Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

Now that the Winter Meetings have come and gone, and the Hot Stove season is about half over, make your prediction: What changes will be made between now and then? Who will be brought on board?

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

I'm going big and saying the Reds end up with Ludwick and Bourne on a one year deal.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

I'd love to see them sign Bourne and get a big-time bopper in LF, but I suspect Ludwick + a lefty platoon partner for Stubbs is what they'll end up doing.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

I voted for a lesser cf, but I'm thinking someone with more potential than Coco or DeJesus, like G Parra.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

I'm going for the Hail Mary. What the Reds really want when their heads hit the pillow at night is Michael Bourn. I have no doubt of that. Bourn doesn't look like he's going to get a monster offer from a serious contender. Might as well take a short-term stab at glory with the Reds. The GAB stat padding also won't hurt in his quest for future earnings.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

Ludwick + Alejandro De Aza

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

This was my thinking when I voted. Don't EXPECT it, but hoping for it.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

I'm thinking Ludwick and either De Aza, Parra, Dejesus or Crisp to split time with Stubbs/Heisey.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

Don't tell me i have to put up with stubbs again next year.after what he has done ever since he got here I figured he would have already been gone.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

It's amazing how one bad season makes people forget everything that came before it. Stubbs was VERY good in 2009 & 2010, and was (barely) adequate in 2011. It's not his fault Dusty kept miscasting him as a leadoff man.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

There's no hiding Stubbs vs. RHPs. Doesn't matter where you hit him. He had this problem in the minors and major league RHPs have figured out how to neuter him.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

the stubbs that i have watched strikeouts alot,swings for the fences thinking he is a power hitter.The most annoying is that he hardly ever uses his speed when batting.Its either a strikeout or a popup BUT I was glad to see him finally start bunting for hits last year.Its time for him to go get a fresh start some place else.

Of the 7 Reds batters with more than 400 PA, Stubbs had the highest GB% (51% - Only Phillips is remotely close) and 3rd lowest IFFB% (infield fly ball rate). Meanwhile, his infield hit rate (infield hit per GB) and bunt hit rate (bunt hit per bunt) were below his career average.

The strikeouts are absolutely a problem, perhaps fatally so for his career. But he's also dropped a lot of power since 2010, when he put the ball in the air more frequently. And unless swing for the fences results in a lot more ground balls, your assessment doesn't seem to hold up.

Perhaps he does need a fresh start, but no matter where he goes, his route to a successful career is more likely by being more Curtis Granderson than Juan Pierre.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

Stubbs did an interview with 1410 in Dayton today at Redsfest. One guy he brought up as an example of how he plays and who improved and was hoping to try similar things was Austin Jackson. In 2010 Jackson struck out 25% of the time, walked 7% of the time and had a 48% GB rate. He rode a .396 BABIP to a .293/.345/.400 line that season. The next year when his BABIP fell to a more normal area, his offense dropped as he hit .249/.317/.374 with a few more walks and a few more strikeouts. In 2012, he hit more fly balls than ever before, walked more than ever and struck out less than ever. Rode another high BABIP (.371), but hit .300/.377/.479. Sounds similar to what you were suggesting Stubbs try out. Sounds like Stubbs, at least in theory, wants to do that.

Re: Prediction Time - OF acquisition(s)
 

Stubbs is a smart guy, interesting to hear him say that. Nonetheless, you gotta go into next year with some solution in CF against righties. He has simply proven over a very long time that he is not going to be an asset, let alone average against them.