Randa signed

[westofyou]

FWIW last year was the worst Reds offensive season from 3rd base since Eddie Kasko and crew in 1962.

 CINCINNATI REDS
SEASON
1945-2004
3B
RCAP displayed only--not a sorting criteria

RUNS CREATED/GAME             YEAR     DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE    RCAP    
1    Reds                     1945    -1.58     3.27     4.85      -23   
2    Reds                     1962    -1.34     3.50     4.84      -25   
3    Reds                     1959    -1.26     3.67     4.93      -39   
4    Reds                     2004    -1.04     4.22     5.26      -28    
5    Reds                     1951    -1.04     3.97     5.00      -17   
6    Reds                     1954    -1.03     4.10     5.12      -26   
7    Reds                     1964     -.96     3.36     4.32      -34   
8    Reds                     1981     -.90     3.38     4.28      -19   
9    Reds                     1958     -.84     4.07     4.91      -14   
10   Reds                     1953     -.83     4.57     5.40      -21

[M2]

I'd love to see Austin hit in the two slot, if Freel is on the bench.

Good things would happen.

Word to that. I'd love to see him hit second even without Freel on the bench.

[gm]

It won't happen, since Mr "Hey, I'll put Juan Castro in the #2 slot" Miley is the manager, but with him coming off injury, I'd love to see Austin hit in the two slot, if Freel is on the bench.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Miley bat Randa #2, since the Joker's a "professional hitter who handles the bat well" etc"

[wheels]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Miley bat Randa #2, since the Joker's a "professional hitter who handles the bat well" etc"

...And he can lay down a bunt.

[PuffyPig]

It makes no sense to hit Kearns #2, as it leaves the 3 LH hitters in a row. Kearns needs to break them up. Dunn neeeds to hit 2nd.

[M2]

Dunn neeeds to hit 2nd.

I'd dig that too, though I figure 46 HR buys Dunn a cleanup job.

Neither that nor Kearns in the #2 slot will happen though. It'll be either the SS or Randa in the #2 slot dependent upon how much running Miley wants to do (though the thought of FeLo trying to steal lots of bases mortifies me).

[SteelSD]

Steel, Raisor,

I agree with both of you that Randa does nothing for the offense, less than nothing in fact. I'd also be upset about what the price tag isn't going toward except I think the ship sailed on the Reds going after a better class of starting pitcher when the Ortiz deal went down. The only way a pitcher we can get jazzed about is going to happen is in some sort of payroll-neutral fashion.

IMO the one thing Randa adds is sanity. The Reds have at least decided to play a 3B at 3B and deal with the crowded OF situation head on. Randa also picks the ball up and throw it to the right place on a consistent basis. That's got a certain value for these Reds. A two-year contract would have bugged me a lot, but that's not an issue here.

M2, I completely agree with the line of thinking you have on that. In fact, I share your sentiments. I do think that speaks volumes about our current GM.

O'Brien chose to lose a resource (Moseley) and will spend an estimated 4M on Ramon Ortiz. I can't find the signing bonus for Moseley (help...anyone), but I can guarantee this club spent upwards of 1.5M to draft and develop him. They're paying Paul Wilson 3.6M for 2005. They signed Randa for over 2M.

Add that all up, and you have 11.1 Million Dollars. The Reds could have shot the moon on Matt Clement, kept Dustin Moseley and had dollars to spare this season. I'm not even going to get into the cost of the fruitless endeavors of signing Weathers and Weber. O'Brien's primary task was to improve the pen, and no GM has done that with more futility.

But instead, O'Brien viewed Moseley as a sunk cost rather than a value asset and gave the rest of the funds to quantity instead of quality. Considering that their mantra has always been "PayFlex" and that they just spent a lot of whatever their flexibility was, I'm now convinced that we should alter the name to "WasteFlex", because that's exactly what the Reds did.

The Reds took a bunch of money that should have gone to actually improving the team and wasted it on players they think can improve the team. I'm done. My patience is spent.

The Reds can reshuffle the deck next year I suppose, or at least try to reshuffle it. This is a maintenance move on the design that got solidified last week. I don't like the design, but I'm trying to give them some slack on the maintenance.

I wish I considered it maintenance instead of PR. I think it was a great PR move to add the players they've added. But I also feel that it's much ado about nothing. It's snake oil salesmanship. The worst part is that I don't, at all, perceive that Dan O'Brien feels that way. I really think he feels he helped the Reds this week.

That scares me more than just about anything else. The only thing that scares me more is that O'Brien thinks that this patchwork job is going to hold out until his draft class matures. Unfortunately, by the time his draft class matures, all we'll have is wasted money and players showing up (if they ever do) after he's already gone.

Actually the scariest offensive part of this move is that it could push Felipe Lopez or Andy Machado into the #2 slot.

Oh lord, don't I know that feeling. I have no doubt that either Lopez or Randa will be pushed into the two-slot due to Miley's evaluation of Lopez' speed or Randa's "bat handling".

Heck, if we've got Lopez up there, the hitters behind aren't going to have the opportunities (I like Lopez, but not enough to put him there). If we have Randa in the two-slot and Casey in the three-slot, it means that no one scores from 2nd unless someone hits a double. I cringe at what'll happen with that lineup.

[westofyou]

I can't find the signing bonus for Moseley

http://www.cincypost.com/sports/2000/reds112100.html

The Reds finally have agreed to terms with pitcher Dustin Moseley, their second pick in this year's draft.

The right-hander out of Texarkana (Ark.) High School received a signing bonus believed to be about $930,000.

[MWM]

IThe worst part is that I don't, at all, perceive that Dan O'Brien feels that way. I really think he feels he helped the Reds this week.

That scares me more than just about anything else.

Yep, that's what I've been saying. It's not the moves themselves as much as what they say about the "New" Reds leadership.

[johngalt]

I'm not even going to get into the cost of the fruitless endeavors of signing Weathers and Weber. O'Brien's primary task was to improve the pen, and no GM has done that with more futility.

I'm scratching my head wondering how O'Brien has proven futile in improving the bullpen.

-Signed Weathers, Weber and Mercker, all of whom are very capable relievers. He also attempted to sign Jones and Christiansen, also very capable relievers.

-Released and/or nontendered Van Poppel, Padilla, Norton and Riedling, all of whom were wildly inconsistent and proved horrible.

-Protected Coffey and Shackelford and taken flyers on Robertson and Stone as possible cheap fallback options.

The worst part is that I don't, at all, perceive that Dan O'Brien feels that way. I really think he feels he helped the Reds this week.

I still don't see how you can say he hasn't helped the Reds this week.

1. The starting rotation needed improvement. He re-signed Paul Wilson and added Ramon Ortiz. Each are upgrades to what we had last year, and the club is still looking at adding another starter through free agency.

2. The bullpen needed an overhaul. O'Brien jettisoned most of the dead weight and added veterans who have a history of success at quality prices.

3. Third base was a blackhole last year. Seeing the Kearns Experiment failing, O'Brien grabbed an inexpensive veteran to keep the seat warm for Encarnacion. Randa's here on a one-year deal people. It's NOT a big deal.

4. The bench needed improvement. By re-signing Jimenez, Freel moves back to the bench and really bumps that up a level. With the talk that Mohr or Eckstein could be added soon as well and the Big 4 in the OF, the bench is looking much better.

Seriously, why does everyone think Odalis Perez or Matt Clement would have such a tremendous effect on this club? I would rather fill holes in the bullpen, bench, rotation and third base spots than blow it all on a starter just so everyone could scream and yell that we have an "ace." I just don't see the logic in that.

[pedro]

DanO knew the Reds weren't going to compete this year and just want to make sure we don't lose 90 games. Whether it will work or not, that's to be seen, but I do think the Reds are better than they were last year, just not really good. Now, if they sign one more good starting pitcher maybe things won't be so bad. As it is this club is built to win 84 games, if everything goes right.

[alloverjr]

I still don't see how you can say he hasn't helped the Reds this week.

1. The starting rotation needed improvement. He re-signed Paul Wilson and added Ramon Ortiz. Each are upgrades to what we had last year, and the club is still looking at adding another starter through free agency.

2. The bullpen needed an overhaul. O'Brien jettisoned most of the dead weight and added veterans who have a history of success at quality prices.

3. Third base was a blackhole last year. Seeing the Kearns Experiment failing, O'Brien grabbed an inexpensive veteran to keep the seat warm for Encarnacion. Randa's here on a one-year deal people. It's NOT a big deal.

4. The bench needed improvement. By re-signing Jimenez, Freel moves back to the bench and really bumps that up a level. With the talk that Mohr or Eckstein could be added soon as well and the Big 4 in the OF, the bench is looking much better.

Seriously, why does everyone think Odalis Perez or Matt Clement would have such a tremendous effect on this club? I would rather fill holes in the bullpen, bench, rotation and third base spots than blow it all on a starter just so everyone could scream and yell that we have an "ace." I just don't see the logic in that.

1. I've yet to hear that they are looking for another starter through FA. Hope you're right, AND I hope it's a meaningful sign. Ramon Ortiz is only an upgrade over last year because of how pathetic they were last year. Not woth $4mil in my opinion.

2. He's added veterans that (specifically with Weathers) are well overpriced for their production/use. I'm not all that tore up over the Merker acquisition. But Weathers was a waste of $1.6+ mil this year alone.

3. While not on the same level defensively, Freel does it for me at a fraction of the price. Better offensively (albeit with one real year under his belt). If DanO gives up on his infatuation with pitchers that have anemic K/IP ratio's, defense wouldn't play the enormous role it plays on this team.

4. He could have landed two quality to decent bench players for what he just spent on Randa.

DanO has spent over $17 mil in the last three weeks and has done little to address the weakness of this club which is quality (not quantity) starting pitching. He could have had a CLement-type, Wilson, stengthened his bench and bullpen for that. So far, he has failed IMO.

[CougarQuest]

Weathers makes $1.25M in '05 and $1.6M in '06

Where are you getting $4M for Ortiz?

[TC81190]

DanO knew the Reds weren't going to compete this year and just want to make sure we don't lose 90 games. Whether it will work or not, that's to be seen, but I do think the Reds are better than they were last year, just not really good. Now, if they sign one more good starting pitcher maybe things won't be so bad. As it is this club is built to win 84 games, if everything goes right.

But if we have a winning season next year, and then in 2006 win only 70 games, people are going to be PISSED. (See: Cincinnati Bengals)

[MWM]

1. The starting rotation needed improvement. He re-signed Paul Wilson and added Ramon Ortiz. Each are upgrades to what we had last year, and the club is still looking at adding another starter through free agency.

How is Paul Wilson an upgrade over Paul Wilson?

And some of us, me included, don't think Ortiz is an upgrade over Lidle. So there's a legit reason to think our rotation is no better this year than last.

2. The bullpen needed an overhaul. O'Brien jettisoned most of the dead weight and added veterans who have a history of success at quality prices.

These are minor improvements, I'll give you that. But what good is addressing the bullpen in 2005? they aren't going to win next year, so why use those resources on 35+ year old pitchers who, with the exception of Mercker, weren't all that good last year? Moves like this might allow them to win 72 games instead of 70. And he's paying them entirely too much for bullpen stopgaps.

3. Third base was a blackhole last year. Seeing the Kearns Experiment failing, O'Brien grabbed an inexpensive veteran to keep the seat warm for Encarnacion. Randa's here on a one-year deal people. It's NOT a big deal.

Stop-gap. Makes the team incrementally better in 2005, but not beyond.

4. The bench needed improvement. By re-signing Jimenez, Freel moves back to the bench and really bumps that up a level. With the talk that Mohr or Eckstein could be added soon as well and the Big 4 in the OF, the bench is looking much better.

how does resigning players they had last year improve the bench? And Eckstein doesn't make ANYONE better. I'd rather have Pokey than Eck.

Seriously, why does everyone think Odalis Perez or Matt Clement would have such a tremendous effect on this club? I would rather fill holes in the bullpen, bench, rotation and third base spots than blow it all on a starter just so everyone could scream and yell that we have an "ace." I just don't see the logic in that.

Filling holes only keeps the Reds out of the cellar.....maybe. They still have noc chance of sniffing .500 let alone make them a real contender.

So he's filled some holes, none of which turn the team into a contender, and none of which brings them any closer to building a future contender. Heck, anyone could make these types of moves.