Quiet on the WMP front.

[Redmachine2003]

Haven't heard much on him. He seems to be holding his own in the classic. From what I seen he is 3 for 6 (.500) they all looked to be singles but I will take that save the homers for the season .

[Elam]

Haven't heard much on him. He seems to be holding his own in the classic. From what I seen he is 3 for 6 (.500) they all looked to be singles but I will take that save the homers for the season .

And IIRC from last time I looked 2 K's to go wth those singles.

[dougdirt]

And IIRC from last time I looked 2 K's to go wth those singles.

I will take it. I figure he will strike out 100+ times this year....so 100*3=300 singles this year!

[joeberk]

If you ask me - he needs to be in Reds camp getting ready for the Reds season.

Look at it this way: WMP says in the offfseason about he wants to play this season: The best thing they (the Reds) can do is to play me or trade me because I no longer want to be on the bench ... but for next season they are going to have to give me a permanent position or trade me to another team.

What do the Reds do? They move Sean Casey and open up an outfield slot for him.

What does Pena do? Instead of coming into camp and being as ready as he's ever been for the opportunity he says he wants (like, say, working on his defense), he's gotten just a few plate appearances in the WBC.

Who's holding up their end of the bargain?

The more I think about it, maybe this is why the Reds brought in Scott Hatteberg - he can play first, and the Reds can have an outfield of Dunn/Griffey/Kearns.

[oneupper]

WMP wasn't sitting on his butt in the offseason. He was playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. And he did very well, BTW.
Even if he's not playing, WMP can learn a lot talking to guys like Tejada, Pujols and Ortiz, with whom he can talk baseball in his own language.

...and I really doubt that WMP's playing in the WBC is the reason why Krivsky brought in Hatteberg.

[joeberk]

WMP wasn't sitting on his butt in the offseason. He was playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. And he did very well, BTW.
Even if he's not playing, WMP can learn a lot talking to guys like Tejada, Pujols and Ortiz, with whom he can talk baseball in his own language.

Point taken regarding winter ball. I still think he & the Reds would benefit from him being in spring training as opposed to him being involved in the WBC. He's not even close to the same level as guys like Ortiz or Pujols or Griffey for that matter.

...and I really doubt that WMP's playing in the WBC is the reason why Krivsky brought in Hatteberg.

No, but it does give Krivsky the ability to move WMP, or Narron the ability to bench him.

[redsfanmia]

From all reports Wily Mo is a very hard worker and is in fantastic shape, game experience will help with the defense. He will never be a gold glover but with actual consistent playing time and reassurance the he is the every leftfielder he should improve.

[redsmetz]

[QUOTE=joeberk]Point taken regarding winter ball. I still think he & the Reds would benefit from him being in spring training as opposed to him being involved in the WBC. He's not even close to the same level as guys like Ortiz or Pujols or Griffey for that matter.[QUOTE]

I think this is an inherent weakness in the WBC scheduling. One commentator suggested they hold future ones a few weeks after the regular season, perhaps pitting the U.S. World Series against the others. I think it does put some folks at a disadvantage missing their regular spring training and I understand some bowing out because they needed to train or rehabilitate for the regular season.

[Chip R]

Haven't heard much on him. He seems to be holding his own in the classic. From what I seen he is 3 for 6 (.500) they all looked to be singles but I will take that save the homers for the season .

Were they singles to RF or LF?

[registerthis]

Were they singles to RF or LF?

Were they win-efficient? That's what I want to know.

[traderumor]

If you ask me - he needs to be in Reds camp getting ready for the Reds season.

Look at it this way: WMP says in the offfseason about he wants to play this season: The best thing they (the Reds) can do is to play me or trade me because I no longer want to be on the bench ... but for next season they are going to have to give me a permanent position or trade me to another team.

What do the Reds do? They move Sean Casey and open up an outfield slot for him.

What does Pena do? Instead of coming into camp and being as ready as he's ever been for the opportunity he says he wants (like, say, working on his defense), he's gotten just a few plate appearances in the WBC.

Who's holding up their end of the bargain?

The more I think about it, maybe this is why the Reds brought in Scott Hatteberg - he can play first, and the Reds can have an outfield of Dunn/Griffey/Kearns.

I think we know who made the comment in the paper the other day now

[Chip R]

I think we know who made the comment in the paper the other day now

I was thinking the same thing.

[joeberk]

I think we know who made the comment in the paper the other day now

[RedsManRick]

It doesn't matter if Wily Mo Pena spent 25 hours a day, 8 days a week this offseason working on his defense and pitch recognition. If he still is a poor defender and can't hit a curveball, then all the work ethic in the world really doesn't matter... That ethic has to translate to improvement for it to have real value.

[TeamBoone]

I think this is an inherent weakness in the WBC scheduling. One commentator suggested they hold future ones a few weeks after the regular season, perhaps pitting the U.S. World Series against the others. I think it does put some folks at a disadvantage missing their regular spring training and I understand some bowing out because they needed to train or rehabilitate for the regular season.

The timing really is poor, but I don't see pitting the US against all others for a "true" world series is the answer. Teams play all season for a chance at the golden ring, The World Series; it's the Super Bowl of baseball. Otherwise, what is the reward at the end of the season?

Yes, winning your division and your league is a huge reward, just not huge enough if you never go to the World Series with the team that got you in that position.

The WBC is a different event and doesn't occur on an annual basis. Unfortunately, there's no good time... unless maybe it's February. Participants would just have to start training in January, so they'd better be very dedicated to baseball because that doesn't leave much time off for players that already devote EVERY SINGLE DAY to their careers from mid-Feb to early October (and if successful, add on another month).