2017 Reds Talk

[Hit-n-Run]

The non-tender deadline has passed and it appears Tony Cingrani and Blake Wood are being offered arbitration. Cozart and Hamilton were locks.

Dumping Gabriel Guerrero lowers the roster to 39. With the Winter Meetings next week and the rule 5 draft at it's conclusion, I was wondering who was the next to go. Teams can't participate in the draft unless they have less than 40 on the roster.

There's some LHP left unprotected around the league, but most aren't worth much. The best LHP left unprorected in the Reds system is Ismael Guillon. There are few LHP around the league that were left unprotected due to jnjury, Jordan Guerrero (mistaken identity joke in previous post), Kevin Ziomek.

I like a kid in the D-backs organization, OF Victor Reyes.

Unlikely the Reds take an OF, pitchers are much easier to keep on the roster for the required full season.

 

[JohnU]

Strailly sounded a little fishy to me the way that deal went down at the last minute.
This guy wasn't burnt toast and somehow just happened to find a job as the best pitcher on the team.
Seems like somebody owed somebody a favor. The odd part was that he was traded before all that happened.
Why not just straight up deal him to Cincy since it was obvious he was headed there?

 

[JohnU]

Odd decision in Arizona not offering Wellington Castillo a contract.
Not a great catcher, not a bad hitter.

 

[JohnU]

Interesting blather from Williams:

We may be led to believe that Suarez can play outfield, but I question why we want that.
Here we were also told that if Mesoraco can't catch, HE might be given a shot in LF.
We don't need this many left fielders!

Maybe Peraza can catch twice a week.

"What my strategy is going forward building a roster is to sort of get away from eight everyday players and four bench guys," Williams said. "I think [Peraza] fits very well into that model. So do some of these other guys, like [Eugenio] Suarez and [Adam] Duvall. You're talking about guys who can play multiple positions well. Duvall's a Gold Glove left fielder, but he was corner infielder before that. Suarez can play outfield. He's been a shortstop. That gives you three spots."

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Straily had a descent rookie season in 2013, but regressed moving forward. He was involved in a few trades with bigger name players; Jeff Samardzjia to the A's, Fowler to the Cubs. Moved around a lot, but looked like a guy on his way out of the game.

Chico posted a nice article about him from last off season talking about a new conditioning/ throwing program that obviously has made an otherwise unexplained improvement. Prior to his breakout with the Reds, there really wasn't anything in his recent performances that suggested what we witnessed this year.

What I do find encouraging is Straily was better the 2nd half of the season. We've seen plenty of pitchers have great 1st halves and it's all down hill from there.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Welington Castillo non-tender when combined with the Jeff Mathis signing shines some light on the D-backs thinking.

Hard to find two catchers further apart in what they offer than those two. Castillo can hit, but is a dreadful battery mate. Mathis is all defense with little offensive potential.

Castillo's projected arbitration salary is probably a lot more than most teams would be willing to pay a backup. Hard to trade some of these guys prior to the trade deadline because the arbitration salary comes with the player. When they're non-tendered and become free agents, teams generally sign them for less.

Teams will be interested in Welington Castillo, but more so at the lower price. He may find a starting job elsewhere.

 

[JohnU]

I think Strailly may be a lot like Homer Bailey and just learned how to pitch. No shortage of those guys in history, the most notable being Koufax. Bailey became an average pitcher, which was probably his ceiling but he's still worthwhile. I wonder if he can really pitch.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Homer would have to be one of the biggest under achievers based on his natural talent. He's occasionally shown flashes of brilliance, but hasn't lived up to expectations. Hard to justify his career earnings looking at the back of his baseball card.

I think Straily was a mid 20+ round pick. His 2016 season was probably as good as any season Homer ever posted. His career earnings probably isn't more than Homer's draft signing bonus.

 

[JohnU]

Reds' Gabby Guerrero: Re-signs with Cincinnati on minor-league deal

The Reds claimed Guerrero off waivers, but cut him just a few days later in order to open up a roster spot for another player.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I never thought we'd actually ever be talking about Gabriel Guerrero. He's probably surprised too.

 

[JohnU]

I see Carlos Fisher actually signed a contract. Geez, what else?

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Tony Renda was outrighted today. I'm a little surprised he lasted this long.

Brings the roster down to 38. Thursday is the rule 5 draft. They may have their eyes on a couple unprotected prospects.

Hopefully somebody better than the two from last season's draft. Jake Cave & Chris O'Grady.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Reds would like to trade Phillips or Cozart, but it sounds like Hamilton and Disco are drawing all the interest.

 

[JohnU]

I am not ready to cash in Disco yet unless the numbers suggest Bailey is ready to pitch again.

A couple of other facets to this -- if the team is planning to deal off all the fan favorites in a 3-year period, one would hope that the fans get something in return other than Skip Schumaker.

Peraza can play CF.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I think the talk of trading Disco and Hamilton are just that.

Sure other teams have interest, but are they interested in making it worthwhile for the Reds? Very doubtful.

Both players are young and cost effective with 3-4 years of team control. Hard to match that in trade, especially with the performance expectations moving forward.

 

[eburg5000]

if the team is planning to deal off all the fan favorites in a 3-year period

There is also some talk about trading Straily

So now it could be going from having a player 5 or 6 years to 3.. what the hell is the point.

But before I get to excited about this I'll take the wait and see approach

 

[JohnU]

The deal is, though, if the prospects in the system -- if you can call them that -- are essentially pretty average. Dealing a guy like Strailly for even more prospects would be pretty enticing.

Still, this is the plight of the small market in rebuilding mode -- the vultures circle the herd and hope the team is itchy to contend quicker than they had planned. The Parrots are about to unload half their team soon and nobody knows where the Brewers are headed, though their own PR people insist they are ahead of the curve. I can't say I agree but they got a couple of racehorses last year. I need to see their "pitching" first.

 

[JohnU]

I suppose this is as good a place as any to discuss the off-season.
Jorge Soler as expected, traded.
Jeff Locke signs with the Marlins.
Our old pal Matt Holliday inks with the Yankees.

What else is up?

 

[JohnU]

Well, the Chapman deal sets the bar.
Yankees spend $86 million on their own prospects.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Reds selected two catchers in the rule 5 draft and traded one of them to SD.

Luis Torrens drafted and traded. Three teams in one day, Yankees-Reds'-Padres.

Stuart Turner from the Twins. He's a career .241 MiLB hitter that doesn't play another position.

Hard to understand some of the moves Dick Williams is making.