Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
SporkLover
I'd say there were a few things.
The Emergence of Rookies as key contributors to the Cards success: Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, name the arm brought up in April/May to shore up the pitching staff
The transformation of Matt Carpenter from good Bench Bat/utility man to a monster 2nd baseman.... a position he learned over the winter.
The Amazing start the Cardinals starting rotation gave them. Outside of Wainwright, and even possibly Lynn... no one expected them to have the first half they did.
Allen Craig: Strange year for him.... he seemingly lost all of his long ball power, but he has re-invented himself as an RBI machine.
Consistent offensive performance from two pillers, Beltran and Yadier Molina.
Some surprises: Jon Jay seemed to whatever the batters equivalent to Steve Blass disease is. Matt Holliday offensive year can be described as slump. David Freese isn't living up to his role of a .280 hitter.
For every point you made for the Cardinals, you could make the exact same point for the Reds. Their situations have been nearly identical to be honest, except one has outperformed the other. The biggest difference IMO has been in the dugout.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
The question I always ask myself, at this point in the season, is "While injuries are part of the game, and I'm surprised we've done as well as we have, where would this team be if not for the rash, even over-the-top, injuries we've incurred, and especially to key positions?
I maintain my optimism, positive outlook, by telling myself that if we get some of these key players back, and make it into the post-season, even via the WC, anything can happen.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
The exceeding Pirates and Cardinals have made the Reds less exceeding,especially being in the same conference.I never expected either to be as good as they have been.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
toledodan
just when i was finally forgetting those lost years.:lol:
The trauma from those years still has not been fully processed..
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
New York Red
For every point you made for the Cardinals, you could make the exact same point for the Reds. Their situations have been nearly identical to be honest, except one has outperformed the other. The biggest difference IMO has been in the dugout.
I think you got it right there.
Like I said, I still feel that in March/April the Reds had the talent filled roster, the Cardinals had lots of unknowns.
It wasn't till June that folks stopped saying the Reds were the team to beat in the NL Central.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
Cedric
I clearly remember Joey Hamilton and Jimmy Haynes starting opening day for some of the mid 00 teams.
I'm perfectly fine with this year.
I really don't take much solace in the "we used to be a humiliating organization and now we're not" mantra.
Sure, I appreciate being in a race and being a respectable team much more than those horrible years.
But as I've said, if as a fan, you NEVER expect your team to EVER legitimately contend, then what's the point?
Seriously since 1990 we've never really come close to seriously pushing for the WS... Maybe in 1995, but that's about it. We've had 22 years in a row where no reasonable Reds fan could expect a truly deep October run. If we couldn't expect that in 2013.... Then when?
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
TheBigLebowski
It's an interesting question.
Color me as one who is disappointed.
Yeah, we're 10 games over .500, which is nothing about which to be ashamed. However, great as Castellini has been, we know we're not going to be legit WS contenders often. And we've tied up a LOT of money in DatDude/Votto. Realistically, these are contracts that are going to hang around our heads like albatrosses. This team was built...designed...to win now. Our farm system is depleted and many scouts are saying that our prized prospect is nothing more that a situational outfielder.
There was a lot on the line this season. We're only guaranteed Choo through this year. Do we re-sign him or Homer? Or can we afford either?
There's a lot of baseball left to be played and this all may ultimately have a happy ending. But as for the current circumstances as of August 3, 2013...yeah, I think you have to consider this season a disappointment...thus far. That's the caveat.
The finances of those organization are not going to be hamstrung by those 2 contracts...other than having those players production drop off, which is to be expected. This is not the 90's or early 2000's.
The money is coming from anew TV contract that will pay for those contracts.
The issue will be picking the right prospects to trade or keep....in order to continue building a team around them and choosing wisely on who to give the next LTC to.
The rest? I am surprisingly disappointed as I can be about a Reds team being 10 games over .500 in early August ... and trending the wrong way for the last 2 months.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
I'm not so much disappointed in this season as I am worried that the Reds window will slam shut as early as next season.
The Cardinals have MLB's best team right now with a vaunted farm system to fill in for any drop off as well as a limitless ability to sign real talent long term.
The Pirates too have an exceptional young team that's emerging a year earlier than expected with guys like Liriano making that possible.
The Reds future looks quite a bit dicier. No farm system and a pretty decent but clunky MLB team. And they've run out the string in terms of payroll mobility(for now anyway).
That's what gnaws at me, not so much this season in particular.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
Falls City Beer
I'm not so much disappointed in this season as I am worried that the Reds window will slam shut as early as next season.
The Cardinals have MLB's best team right now with a vaunted farm system to fill in for any drop off as well as a limitless ability to sign real talent long term.
The Pirates too have an exceptional young team that's emerging a year earlier than expected with guys like Liriano making that possible.
The Reds future looks quite a bit dicier. No farm system and a pretty decent but clunky MLB team. And they've run out the string in terms of payroll mobility(for now anyway).
That's what gnaws at me, not so much this season in particular.
I'm with you. I thought that the Cards were going to become a dominant team when all that talent matured (or was dealt for Giancarlo Stanton or Jurickson Profar), but thought that 2013 was the year the Reds could sneak in there while the kids all came together. I think the team still has plenty of years of competitive ball in it, but before the season, this seemed like the most likely year to be the top dog.
Cards and Pirates got better sooner than I thought they would (actually, I never really thought the Pirates would ever get this good) and the Reds, especially the foursome of Frazier, Cozart, Phillips and Hanigan, have taken a step backwards. Ludwick's loss hurts, but adding Choo, and Votto being back, more than offsets that IMO. The pitching injuries haven't really had an adverse impact. Those RH bats falling off is the difference IMO.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
After the complete and utter meltdown this weekend, I've moved from "maybe disappointed" to "sorely disappointed and unbelievably angry"
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
If you told me these Reds would be under .500 by the end of this month, I would believe you.
I think they're done.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
The "lack of heart" thing gets throw around WAY too much.... But I think it has merit recenlty--- especially this weekend. You can't tell me the Reds were fully locked and loaded this weekend.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
Edskin
The "lack of heart" thing gets throw around WAY too much.... But I think it has merit recenlty--- especially this weekend. You can't tell me the Reds were fully locked and loaded this weekend.
They laid down and rolled over for the Cards to walk over them twice this weekend in a major series with a jacked up crowd in front of them.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
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Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
If you told me these Reds would be under .500 by the end of this month, I would believe you.
I think they're done.
I'm not ready to go there yet... I still think we will rebound against the lousy teams and at minimum stay in the middle of the second WC chase. But if you told me right now that the Reds would either get hot over the next two months and make a run at the division or totally tank and fall well out of the WC race, I would not hesitate to choose the latter.
Re: Is It OK To Acknowledge the Disappointment in This Season W/O Being Absurd?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mth123
I'm with you. I thought that the Cards were going to become a dominant team when all that talent matured (or was dealt for Giancarlo Stanton or Jurickson Profar), but thought that 2013 was the year the Reds could sneak in there while the kids all came together. I think the team still has plenty of years of competitive ball in it, but before the season, this seemed like the most likely year to be the top dog.
Cards and Pirates got better sooner than I thought they would (actually, I never really thought the Pirates would ever get this good) and the Reds, especially the foursome of Frazier, Cozart, Phillips and Hanigan, have taken a step backwards. Ludwick's loss hurts, but adding Choo, and Votto being back, more than offsets that IMO. The pitching injuries haven't really had an adverse impact. Those RH bats falling off is the difference IMO.
You're right. Especially Phillips and Frazier. They've got a ton of really really difficult decisions coming up this offseason.
I don't envy the FO's job at all. I'm actually wondering if maybe they should take a few seasons of stepping back, trading some principals and re-tooling. Not a fire sale exactly, but a shorter period of prospect accumulation.