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House keeping

Hit-n-Run

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The 2018 season is officially in the rear view mirror for the Reds. Realistically it's been over since April.

I like to follow the off season moves. It's the first glimpse into what strategy the FO will deploy. Are they going to continue down a familiar path dancing with most of the roster they currently have? Or are they going to shake things up?

The first order of business will be house cleaning type moves. Adding injured players back to the 40 man which means someone has to go. Room also has to be made for prospects entering eligibilty for the rule 5 draft.

There's always guys like Keury Mella who are injured that might get outrighted and retained at AAA. Other candidates are players that haven't performed well and are out of options.

Any predictions on who you would send packing?
 

JohnU

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The first order of business is Homer Bailey.
After that, it's Matt Harvey.
Other issues are with Scooter and Hamilton, neither of whom moved the needle on the W-L record, so replacing them will only be a matter of melancholia.

Personally, I like Scooter well enough to sign him. I think his numbers are legit.

The matter of Senzel is still lurking and I wonder if the FO is lukewarm to him now with the vertigo in the focus. Teaching him to play left field is another clue they plan to keep Scooter or Dilson.

Any way it's sliced, the team they have is a 90-some loss team. If they get back to contending, what you see will barely resemble what they need.

Winker coming back is a plus for the offense.

The Reds give up too many home runs to compete. They have 3 or 4 decent pitchers. Look for Lucas Sims to replace either Bailey or Harvey.



The search for a top starter is the pundits' dream but really, there isn't a need to find that guy -- though the FO will be damned for doing and damned for not doing.

I don't think Riggleman is back and I am indifferent to that.
 

Hit-n-Run

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Harvey is the one guy we already know his roster status. Five days after the WS ends he'll elect free agency and fall off the Reds roster. It would probably at least be mid December before he signs anywhere.

By procedure Scooter will be offered arbitration while the two sides explore an extension. I'm thinking the Reds may not finalize that deal until they get another look at Scooter's shoulder in ST.

If Homer can't pitch out of the pen and he's not in the rotation mix there's only one option left. And that's not hanging out in the dugout bitching.

Riggleman was scheduled to interview today. The truth of the matter is the guy was already working in the system.... he just finished managing the last 144 games of this season. What is it the Reds don't already know about him? It seems more like a courtesy than a sincere job interview.

The question remains who else is on the list? I would hope some are on coaching staffs of the teams still playing. This team already knows how to lose. They should try hiring someone that comes from a winning culture.
 

JohnU

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Yeah that was my thinking on Homer. He's going to go to camp in March and he needs to evaluate his role and the FO needs to clarify that. Converting that last 28 million bucks into wins will be pretty difficult.

Harvey hitting the road doesn't bother me but he's an OK pitcher on a mediocre team. I gotta wonder if anybody wants to pitch in that bandbox.

I think Farrell will get the job. He didn't get hired to scout.

Then again, nobody saw Price coming.
 

Hit-n-Run

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It wouldn't be surprising to see the Reds hire Farrell. Nearly every hiring they've done recently has been from within.
 

JohnU

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Personally, I think Price was hired because of a mix of confusing ideas that Jocketty threw at Castellini following 2013. Castellini blamed the play-in loss on Dusty and knew the teardown/rebuild was coming eventually. Anyone who goes to the board meetings knew that. Castellini panicked!

To some end, I can see how Castellini bought the fool's gold off the Dollar Store rack. Jocketty had created a magical team that was on the cusp of greatness. Just do it again, Walt. Sure, no problem. We can trade Latos and Cueto and Leake and get a bunch of great young pitchers, let Price turn them into another 2012 ... and we'll gather and have a great feast.

Bringing us up to 2018:

My only problem with it was that they let Price start the season. You don't give a guy an interim job for 144 games. Maybe 44, but not 5 months. The ineptitude here is systemic of the Reds front office, owner on down. Farrell didn't join the organization until March. Timing sucked all around but they'd have been better off to just let Price run the team all season.

2018 was destined to be a wasted year. A bigger setback than they expected because now the top free agent players/pitchers are going to be even more wary about signing with a franchise that has scatterbrains running it.

But I think the minute Farrell became available, the Reds had their eye on him to run the team. They just couldn't pull it off on such short notice in March.
 

Hit-n-Run

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But I think the minute Farrell became available, the Reds had their eye on him to run the team. They just couldn't pull it off on such short notice in March

Yeah.... you usually don't see teams fire their manager in ST.
 

JohnU

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Yeah.... you usually don't see teams fire their manager in ST.
I am OK with firing him in April but if the guy replacing him is going to get a whole season, screw the "interim" baloney. Either you have a replacement in mind or you don't. "Well, gee ... let's spend the next 5 months looking around since we weren't sure the guy we had was averaging 94 losses for the last 3 years and probably was going to lose that many again this year."
 

Hit-n-Run

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I agree as I posted earlier. Interviewing Riggleman is a farce. Maybe it wasn't an interview and instead a going away party. I'd be interested to know if he left with a fruit basket?

Farrell has managerial experience which puts him one up on Bryan Price. But he's spent his entire career in the American League. There's plenty of managers that have had success in both leagues, but it's worth noting.
 

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Thought it was interesting about the Cubs-Rockies game. I suspect the whining about 45 games in 46 days and the phony-ass wild card format will start soon.

Cubs lost 4 in a row at Cincy back in June and you just KNEW it would end up costing them something.
 

Hit-n-Run

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I see the Reds claimed catcher Juan Graterol off waivers...... again.

They claimed him a couple years ago, DFA him and he was claimed elsewhere. It was one of those musical chair transactions where every team is trying to claim him and outright him to the minors. This may end up with the same result.
 

Hit-n-Run

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The Reds have their manager and the WS has ended. So in 5 days the off season really begins.

I'll continue to follow the club regardless of the moves they make. As Eburg said, They're the only game in town".

With that in mind until they actually make a move there's less to discuss.

I personally have gotten tired of being negative about the club. It was a tough season, but it is over.

Some of the club's previous acquisitions won't impact the major league club until a few years down the road. Rosters are ever changing and it's hard to envision what the roster may look like a couple years from now. In the interim they still have to field a team.
 

JohnU

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First order of business with the manager in place is to decide how they want to go with the rotation. The post-season strategies are clearly not the sort that work with the rank and file teams. Using your ace in the 8th inning, starting him the next day ... calling in a starter to be a loogy and ...

Sorry, rambled there for a second.

Is Bell the guy who breaks all the rules and survives it? Doubtful. Alex Cora can do that with a team that won 105 games. Had they lost the W.S., he'd still be the MOY.

The notion that B.C. is going to go for a 'record' Reds payroll is kind of like me saying I am going to outrun my neighbor in a quarter-mile drag race. She's 82 and can hardly back out of her driveway.

Signing a free agent is not going to move the needle because the players in place are just as good as the ones the Reds are capable of signing. Unless you call on Jordy Mercer, move Peraza to a corner OF spot, put Senzel in CF, put Mason Dixon on 1B, Who on 2B ... the point being, what's wrong with the Reds is that they give up 240 home runs every fucking year.

Spend that $20 million on moving the fences back 20 feet, raising the wall and close off that god-awful Griffey Gap.
 

Hit-n-Run

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The two best HR differential seasons for the Reds at GABP are also the only two seasons they've won the division. (2010 +30 and 2012 +20)

If you're taking a drubbing in HR differential you're most likely drafting early. This team needs to allow a lot less homers and hit a few more.
 

JohnU

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Looking at the FA market, and realizing it's just . not . happening . I think the Reds will add one pitcher. They will probably give the rotation spots to Mahle, Disco, Castillo and Reed. The upgraded payroll might pay some bills but there's nobody on the list who would want to pitch in that ballpark.
 

Hit-n-Run

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There's a few problems for a team like the Reds. First off almost every team is looking for pitching. Secondary problem is a lot of the other teams have more money to spend. Third and possibly more important to some 30+ year old free agents is they want a legitimate chance to win attached to a lucrative deal.

The Reds aren't checking off many free agent's boxes other than they need SP.

There will be plenty of pitchers that are looking to resurrect their career and one last paycheck. It's a crap shoot for the team at best.
 

JohnU

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yeah I noticed everybody on the FA list who isn't a $666,000,000 player is over 33 and blessed with at least one "he missed the entire ... season with...." Do the Reds moguls think we are that ignorant?
 

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There's a few problems for a team like the Reds. First off almost every team is looking for pitching. Secondary problem is a lot of the other teams have more money to spend. Third and possibly more important to some 30+ year old free agents is they want a legitimate chance to win attached to a lucrative deal.

And in a nutshell, that is the problem with the Reds. and has been for a long time
 

JohnU

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So do they continue to roll dice on guys like Jason Marquis or do they stick with a plan to make Robert Stevenson pitch better? The Reds are not unique. They are among the unfortunate teams that have needs that are far and above greater than their capability of overcoming it. But being worse than everyone except for four teams is not really working for me. "Hey, we only lost 95 this year. We're not the shittiest team in the league."

Personally, I'd go for some more hitting, see if the pitchers they have can develop a sinker and ... fuck the free agents. These are pitchers with 2 or 3 quality years left. The Reds can't absorb that cost for the small return it offers. Most of these guys are going to add 1 or 2 wins to the overall aggregate. Cincy's pitching WAR is so low that if they doubled it, they'd still be 29th.

They might consider investing some money in Asian markets. I don't study that much.
 

Hit-n-Run

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It appears the Reds have hired pitching coach Derek Johnson from the Brewers coaching staff. He was formerly a coach in the Cubs farm system when David Bell was with the Cubs. Other than that I don't know if the two have any history together.

It's interesting to see the Reds hire a guy from another team for the same position. The reports out of Milwaukee make his departure sound unexpected. I'd assume the Reds offered him more money.
 
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