Hinske is a big boy 6' 2" 230 lbs. he has left handed power and can play third with out throwing the ball away a few times a week. His first three years are like Kearn's first three years so I feel Hinske still has a high up side.
Hinske is a big boy 6' 2" 230 lbs. he has left handed power and can play third with out throwing the ball away a few times a week. His first three years are like Kearn's first three years so I feel Hinske still has a high up side.
I suspect you're right. Ricciardi's also got a JimBoesque need to "win" trades. So a deal where teams swap burdens probably isn't going to appeal to him.Originally Posted by Boss-Hog
For my part, though, my interest in the deal (if I were DanO) would begin and end with Danny Graves as the return part of the equation. Without that 2005 cash savings the deal makes no sense to me.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Kearns is 24 and Hinske is 27. Kearns at a much younger age has posted OPS of 907 819 and 740 much better than Hinske.
Even as bad as Kearns was in 04 he was 60 points higher than Hinske.
I look at Hinske as a left handed A. Boone. With a little more power. Kearns and Hinske was drafted the same year and made the same rise through the system (in time wise) They both are young enough to develop even more then what they have and injuries have slowed both down.
Interesting situation that DanO is in on this. Actually, I like the idea of Hinske for Graves. Of course, from reading the article, I thought it was going to be for some minor leaguer for Hinski and the Blue Jays paying a major part of his salary. Hinske's number have obviously lowered because of his injuries the last two years. I think he will be worth his contract, if he stays healthy. But I am more interested in how Kearns is looking at third. Because I think Kearns could be worth more than Hinske, but will that be at 3rd or OF? But if DanO waits until Jan to evaluate Kearns, then the Hinkse option will long be over with. And DanO doesn't strike me as making fast decisions.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
I think O'Brien isn't seriously considering Kearns as his third baseman in 2005. It would be nice to have Kearns be able to play third if Miley ever gets in a pinch during a game with his bench.
As for Hinske, don't you think he might be able to improve on his stats especially with Chris Chambliss working with him? Look what Chambliss did in one season with Pena, Dunn and even Casey. Don't you think working under Chambliss could help Hinske too?
If you think small, you'll go nowhere in life.
I believe the lesson this FO learned is that long term contracts are a very sticky subject. The last thing they would seem to be willing to do is take on another team's albatross to relieve short term salary. If anything, those on this board are advocating dumping our own long term contracts for short term strain and long term relief, and this seems closer to the FO's strategy.
However, as with all contracts, their terms eventually end. There is always the "grin and bear it" approach.
And this is where the big question mark comes into play. O'Brien has Casey believing the opportunity to compete is still here and strong, sidestepping the whole trade demand demon. In all reality, either the Reds are planning on resigning Casey to a much cheaper contract after 2006, or they plan on trading him. With both Graves (7 million) off the books in 2005, and Casey (8 million) off in 2006, the Reds are due for even more payflex, possibly without conducting one single trade.
Granted, we do not get any talent in return, but one thing everyone seems to lose sight of in there incessant woes about these long term contracts is, as Redread pointed out, the term stops eventually, and that eventually is finally soon.
what has Hinske's ERA WHIP and K ratio last year?
nuff said?
Nothing to see here. Please disperse.
Maybe that's the secret, the Reds will convert him into a pitcher.
Hey, that's the ticket. The Reds just need to acquire pitching and ignore improving anywhere else.
Trade Dunner for a stud starter, trade Griffey and sign a stud starter with his salary, trade Casey and sign another starter ... then watch the Reds proceed to lose games 2-1 rather than 8-7.
I'd love to see the Reds improve their pitching, but I'll settle for improvement ANYWHERE on the diamond. The pitching isn't the ONLY problem on this team.
Its just the biggest one. I think there are in house options at 3B which are fine IF the team rehabilitates.fixes. whatever you want to call it it's pitching staff.
Its not that I think Hinske is a bad player or worthless, just not waht the Reds need to rigt the ship.
Nothing to see here. Please disperse.
Which is why I'd only be interested in him if he came with that $3.25M attached. Then the Reds would have a 3B AND money to pursue starting pitching.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Don't know if this has been posted but here goes:
Kearns taking next step
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ANDY LYONS/Getty Images
Austin Kearns will follow a daily workout plan over the next two months with an eye toward playing third base when he reports to spring training next year.
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By Marc Lancaster
Post staff reporter
Dan O'Brien's words were cautious as usual, but the Reds general manager's message was clear.
The Austin Kearns experiment has been judged successful enough not only to morph into a full-fledged offseason training program for the former right fielder, but also to turn the Reds' attention away from trying to acquire an established third baseman.
O'Brien said Wednesday consultations with the coaches who oversaw Kearns' 10-day stint in the Instructional League that ended last week resulted in a conclusion that sufficient progress had been made to move forward.
Freddie Benavides, the Reds' minor league infield coordinator, and Randy Whisler, the Reds' first base coach and infield instructor, worked with Kearns in Sarasota and are putting together a daily workout plan for Kearns to follow from the first of November through the end of December.
"We're going to give that to Austin," O'Brien said. "He is committed to giving this his best shot, and that is the key right there.
"He's got an indoor facility of some sort he's got access to in Lexington. He is going to follow through on the program, and then probably in early January we're going to reconvene, he and Randy Whisler, and try to make an assessment at that point as to additional progress that has been made so that we can then make a determination as to the next step."
Barring an unforeseen setback -- either some sort of injury or a sudden change in attitude by Kearns -- it's likely the 24- year-old will enter spring training in mid-February slated to play third base.
The Reds are trying to keep the pressure off Kearns and leave their options open, but it appears finding a third baseman from outside the organization has dropped significantly on the front office's offseason to-do list.
"I would have to say that, based on what took place in the Instructional League, it causes us to make some adjustment in our priorities, in terms of looking at our club needs," was how O'Brien phrased it.
That statement takes plenty of steam out of the rumors emanating from Toronto the past few days that the Blue Jays might trade third baseman Eric Hinske to the Reds. The 27-year-old was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2002, but his production has dropped dramatically in the last two seasons just as his contract is reaching big-money territory.
Hinske signed a five-year, $14.75 million deal after a rookie season in which he hit .279 with 24 home runs and 84 RBI. In 2003, while dealing with a hand injury, those numbers dipped to .243 with 12 homers and 63 RBI. He was healthy in 2004, appearing in 155 games, but hit .246 with 15 homers and 69 RBI.
Hinske's contract calls for salaries of $3 million next year, $4.325 million in 2006 and $5.625 million in 2007, which would be a hefty commitment for the Reds to take on, especially with top prospect Edwin Encarnacion perhaps a year away from the majors.
Asked specifically about Hinske, O'Brien had little to say.
"There really is nothing to comment on," he said. "We've had discussions with every team, save probably those in the postseason, and it's the preliminary looking at our prospective needs, strengths, weaknesses and seeing if there are any particular matches. But it's all been on a preliminary basis and there have been no specific names on any front with any club brought into the equation at this time."
Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told the Toronto Star he wouldn't comment on rumors.
In the meantime, O'Brien and assistant general manager Dean Taylor spent this week making the rounds at the World Series, laying the groundwork for more serious trade talks at the general managers' meetings in November and baseball's winter meetings in December. Finding help for the pitching staff is the main focus, O'Brien said.
The Kearns situation will work itself out.
"Phase One, we were encouraged," O'Brien said. "We'll see where Phase Two leads us."
Publication Date: 10-28-2004
If you think small, you'll go nowhere in life.
Then what exactly are you talking to all those clubs about, DanO? I mean if you haven't mentioned any names in those discussions then it's difficult to imagine you were talking about baseball, as you'd invariably run into the subject of players, who come complete with names, if baseball was the topic of conversation."We've had discussions with every team, save probably those in the postseason, and it's the preliminary looking at our prospective needs, strengths, weaknesses and seeing if there are any particular matches. But it's all been on a preliminary basis and there have been no specific names on any front with any club brought into the equation at this time."
Clearly phrases like "no specific names" and words like "discussions" or "talk" mean different things to DanO than it does to us lay folk. DanO's assertion that he's burning up the phones constantly, but never delving into specifics is bull and, as such, I don't see any reason why we'd take his word for it on these matters. For instance, if he were to say, "I've never discussed Eric Hinske with the Blue Jays," that would not mean he didn't have substantive talks with the Blue Jays about Eric Hinske. It would mean he hasn't traded for Eric Hinske at this very moment, which is information we already possess.
Now I don't blame DanO for making sure that everything he says amounts to nothing, it's a virus that's run rampant through our entire society, but it does mean I don't have to put stock in a single word he says.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Anyone out there know Hinske's minor league #'s AA andAAA? WOY where are you?
HUBBA A man who knows everything,just can't remember it all at one time.
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