2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

[CaseIH]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Maddon will have the Cubs a division contender within 2 years. He's one of the best managers in baseball and the Cubs have one of the best farm systems out there. Baez was awful when he was up this year, but Addison Russell is a better SS prospect anyway, and Chicago will be able to sign good free agents.

Meanwhile the Reds keep their terrible GM and hire his terrible GM buddy to be his assistant GM. The teams are going in opposite directions and the Reds aren't trending upwards...

Maddon will have them contending for the division, but they are still the Cubs they wont win it all, biggest joke in sports will stay that way

Kevin Towers did some good things in Arizona, and they had some injury issues these past 2 yrs that really hurt them. The yr that Braun was cheating the D-Backs probably win that series to move on in the postseason if it wasnt for a cheating Braun. I thinkt hat was in 11.

Like you I wasnt thrilled with Jocketty coming back, as I dont think he given either Dusty or Price a very good roster to work with over his tenure. Most of our home grown guys are actually Wayne Kryski's guys, so Walt hasnt done a lot really. Picking Simon up worked out, and if we he had just let Ludwick walk after 12 that would have been a good move, but instead of just going with catching lightning in a bottle with Luddy, he kept him when the odds were that Luddy would go back to being washed up. Rolen was a good move and help this team learn how to win, but he was kept to long as well.

Walt seems to give scrubs to much money and to long a deals and so many times he has made the manager over his tenure play shorthanded rather than put a guy on the DL. Those are the things that have made me change my feeling towards Walt as I use to like him.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/quiet-justin-upton-not-the-kind-of-intense-player-arizona-diamondbacks-want-trade-to-atlanta-braves-hot-stove-012413

This article is what scares me about Towers....

[CaseIH]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/q...t-stove-012413

This article is what scares me about Towers....

Yeah I remember when that all happened and what they said about J Upton. Really though it was all true, JUpton is kind of lazy, although a very talented ball player.

I always felt Towers knew talent and he is a no nonsense type guy, which can be both good and bad. Todays players are on the soft side and dont take criticism overly well, so it can lead to issues.

I will wait and see what Towers brings, cause the D'backs have some talent in the organization that Towers was a part of. We migh actually be better with Towers running things than we are with Walt,lol.

[jfk014]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

I know this isn't right thread to post but i know there some reds fans that into their minors teams and draft picks .I updated the reds mlb ,milb line up and rotations for 2014 season.It's a end of the season set if for both version ps3,ps4 offline or online.http://www.operationsports.com/forum...-set-14-a.html

[CaseIH]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Looks like the Reds paid the 4.5 mil buyout on Ludwick to get rid of him. Crazy we have to pay a dud 4.5 million to go away,lol. Things like that is what has me upset with how Walt runs this team. Ludwick's deal was one of the dumbest deals the Reds have ever made, and they have made some dumb ones over the years. Should of thanked Luddy for what he did in 12 and let him go rot somewhere else. We seem to hang on to guys too long and the Cards know when to let a guy go elsewhere to finish out his career.

Wonder what washed up Cards player Walt will sign this winter,lol?

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

http://redlegnation.com/2014/10/30/the-last-chapter/

This is the final installment of Getting the Offseason Right. With the World Series over, teams will start to make roster decisions and transactions in earnest now.

Before summarizing, a few last points:

Wasting Chapman

Same advice since 2011, try Aroldis Chapman in the rotation. Yep, it’s the most obvious and pointless suggestion possible.

Chapman has the potential to be a dominating starting pitcher. Fifteen starters earned at least 5 WAR (using FanGraphs or Baseball-Reference) this season. Aroldis Chapman, who earned 2.4 WAR in a record-smashing season, could be like Clayton Kershaw or Madison Bumgarner. But the Reds will never know if they don’t give him a chance. In addition to laying several baseball records to waste, Chapman answered the never-really-a-question of his second and third pitches this season.

Moving Chapman to the rotation would free up the Reds to trade one of their other starting pitchers for a hitter that could help them in 1,400 innings, not 30.

Others have suggested the Reds trade Chapman. And if the club isn’t going to make him a starter, sure. But if the Reds didn’t have the nerve to try him as a starter last season, or the season before that, or the season before that, then they aren’t capable of trading Aroldis Chapman either.

Why not? It’s probably something as simple (and sad) as that the guy who signs all the checks loves watching Chapman run through that bullpen gate in the ninth inning.

Watching Madison Bumgarner dominate the World Series as a left-handed starter frustrates me to no end. Which player has been more important for the San Francisco Giants in the postseason, Bumgarner or their closer, Santiago Casilla? (Hint: Bumgarner pitched 52 innings in the postseason, Casilla 7. In the World Series, Bumgarner 21 innings, Casilla four pitches.)

The Reds have their heads stuck in the sand if they think Chapman in the closer’s role has anywhere near the value of a dominant, left-handed starter. Repeat, dominant left-handed starters are über-valuable. Try it.

Terrible Twos

Stop the practice of signing journeymen players to two-year contracts. Just look at the track record, for goodness sakes.

Too often, those players end up providing less-than-replacement level production in the first year, yet the club feels committed to the second year.

Players like Skip Schumaker, Jack Hannahan, Manny Parra and Logan Ondrusek are too easy to replace from the free agent pool. That’s what replacement player means. Their upside isn’t worth the roster inflexibility in the second year of their deal. Think about the steps the Reds didn’t take last year because they had Jack for that. How many outfielders with decent OBP and gloves will they pass on this offseason because Schumaker is on the roster?

In Walt Jocketty’s first offseason for the Reds, he signed Willy Taveras and Mike Lincoln to two-year deals. Lincoln pitched a total of 40 innings over two years, with negative WAR. Taveras was so awful in his first year, the Reds actually released him. Again, negative WAR.

Sure, a few work out. But for every Arthur Rhodes (09-10) there are Nick Masset (12-13) and Manny Parra (14-15).

The fact that the Reds are willing to sign two-year deals when other clubs aren’t is not an indication they’re more clever than everyone else.

Getting the Offseason Right: Summary

If you took the time to read most of the nearly 20,000 words in this series of posts, thanks. If you didn’t have the patience, here’s the short version:

1. The Reds can afford their current roster, barely. They’ll have to move salary to take on a pricey new left fielder.

2. The 2013 team won 90 games without significant contributions from Johnny Cueto, Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier. Adding the healthy parts of 2013 with 2014 is a sufficient starting point for the 2015 roster.

3. The Reds still need a LF and bullpen help, though. No one thinks the team “just needs to get healthy.”

4. Baseball has undergone a radical shift from pitching scarcity to hitting scarcity in the last five years. Clichés like you can’t have enough pitching were right in the early 2000s, but are backwards now.

5. The Reds should trade pitching for hitting and rely on their defense and replacements for pitchers. The Reds great defense is the invisible hand in gloves that produces much of what we perceive as excellent pitching.

6. The Reds desperately need to improve their on-base percentage with an eye to walk-rate and power. These are fundamental criteria for the new LF. Not RBIs.

7. The Reds match up pretty well with Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Boston and Toronto as trading partners.

8. The Reds need to be extremely open to trading Johnny Cueto. The near-term uncertainty surrounding the health of Mat Latos, Homer Bailey and Tony Cingrani make trading any of them or Mike Leake problematic.

9. The Reds need a WAR-time front office, basing trades on talent and need, not on soft intangibles like grit or being homegrown.

10. The Reds must rebuild their bullpen through a deep pool of candidates from a wide variety of sources and look for big arms. They should not target expensive, “proven” set-up guys or former closers with multi-year deals. Don’t expect — and pay for — repeat successes from relievers.

11. Try to sign Devin Mesoraco to a 5 or 6-year guaranteed contract with a team option year. Don’t sign Todd Frazier to more than 3 guaranteed years.

And if you want to distill it all down to two words: Christian Yelich.

[PhantomPain]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Jim Riggleman promoted to 3rd Base Coach.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Jim Riggleman promoted to 3rd Base Coach.

Can't be any worse than Smith. Plus he might serve as another brain for Brian Price to pick when the Reds are in the field.

[HustlinOwl]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

SMH hope Jocketty is taking notes as Cardinals continue to get things done

[redsrule]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Nah Jocketty is waiting on signing another over the hill former Cardinals player for multiple years.

[HustlinOwl]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Nah Jocketty is waiting on signing another over the hill former Cardinals player for multiple years.

sweet so either Mark Ellis or AJ Pierzynski

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Never fear guys, Walt has the sundial fired up and ready to go.

He's practically come out and said Cueto is untouchable. For God's sake, he's one of the two pitchers we have who can get us a return on offense we need. Unless Bob C has $150+ million hiding under a couch cushion, we are not extending Cueto (and even then, I wouldn't).

But here is why the Cardinals are the Cardinals and the Reds are well.....the Reds.

The St. Louis Cardinals were in the 2013 World Series. Since then, they have acquired Jhonny Peralta, Peter Bourjos, Randal Grichuk, John Lackey, Justin Masterson, Pat Neshek and now Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden.

The Cincinnati Reds were in the 2013 play-in game. Since then, they have acquired Skip Schumaker, Brayan Peña and David Holmberg.

[slickdtc]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

They also are built differently then us, so they had the flexibility to make those signings. But it still comes back around to it being our fault for handing out excessive contracts in terms of money, years, or both.

I see us treading water already man. You can see the division being owned by STL as usual. But now PIT is in on the act and the Cubs might end up reigning for years to come. That leaves us and the Brewers...

It's a strong division because I still like our team. But within the context of the Central, I'm worried about the Reds going forward. It almost makes me wonder if we shouldn't go full fire sale and rebuild this bad boy. We're probably another year or three from that being the case if we can't overtake the aforementioned division rivals.

[HustlinOwl]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

They also are built differently then us, so they had the flexibility to make those signings. But it still comes back around to it being our fault for handing out excessive contracts in terms of money, years, or both.

I see us treading water already man. You can see the division being owned by STL as usual. But now PIT is in on the act and the Cubs might end up reigning for years to come. That leaves us and the Brewers...

It's a strong division because I still like our team. But within the context of the Central, I'm worried about the Reds going forward. It almost makes me wonder if we shouldn't go full fire sale and rebuild this bad boy. We're probably another year or three from that being the case if we can't overtake the aforementioned division rivals.

I think Pittsburgh is in trouble after losing Martin IMO and dont forget they have Volquez in their rotation lmao

[HustlinOwl]

Re: 2014 Cincinnati Reds Thread

Never fear guys, Walt has the sundial fired up and ready to go.

He's practically come out and said Cueto is untouchable. For God's sake, he's one of the two pitchers we have who can get us a return on offense we need. Unless Bob C has $150+ million hiding under a couch cushion, we are not extending Cueto (and even then, I wouldn't).

But here is why the Cardinals are the Cardinals and the Reds are well.....the Reds.

The St. Louis Cardinals were in the 2013 World Series. Since then, they have acquired Jhonny Peralta, Peter Bourjos, Randal Grichuk, John Lackey, Justin Masterson, Pat Neshek and now Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden.

The Cincinnati Reds were in the 2013 play-in game. Since then, they have acquired Skip Schumaker, Brayan Peña and David Holmberg.

dont forget Marmol, Hannahan and we are paying Ludwick and Hannahan not to play for us this year smh