Quote:
Originally Posted by M2
Last year was, arguably, the best Reds pitching team most of us have ever seen. I'm not sure it gets much better than that. The run differential and wins total was a result of run prevention. The offense was slightly below average.
And the most glaring hole for the offense was production from the leadoff hitters (if you want to look at it from a lineup perspective) and CF (if you want to look at it from a positional perspective). Getting a CF who can hit at the top of the lineup fills both holes. It's pretty imperative that Walt get this done.
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I don't disagree with that (except to say that it wasn't just a result of run prevention...this team DID score their fair share of runs). But, and this is a big but, with Hamilton on the way possibly, we're looking at a short term solution. My problem with these trade scenarios is that we're causing a long term problem (trading away valuable arms) to fix a short term problem (one year or even a partial year of a CF'er).
The leadoff situation can be cured by planting Phillips there IMO.
The CF situation is certainly cause for concern, but I think Stubbs bounces back some. And if he's hitting lower in the order, I think he'll be fine.
As for an improved offense...get Votto back full-time, give Frazier a full-time gig, another year of experience for Cozart, Cairo/Valdez gone from the bench, and ANY production out of Mesoraco...and I foresee improvement without any changes. I'm not saying we shouldn't try to improve. I'm saying that we're in the drivers seat in terms of any deals we look into because we're not forced into a situation of HAVING to make a deal.