Ross DFA, Homer optioned

[DannyB]

http://beta.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog07

From Fay

The rebuilding gets started. From the Reds:

Today the Reds returned from a rehabilitation assignment and reinstated from the 15-day disabled list RHP Aaron Harang, optioned to Class AAA Louisville RHP Homer Bailey, designated for assignment C David Ross and recalled from Louisville C Ryan Hanigan (#29).

[FlyerFanatic]

http://beta.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog07

From Fay

The rebuilding gets started. From the Reds:

Today the Reds returned from a rehabilitation assignment and reinstated from the 15-day disabled list RHP Aaron Harang, optioned to Class AAA Louisville RHP Homer Bailey, designated for assignment C David Ross and recalled from Louisville C Ryan Hanigan (#29).

the rebuilding starts once patterson is DFA

[AccordinglyReds]

I would have liked to see Bailey stay up and DFA Fogg or put Fogg in long relief. Guess I'll be able to see Bailey pitch here in Louisville, though. Good luck.

The DFA of Ross is kinda suprising given that he may be the better of the 3. Nice to see Hanigan called up, though.

Why can't Dickerson fill the CF position for the rest of the year, Dusty?

[bigredbunter]

I would have liked to see Bailey stay up and DFA Fogg or put Fogg in long relief.

I wish they would send Bailey to Chattanooga or Sarasota, like the Rangers did with Volquez--Something to wake him up/ get him focused.

[texasdave]

Not that the Reds' catchers are all that and a bag of chips, but I thought Ross was the best of the bunch. I hope there is a trade already worked out for him. If not I am glad that we didn't move him at the deadline for whatever we could get for him. Just release him 10 days later for nothing. We shall see.

[Fon Duc Tow]

Why can't Dickerson fill the CF position for the rest of the year, Dusty?


Well that would make for quite an awkward situation at the Baker Thanksgiving table this November.

[markymark69]

Well that would make for quite an awkward situation at the Baker Thanksgiving table this November.


Stop with the Patterson is his son-in-law or son-in-law to be bit. It's not been proven. I've heard it rebuffed and have not had it confirmed yet, other than by Tracy Jones and Cunningham and we all know, you have to take what they say with a grain of salt.

[PTI (pti)]

Soooo.....we DFA Ross and keep Bako. Am I missing something here? Why get rid of Ross?? Oh well. As if it really even matters anyways. :(

[Griffey012]

Soooo.....we DFA Ross and keep Bako. Am I missing something here? Why get rid of Ross?? Oh well. As if it really even matters anyways. :(

I am with you, neither one brings a ton to the table, but Ross brings ten fold whatever Bako brings. He did hit 41 homers in 250 some games in his reds career. Bako had 1 good month.

[TheOnlyRedsFan]

We DFA one catcher and call up another. We still have 3.

[BLEEDS]

Soooo.....we DFA Ross and keep Bako. Am I missing something here? Why get rid of Ross?? Oh well. As if it really even matters anyways. :(


Well, Ross is due some $$ in next year in his option, so he's DEFINITELY not in our 2009 plans. Bako may be the Juan Castro of catching - no stick, but good D. They may keep Bako purely for his defense and mentoring of Hanigan/catchers TBD.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[Caveman Techie]

We DFA one catcher and call up another. We still have 3.

Little starving children in Africa cry every time Javier gets behind the dish.

[BigRedSmokey]

Between Ross,Bako and Valentin, why did Ross go? I would think it would be Valentin,Bako and then Ross. Was it a money thing?

I just don't understand how Valentin is still on this team. Somebody tell me what he brings to the table? What am I missing?

[BurgervilleBuck]

I just don't understand how Valentin is still on this team. Somebody tell me what he brings to the table? What am I missing?
Ability to play more than one position, a passable pinch hitter and cuddly to boot.

That's all I got.

[SarasotaFan]

About time they drop Homer....

[texasdave]

From www.jinaz-reds.blogspot.com:


Ross DFA'd: What the hell?
Let's say a team has three catchers: players A, B, & C. They want to give a cup of coffee to another catcher in their minor leagues and see how he does against big league pitching. So they need to get rid of one of their three catchers. All three are free agents at the end of the season, though there's a buyout on player A for $380k for 2009.

Below are forecasted AVG/OBP/SLG for each player, based on the a Marcel projection of their 2005-2008 performances. Note: This is NOT what their final 2008 stats are expected to look like. This is what you'd expect them to hit the rest of the way, and therefore an indication of their hitting talent.


AVG OBP SLG OPS Fielding
Player A 0.229 0.318 0.420 0.738 +
Player B 0.264 0.325 0.414 0.739 -
Player C 0.221 0.291 0.321 0.612 +

Now, obviously none of these guys is particularly awesome. Of the three, though, Player A is clearly the best player, right? Hitting on par with player B, and good fielding to player B's crappyness. Still not sure? Player A is also the youngest (by one and a half years) of the bunch. So it seems pretty obvious that he should stay on the roster, right?

Depending on how important the defense is--it's hard for me to tell with catchers, as we still don't have particularly good metrics to evaluate their contributions to runs allowed--the player to go would probably be either player B or player C. I'd probably ditch player B, but that's based on a long-held (and largely groundless) dislike of bad defensive catchers.

So why on earth did the Reds DFA David Ross (Player A) today?

Well, he's right-handed, and so is Hanigan. Valentin (Player B) and Bako (Player C) both bat lefty. ... I don't think that's a particularly good reason.
He also makes more money than the other players, so the Reds might save a good $900k million if you include the remainder of his salary and the buyout next year--assuming someone claims him off of waivers. $900k's something, but in an era when a win will likely cost roughly $4.8 million in the coming offseason free agent market, it's not much. Ross projects as a plus-replacement level player, and so he would probably have contributed at least even value on his $3.5 million salary.

Look, I can deal with the Reds making a decision to not have Ross on the roster next year. The buyout's a drop in the bucket, and he's not particularly special. But I think if you make that decision, you also have to decide that Bako and Valentin won't be on the roster next year, right? And if you come to the decision that they've all got to go, don't you ditch the worst players before you ditch the better players? Especially if you're still trying to "win" (play 0.500+ ball, which is probably out of reach anyway) this year? What I see today is my "favorite" team ditching their best catcher in favor of two inferior players. It's a minor move, and probably doesn't matter much in and of itself. But I'm just getting sick of all of this nonsense.

Found this while snooping around. It articulates, far better than I could, my exact feelings on this matter. Ross should have been the last of the Reds' three catchers to be DFA'd.
One comment on the highlighted sentence. If Ross was DFA'd because he and Hanigan are both right-handed then this club is in trouble. In a season as lost as this one what difference is it going to make if the Reds are short one left-handed bat late in any particular game? Management has punted this season. What difference does an extra loss or two make? (And I doubt if it would make even that much of a difference.) To lose the best of your three catchers for that reason is senseless.

[BLEEDS]

If they could have traded Ross, they would have. He was NOT in their plans for next year - no way, no how - just like Junior, because of his OPTION for 2009.
Now, we've got 10 days for him to clear, and MAYBE someone will pick him up.

Why hold onto a guy like that the last month and a half of a 90+ loss season, when there is NO intention of keeping him.

He was fodder, and the most expensive of the 3 catcher fodders. If there is a 10% chance someone picks him up, that is better than 0.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[freestyle55]

About time they drop Homer....

Really? You want to dump a player with the talent to be a top half of the rotation starting pitcher who's pitched the equivalent of one year or less in the majors because he's struggled? Put him back in the minors for a year, move him down like Volquez perhaps, let him build up confidence. Call him up for the stretch run next year unless he's lights out everywhere he goes...

He's 22, sometimes it takes a little while to get going...look at guys like Volquez and Harang to tell you that one...neither was a stud pitcher at age 22 with 1 or fewer years of MLB experience...

[SarasotaFan]

Really? You want to dump a player with the talent to be a top half of the rotation starting pitcher who's pitched the equivalent of one year or less in the majors because he's struggled? Put him back in the minors for a year, move him down like Volquez perhaps, let him build up confidence. Call him up for the stretch run next year unless he's lights out everywhere he goes...

He's 22, sometimes it takes a little while to get going...look at guys like Volquez and Harang to tell you that one...neither was a stud pitcher at age 22 with 1 or fewer years of MLB experience...
Are you going to keep playing the age card? There's another thread in here that's practically devoted to this.

And yes, I'd like to dump him. He's been up and down. He hasn't shown he can consistently get people out. Why give the guy service time and cash when he's not going to give you the results you want - this game is about results right away. The majors aren't a "development" stage - perform [well] or get off stage.

[757690]

Are you going to keep playing the age card? There's another thread in here that's practically devoted to this.

And yes, I'd like to dump him. He's been up and down. He hasn't shown he can consistently get people out. Why give the guy service time and cash when he's not going to give you the results you want - this game is about results right away. The majors aren't a "development" stage - perform [well] or get off stage.

If you mean send him to the minors, that it understandable, but if you mean to actually dump him and either waive or trade him, that make no sense. He is under the Reds control for many more years, so might as well leave him in the minors until he gets his act together.
I am assuming that you mean send him to the minors, but you can understand how "dump him" can be interpreted to mean get him out of the organization.

[SarasotaFan]

If you mean send him to the minors, that it understandable, but if you mean to actually dump him and either waive or trade him, that make no sense. He is under the Reds control for many more years, so might as well leave him in the minors until he gets his act together.
I am assuming that you mean send him to the minors, but you can understand how "dump him" can be interpreted to mean get him out of the organization.Yeah just down to the minors. Let him run out of options before you take him off the 40-man and give someone else a chance to claim him - at that point, offer him up as trade bait if he doesn't bring anything back from his investment.