Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
*BaseClogger*
I would invest our resources in J.J. Hardy. I think the OF will be fine.
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but seriously... Willy Taveras can't even serve a bench role for this team in 2010. "Stubbs can do anything he can do better!"
So, to summarize:
-trade whatever it takes to get J.J. Hardy
-sign another catcher to support Hannigan (Brian Schneider?)
-sign Octavio Dotel to shore up the bullpen
C - Hannigan
1B - Votto
2B - Phillips
SS - Hardy
3B - Rolen
LF - Nix/Balentien/Gomes
CF - Dickerson/Stubbs
RF - Bruce
BN - Schneider
BN - Janish
BN - Nix/Gomes/Balentien
BN - Nix/Gomes/Balentien
BN - Dickerson/Stubbs
SP - Harang
SP - Cueto
SP - Arroyo
SP - Bailey
SP - Maloney
CL - Cordero
SU - Dotel
SU - Masset
LS - Rhodes
MR - Herrera
MR - Fisher
LR - Owings
All of a sudden I don't feel so pessimistic about next year.
I think good health (500 PAs from Rolen and a full season of Votto) and smart managing (proper use of platoons, knowing when to bench the inferior player, productive batting order, etc.) could give us an above average offense.
That leaves us with the other side of the coin--run prevention. On paper the defense is excellent. Adding a veteran live arm to the bullpen further reinforces a strength of 2009. All that remains is the starting pitching (the toughest part of the equation). Given that Harang and Arroyo will combine for 400 innings of league average-ness, all we need is one of Cueto/Bailey to break through in a big way. That happens and something is cooking IMO...
That starting staff listed above is dogfood and would have the Reds 5-10 games out by the AS break. Add Roy Halladay to the front of it and the equation changes utterly. All of sudden, like magic, the Reds leap to the front of the Central. Without, they futz around in 3rd, 4th, who-cares-what place.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CarolinaRedleg
Gomes is starting to make a case for himself next year.
Fay noted in his blog that Gomes is hitting something like .255 against righties, which was the knock against him coming into the year. Small sample size? A sign that Gomes is turning a corner? Something else?
A sign that hitting in the NL is, largely, a piece of cake compared to the AL.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WVRedsFan
You have to score runs to win games. Period. We could have guys out there with 3.00 ERA's across the board, but the 2009 team would still lose 80 games. LF should be upgraded at the least with a player who can hit the ball with power.
That's pretty ironic.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Falls City Beer
A sign that hitting in the NL is, largely, a piece of cake compared to the AL.
Gomes has a 1.178 OPS vs the AL this year. And he hasn't only feasted on the dregs of the NL all year, beating up on DLowe, Ubaldo, Billingsley, Wolf and Hamels.
It's odd that the board seems to go out of there way to discount his success. He has been Cincy's best offensive player this year. I understand that he doesn't exactly have the optimal pedigree, but he should (at a minimum) be in next year's equation without a doubt and LF should probably be his to lose.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
edabbs44
Gomes has a 1.178 OPS vs the AL this year. And he hasn't only feasted on the dregs of the NL all year, beating up on DLowe, Ubaldo, Billingsley, Wolf and Hamels.
It's odd that the board seems to go out of there way to discount his success. He has been Cincy's best offensive player this year. I understand that he doesn't exactly have the optimal pedigree, but he should (at a minimum) be in next year's equation without a doubt and LF should probably be his to lose.
I've long been in favor of keeping Gomes. I see no reason whatsoever to dump the guy, especially with the total uncertainty surrounding Bruce.
Still doesn't change the fact that a lot of "struggling" AL hitters experience a renaissance in the NL. It shows that Walt understands that fact perfectly and was very smart for picking him up, pennies on the dollar.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WVRedsFan
You have to score runs to win games. Period. We could have guys out there with 3.00 ERA's across the board, but the 2009 team would still lose 80 games. LF should be upgraded at the least with a player who can hit the ball with power.
Yep, that .566 SLG in LF right now just isn't cutting it.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
edabbs44
Gomes has a 1.178 OPS vs the AL this year. And he hasn't only feasted on the dregs of the NL all year, beating up on DLowe, Ubaldo, Billingsley, Wolf and Hamels.
It's odd that the board seems to go out of there way to discount his success. He has been Cincy's best offensive player this year. I understand that he doesn't exactly have the optimal pedigree, but he should (at a minimum) be in next year's equation without a doubt and LF should probably be his to lose.
That crazy "this board" and his strange opinions again!
My only qualms with Gomes are, can he do it as a regular for a full season and his defense is bad. I'd prefer the Reds get someone who makes Gomes a bench player but they won't so yes, Gomes will be in the mix.
I envision:
Dickerson
Stubbs
Gomes
Bruce
Balentein
However, I fear it will be:
Dickerson
Taveras
Gomes
Bruce
Balentein
With Stubbs in AAA.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
I think it's pretty clear the OF is gonna be Gomes, Stubbs, and Bruce, with Balentien and Dickerson backing them up. Taveras gets released (and trust me, it will happen).
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Falls City Beer
I've long been in favor of keeping Gomes. I see no reason whatsoever to dump the guy, especially with the total uncertainty surrounding Bruce.
Still doesn't change the fact that a lot of "struggling" AL hitters experience a renaissance in the NL. It shows that Walt understands that fact perfectly and was very smart for picking him up, pennies on the dollar.
Neither do I and I don't think I've seen anyone else that wants to DUMP him. But when it comes to trade talks he's far from untouchable imo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
nate
That crazy "this board" and his strange opinions again!
My only qualms with Gomes are, can he do it as a regular for a full season and his defense is bad. I'd prefer the Reds get someone who makes Gomes a bench player but they won't so yes, Gomes will be in the mix.
I envision:
Dickerson
Stubbs
Gomes
Bruce
Balentein
However, I fear it will be:
Dickerson
Taveras
Gomes
Bruce
Balentein
With Stubbs in AAA.
That pretty much sums up how I feel.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Screwball
I think it's pretty clear the OF is gonna be Gomes, Stubbs, and Bruce, with Balentien and Dickerson backing them up. Taveras gets released (and trust me, it will happen).
That is best case scenario, unless they are able to get a big name FA. And Dickerson is around in case one of them flop, which is a distinct possibility.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Screwball
I think it's pretty clear the OF is gonna be Gomes, Stubbs, and Bruce, with Balentien and Dickerson backing them up. Taveras gets released (and trust me, it will happen).
May your wishes come true.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
I think too many people are willing to hand Stubbs and his .713 OPS at AAA the CF job. After a couple of months of that type of hitting against major league pitching, even Taveras may look good. Dickerson should be penciled in against RH Pitching with Stubbs the RH half of the platoon. If Stubbs takes the job away from him, then great. We know Dickerson probably isn't a full-time guy.
The same should be said for Bruce and Balentien in RF. Bruce needs some success at this point and sitting him against lefties is the easiest path to that success (though I'm skeptical of Balentien being much long term). If Bruce is who we hope he is, he'll win the job.
Gomes in LF has the best chance of the bunch to be successful full-time right now IMO, but I'd try to bring in a lefty who can platoon with him. The best case would be to get one who can play a little 1B or even 3B in a pinch (Eric Hinske might be a good choice??). Even if its not a straight platoon, there should be guys that Gomes sits against, though I'd prefer a straight platoon.
Many complain about the idea carrying 6 OF, but the ideal situation would be to get better players that can hit in the key spots and play every day. Since its not likely, something is going to have to be less than ideal. I'd prefer having an OF with a chance to hit on a daily basis to the relative luxury of carrying a 6th infielder who will only play on Sunday specials or during other such non-sensical times. If somebody gets hurt, an infielder can be recalled and at most the team would be in a bind for part of one game.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GADawg
ditto....Gomes had produced and although he's not a young Barry Bonds out in left he's not an old Barry Bonds either. Dude can't catch a break on this forum
The only thing I haven't figured out is why Gomes plays RF (and Nix/Wlad play LF) at GABP, but Gomes plays LF (and Nix/Wlad play RF) on the road. What's the deal?
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mth123
Many complain about the idea carrying 6 OF, but the ideal situation would be to get better players that can hit in the key spots and play every day. Since its not likely, something is going to have to be less than ideal. I'd prefer having an OF with a chance to hit on a daily basis to the relative luxury of carrying a 6th infielder who will only play on Sunday specials or during other such non-sensical times. If somebody gets hurt, an infielder can be recalled and at most the team would be in a bind for part of one game.
Of course, the situation could be solved by actually having a long reliever and carrying only 11 pitchers, but I'm afraid that those days are gone forever. In fact, I think that we will see a club go all the way to 14 pitchers (let alone 13) before we ever see one go back to 11.
Re: Reds outfield -- 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Big Klu
The only thing I haven't figured out is why Gomes plays RF (and Nix/Wlad play LF) at GABP, but Gomes plays LF (and Nix/Wlad play RF) on the road. What's the deal?
I'd guess the answer has to do with the way they are going to try to pitch right-handers or the way they figure right-handers will set up in GABP. I'd guess it's both. Most right-handers will try to pull in GABP, and they probably want to take advantage of this by going even farther in on them. This means A. put the better fielder of Gomes/Nix or Gomes/Balentien in left; and B. you absolutely must have a 3b who can play--i.e. Rolen. On the road where the parks are more neutral, you play the weaker fielder in left as usual.