Why do the Reds constantly overpay for players, and sink themselves into a hole?

[LouisvilleCARDS]

I don't get it. It seems when the Reds have a need or percieved need, they'll sign someone who may or may not be good (usually not) and completely overpay.

"We need to get faster, better defense, and more small ball!" - Sign Corey Patterson for $3 mil, sign Taveras for $7 mil.

"We need better defense!" - Alex Gonzalez, here's your nice 3 year deal

"We need starting pitching!" - hey Eric Milton, we were just going to flush $30 mil down the toilet this is for you. And hey Bronson, you've pitched well in all of 6 starts since you came here! Forget about the rest of your career numbers, no way could you possibly fall back to that. Here's 2 years and $25 mil buddy!

"We need help in the pen badly!!" - Francisco Crdero, you only pitch one inning a night - if we're up. So here's about 20% of our salary at about 12 mil per year, yeah, that should solve it!


For a small market team, the Reds ownership is about the most retarded franchise in MLB. We burn valuable resources constantly by overpaying free agents, and when they don't perform you get the Dusty Baker philosophy of "we just need these players to play better, thats all!" :thumbdown

[Red in Atl]

I don't get it. It seems when the Reds have a need or percieved need, they'll sign someone who may or may not be good (usually not) and completely overpay.

"We need to get faster, better defense, and more small ball!" - Sign Corey Patterson for $3 mil, sign Taveras for $7 mil.

"We need better defense!" - Alex Gonzalez, here's your nice 3 year deal

"We need starting pitching!" - hey Eric Milton, we were just going to flush $30 mil down the toilet this is for you. And hey Bronson, you've pitched well in all of 6 starts since you came here! Forget about the rest of your career numbers, no way could you possibly fall back to that. Here's 2 years and $25 mil buddy!

"We need help in the pen badly!!" - Francisco Crdero, you only pitch one inning a night - if we're up. So here's about 20% of our salary at about 12 mil per year, yeah, that should solve it!


For a small market team, the Reds ownership is about the most retarded franchise in MLB. We burn valuable resources constantly by overpaying free agents, and when they don't perform you get the Dusty Baker philosophy of "we just need these players to play better, thats all!" :thumbdown

Then we have to skimp and give away players to save cash: Cody Ross, Jorge Cantu, Jeff Keppinger to name three. I'd much rather have all three of those guys in stead of who we kept or signed: EE, JH, Taveras, Patterson...

[lidspinner]

Then we have to skimp and give away players to save cash: Cody Ross, Jorge Cantu, Jeff Keppinger to name three. I'd much rather have all three of those guys in stead of who we kept or signed: EE, JH, Taveras, Patterson...

In the reds defense, every team in MLB has guys that they let go and said player turns out pretty good.....its very common with every club. With that said, I agree about overpaying for table scraps. I too, wish I could take those 3 back adn trade in JHJ,WT, and EE....

[GIDP]

Because they dont want to look cheap, and have no way to explain that we didnt sign a guy because we could find an in house option for league minimum.

[CySeymour]

Because they dont want to look cheap, and have no way to explain that we didnt sign a guy because we could find an in house option for league minimum.

Now this is not always a bad thing. Some times it's just good cost management. If say you are letting a middle reliever go in favor of a cheeper alternative who probably is almost as good as the one let go.

The problem has been when the team over pays for vets who have a career year. Like JHJ from last year. That was a classic case of once his contract expired, they should have just let him walk away, or at the very worst signed him for a very cheap one year contract.

Give multi year contracts to core players, not role players.

[GIDP]

Now this is not always a bad thing. Some times it's just good cost management. If say you are letting a middle reliever go in favor of a cheeper alternative who probably is almost as good as the one let go.

The problem has been when the team over pays for vets who have a career year. Like JHJ from last year. That was a classic case of once his contract expired, they should have just let him walk away, or at the very worst signed him for a very cheap one year contract.

Give multi year contracts to core players, not role players.

Yep, the Reds should go the marlins route more than the "we have holes we must fill them!!!!!!"

Instead you just use your minors, and pick up guys off minor league deals and go with what you got. Pick people off the scrap heap like we did with JHJ, and then go for the next guy. The Reds instead take the freels, JHJ, and lincolns and resign them for some reason.

[big boy]

Pick people off the scrap heap like we did with JHJ, and then go for the next guy. The Reds instead take the freels, JHJ, and lincolns and resign them for some reason.

I don't know why this is so hard to figure out. The only deal I thought was reasonable was Harang. I didn't see him falling off like this.

[BluegrassRedleg]

Cordero may have the most inexplicable contract in all of baseball, given the circumstances.

[GIDP]

I don't know why this is so hard to figure out. The only deal I thought was reasonable was Harang. I didn't see him falling off like this.

Yep. I still wouldnt consider Harangs deal even bad. Of course if he was a FA he wouldnt get that much but everyone would have done that deal with Harang.

JHJ of this year with last years price tag wouldnt even be a bad deal. Its just easy to find bench roll players for cheap than these multi year deal guys who at any point can become rotten contracts.