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Hit-n-Run
Go Reds!!!
After a nice resurgence in May and June the bottom has fell out. The title of this thread sums it up for me.
Injuries can be used as an excuse, but it's a lame one at best. All teams have injuries every season. It's a constant that has to be accounted for in organizational depth. If you can't buy it, you better know how to build it. That's the problem in a nutshell for the Reds.
The trades this FO made can be called into question, but the spiral toward mediocrity didn't begin with the trade acquisitions. It began with extending players for either too long or not getting any production after inking the deal. IMO, the quickest way to drown a small market organization is to set the payroll in concrete.
Votto is possibly carving out a HOF career. But at age 34 he is looking like a great hitter in decline. He still has 5 more years at $25M per and $7M buyout of a 6th remaining. The Brandon Phillips, Devon Mesoraco, and Homer Bailey extensions are nearly all in the rear view mirror, but Votto isn't going anywhere.
Signing a first baseman long term handcuffs an organization. Sure it's a position that an aging player can handle in the NL, but it's also a position that a younger, less expensive, non-athletic pure hitter can play. Jesse Winker or Yonder Alonso would be two good examples.
Votto signed two extensions with the Reds. The 1st would have ended after 2013 and he signed the $250M deal before the first ended. The first extension should have had option years that carried it into 2014-15. The Reds have done a poor job of negotiating extensions when it comes to option years. The player gets financial security by extending early and without option years the team gains very little.
Injuries can be used as an excuse, but it's a lame one at best. All teams have injuries every season. It's a constant that has to be accounted for in organizational depth. If you can't buy it, you better know how to build it. That's the problem in a nutshell for the Reds.
The trades this FO made can be called into question, but the spiral toward mediocrity didn't begin with the trade acquisitions. It began with extending players for either too long or not getting any production after inking the deal. IMO, the quickest way to drown a small market organization is to set the payroll in concrete.
Votto is possibly carving out a HOF career. But at age 34 he is looking like a great hitter in decline. He still has 5 more years at $25M per and $7M buyout of a 6th remaining. The Brandon Phillips, Devon Mesoraco, and Homer Bailey extensions are nearly all in the rear view mirror, but Votto isn't going anywhere.
Signing a first baseman long term handcuffs an organization. Sure it's a position that an aging player can handle in the NL, but it's also a position that a younger, less expensive, non-athletic pure hitter can play. Jesse Winker or Yonder Alonso would be two good examples.
Votto signed two extensions with the Reds. The 1st would have ended after 2013 and he signed the $250M deal before the first ended. The first extension should have had option years that carried it into 2014-15. The Reds have done a poor job of negotiating extensions when it comes to option years. The player gets financial security by extending early and without option years the team gains very little.