PM

Arden Dulou said...

It is frustrating to see the Reds lose. I think it is safe to say us, the fans just want to win. If Bruce could come up and bat .270, I would take it as long as he struck out less than Dunn.

The issue fans have is it is always greener somewhere else. Is it really better to go young or we just so frustrated we are grabbing at straws?

Maybe we could trade Dunn to the Bengals for cash. :)

at 1:42 PM

NVreds said...

ron oester? wait....let me get this right.

Ron oester, manager of the cincinnati steam? what the hell team is that?!? a beer league? a SEMI-PRO team??

nice, talk about unproven. wow, the suggestions we hear from a losing teams fans is something I've been missing the last few losing seasons. This was greatly entertaining to look this guy up and read what his experience is. Girardi? One year wonder, how's he doing with "the largest payroll" in baseball?

Almost as bad as pinning the base coaches as the problem. HAHAHA

at 1:48 PM

reaganspad said...

Hey kearns got a second hit last night to improve his average to 194.

golly I miss him. Austin is all we need. And Lopez. And Bob Boone as Manager and that is all we need.

and this lamp

at 1:50 PM

Zippy said...

Travis,

I doubt the critics of the Kearns/Lopez trade are speaking in hindsight. A lot of people criticized it at the time, even without knowing what a bust the two pitchers would be. It just didn't make sense (and still doesn't, and never will, no matter what any of these players do in the future) to trade two of your young promising starters for two relief pitchers.

And since you've apparently forgotten, the year before the trade, Lopez hit .291, with 23 HRs, 85 RBI, 15 SB, and 97 runs. You don't think a 26-year-old middle infielder with those numbers would be attractive to most GMs? Then you don't know the game at all.

At the time of the trade, Kearns was on pace for something like 30 HR/95 RBI/100R. You don't think those are attractive numbers for a 26 year above-average outfielder?

No matter what happens with these players, that trade was one of the dumbest in Reds history.

at 1:57 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

I LOVE LAMP

at 2:11 PM

Bob Loblaw said...

I can't believe people are still harping on "the trade". Kearns and Lopez may have had value at one time, but I doubt it was as high as you suggest. Regardless, they have zero value now. They wouldn't make the 25 man for any club besides the Nats. At least Bray and Thompson are promising young pitchers who have their career ahead of them, rather than behind them.
If you'll remember( I do because I was at the game) Kearns tore his shoulder up pretty bad crashing into the wall at Cleveland and hasn't been the same since. The trade took place after that. If anything, it was a brilliant move by Krivsky to get as much value as he did, considering Lopez has one of the worst gloves in the history of Major League Baseball.
In regards to baseball talk that actually matters, I agree and disagree with some. All the line-up tinkering won't do much good, except for moving Corey Patterson to the bench on a more permanent basis. I think he would be a very serviceable PH/PR and could make a few starts here and there, but that's about it. He has all the tools but simply can't put it together. Kepp has to keep starting when AGon comes back, the 2 hole should be Kepp's for the rest of the season. The middle of the lineup is killing us, but we can't really do anything about it at this point. Either Griff, Dunn ,and Phillips will start hitting, or they won't. Nobody can put the magic spray on them like soccer and miraculously heal everything. Bruce will be called up at some point, but I doubt he makes that big of an impact. Bailey, on the other hand, is actually making progress, lowering his pitch counts and loggin more innings. He used to be a 5 inning 100 pitch guy, even before he was brought up last year. For people to say he is not making progress in AAA is just an untrue statement. If he can start going 7 innings consistently in AAA then we should bring him up and replace Belisle, who just doesn't seem to get it.
If we can get back to .500 before the middle of June the season will be watchable. I'm not ready to give up the season yet, and I hope some of you aren't ready either.

at 2:13 PM

JackBlueAsh said...

Josh Hamiltons story along with Cantu being given the ability to showcase his talents certainly is more interesting than any discussion of we could possibly have about the Cincinnati Reds

As there is nothing more left other than conjecture, what could have been , and discussion of what may be next year, I find the Hamilton story and his success fascinating

at 4:21 PM

Zippy said...

"I can't believe people are still harping on "the trade""

Then you should ask Reaganspad why he brought it up.

I've pointed this out in the past, and now I'll do it again. A lot of conversations on this board follow a particularly annoying pattern, which is this: Person 1 will say "X," and then Person 2 will respond "X is not true" and then Person 3, 4, and 5 will all jump on Person 2 for "harping" on the X topic, as if Person 2 is to blame for bringing it into the conversation. (I'm frequently person 2, in case anyone missed that fact.)

at 4:37 PM

oldtimer said...

To all you fantasy leaguers and atat freaks out there:

The saying goes like this:

Lies, dam lies, and statistics.

In that order.

All these mythical stat quotes and lineup tinkers....boring boring boring. Get a life.

Stat crunching can be made to prove a point any way you want. Hence it's virtually meaningless.

Chemistry, confidence, leadership, drive, intensity, hatred of losing, passion: THESE AREN'T ON THESE SILLY STAT SHEETS. Great managers take a hatful of guys with personalities like these and win. Even with less talent than another team.

Stat sheets are a very small part of evaluating a player's worth. This constant recitation puts me to sleep. Yawn.

Tell me about a player's heart and game reflexes.

at 6:25 PM

reaganspad said...

Zippy, I am ashamed of you and Mr. Redleggs should know better....

Jon almost gets it with "I love lamp"

the post was about how BAD that kearns, pena, boone, lopez are. boone and lopez are 260 hitters. pena and kearns are 200 hitters.

you guys really need to get off the sauce, skip tonights game and watch "the jerk"

I have seen so much second guessing about what things this team needs in the last 2 weeks that it reminds me of Steve Martin grabbing an ash try, thinking that it is so vital, "and this lamp, and that's all I need"...

What the Reds need is about 20 games. until then, chill. We do not need a total roster shake up. we need a total blog shake up however.

And bob boone as manager, that's all we need. and this lamp....

at 6:46 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

Nice comment oldtimer.

at 6:46 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

That's why Barry Larkin deserves to be in the HOF but won't, oldtimer.

at 6:50 PM

Jon Bachmeyer said...

"Nobody can put the magic spray on them like soccer and miraculously heal everything. "

LOL LOL LOL

at 7:13 PM

Cheviot Sports Authority said...

You got that right oldtimer. A team of Pete Roses beats the hell out of a team of Ken Griffey Jrs even though the talent level (and stats) is decidedly Griffey's.
St CSA

at 7:42 PM

NVreds said...

"I find the Hamilton story and his success fascinating"

thats fantastic, you want to think that, go right ahead, nothing wrong with that. problem is, no one else cares to know, so why are u constantly updating us? if you want to check his stats all the time, fine, we dont give a damn how he's doing, and if we do we can check the stats on our own. "just in case" someone cares? seriously that pretty much means you need to just keep it to yourself. NO ONE CARES!

at 8:29 PM

Zippy said...

Reagans,

I think you need to read my posts again. You seem to be confused.

at 5:42 AM

Another losing season said...

NO ONE CARES!

You have no business speaking for me or the thousands of others who do care. Josh Hamilton was and still is a compelling story. If you don't care for it, that's cool, I don't mind.

Seems many of you would prefer he fall flat on his face and not succeed.

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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Congrats Bats

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