Ouch....very ouch
 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...cks/index.html

from si.com

"blah blah blah....There are only six teams that can't make the playoffs (Nationals, Royals, Devil Rays, Reds, Pirates and Orioles), and of the 25 teams that have a shot, any shot, at playing in October, roughly 15 of them could win the World Series -- about three times as much real competition as the Yankees faced in the '90s.....blah blah blah"

Ok Mr. Verducci, first of all the Reds were less than 5 games out of the playoffs last year. Less than 5 games=you have a shot, thats all.

Second, It sickens me that the Reds are listed in that sad bunch. We don't belong in there....right?

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I don't know. We've improved one spot from last year (has he ranked us above the Pirates?):doh:

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screw him.

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Please dont bring up being close to the playoffs last year in comparison to us being close. We over acheived last year and the rest of the division sucked. Its not going to be that way again.

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We know(think) we're better than that. Most other people aren't going to until they actually go out there and get in the playoffs. This team DOES have to prove that last year wasn't a flash in the pan, which it very well could have been.

And to add to this, I don't think we're a good team yet, but we have the potential to be a good team.

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I think it's more him overvaluing the Cubs, Cards, and to a lesser extent the Brewers. I'd bet the farm that if the Reds played in the NL West, they would not be anywhere near that list.

I still get a kick out of the now yearly Brewers love. I believe this is the 3rd straight year they have been a "sleeper" team because of their young talent. Certainly injuries have hampered them a bit, but at the end of the day, they still finished 3rd or 4th. But they're a sleeper team because they are young. Yeah...show me.

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I believe the Reds are better than every club he lumped them with in this article.

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Me too.

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We belong in that group.

We're a team that will win between 72-76 ball games this year.

Get us a new manager, a legitimate #3 SP, and wait for the trio of Bruce, Votto and Bailey to contribute, and then maybe, just maybe we might be able to actually say with all certainty we are "contenders"

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Definitely...Cincy is the best of the worst.

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So, are Seattle, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and San Fran actually, according to this guy, play-off worthy? Because I have my doubts about them and a couple of other teams which had okay years last season (Philly...I'm looking at you).

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This has gone on forever; guys from New York, LA, Chicago who can barely point to Cincinnati on a map much less having any real knowledge of teams other than the Yankees and Red Sox writing for SI or blowing hard on ESPN about them as though they know what they are talking about.

The Reds have made strides in the last two years. It will take more than two to rebuild what Marge and Carl tore down- a strong farm system and a competent front office. I'm quite happy with the direction they have taken and even though I don't see them winning the world series, I am quite prepared to be happily surprised by the quality of the team that takes the field this year. At the very least, they will have a much stronger chance to compete in every game this year, which is fine by me.

If Verducci wants to blather on about his favorite teams, who cares?

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Question marks and ifs....the Reds could be very good IF all those ??? fall into place. If Hamilton has a solid rookie year, IF Junior stays healthy, IF a closer steps forward, IF Lohse, Belisle, EZ, or Saarloos step up and have a career year, IF Homer comes up later and wows, IF EE continues his progress into a top hitter....on and on. Too many of them in fact to be considered a contender until the Reds prove up.

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There are plenty of teams on that list who have their fair share of "If's" - many of them considered contenders in our own division. As others have said, it's patently absurd to suggest the Reds have no chance of making the playoffs. I disagree with those who say you can't gauge that by last year, but last year proves the point. They almost made it last year. Why? Because they played better than the pundits expected and the division was woeful, but that shows that circumstances happen and the results play themselves out.

Now I don't disagree that there are a lot of "If's" involved, but this team this year is better than last years. And we don't need the proverbial "career year" (as folks are apt to suggest around here) - we need decent performances out of players who have the ability and need to play to that ability. As I repeatedly say, you can't tell a "career year" in the present - its only in retrospect that we know someone's had a career year.

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Shooting for a winning record by All-Star break, then we'll talk. If we were within 6-8 games at the All-Star break anything can happen. Baby steps.....