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Thread: Lack of contributions from the farm system

  1. #1
    Member Will M's Avatar
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    Lack of contributions from the farm system

    As 2006 winds down I realized that we got very few contributions from AA/AAA.

    EZ pitched well at first. Hopefully he just wore down.
    Phillips had a great rookie season but he was stolen from the Indians.
    Deno did nothing when given his shot ( even though it was brief ).
    The rest of the callups we had seem to have very little big league future.

    Looking to 2007...Hopefully we will see Bailey. He should certainly be given the shot to win a job in spring training. Votto seems destined for AAA. WK says he needs to work on his defense. Last I looked he had 14 errors at AA at 1B ( ouch ! ). Other than that I don't see anyone else on the horizon for 2007.

    A small market team like the Reds is going to need a steady influx of good cheap talent to compete year after year. As much as we all want to win in 2007 it may take a while for the Reds to be a serious playoff threat each year.

    - Will


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  3. #2
    Member mth123's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    Obviously the farm system hasn't produced and that has kind of forced the reds into spending too many resources on marginal players just to fill holes (Eric Milton bashing here). Still not much immediate help for 2007 but some impact guys could be coming by mid-season or 2008. For 2007 there are a couple of guys who could play roles and allow the Reds to save resources for other needs.

    Need to find out about Brendan Harris. Aurilia may price himself out of here and Harris would be the only internal candidate for that role. He has good numbers in the minors and plays the same positions. I say at least start him at 1B against lefties the rest of the season. He hasn't played 1B to my knowledge but he's an IF so it shouldn't be a big deal.

    I play Deno everyday in CF the rest of the way with Freel sliding to RF when he plays and sitting a lot for Wise or Hopper.

    I give Olmedo some time.

    I shut down Milton, Griffey, Clayton, Ross and anyone else with nagging injuries.

    A couple of non-rookies should play as well. I let Larue play as was suggested in another thread.

    I stretch out Belisle over his next couple of appearances and maybe give him a start or two.

  4. #3
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post

    I stretch out Belisle over his next couple of appearances and maybe give him a start or two.
    I'd love to see Belisle get a start or two, can't do any worse than the other guys given a shot at the 5th spot.

    I thought they gave up on EZ too early.

  5. #4
    Member paulrichjr's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    Quote Originally Posted by Will M View Post
    As 2006 winds down I realized that we got very few contributions from AA/AAA.

    EZ pitched well at first. Hopefully he just wore down.
    Phillips had a great rookie season but he was stolen from the Indians.
    Deno did nothing when given his shot ( even though it was brief ).
    The rest of the callups we had seem to have very little big league future.

    Looking to 2007...Hopefully we will see Bailey. He should certainly be given the shot to win a job in spring training. Votto seems destined for AAA. WK says he needs to work on his defense. Last I looked he had 14 errors at AA at 1B ( ouch ! ). Other than that I don't see anyone else on the horizon for 2007.

    A small market team like the Reds is going to need a steady influx of good cheap talent to compete year after year. As much as we all want to win in 2007 it may take a while for the Reds to be a serious playoff threat each year.

    - Will
    I felt Coffey had a good season. Isn't he a rookie?
    Tim McCarver: Baseball Quotes
    I remember one time going out to the mound to talk with Bob Gibson. He told me to get back behind the batter, that the only thing I knew about pitching was that it was hard to hit.

  6. #5
    Member Will M's Avatar
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    Coffey

    was ( I believe ) a rookie last year

  7. #6
    I rig polls REDREAD's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    I agree that Harris should get some playing time. However, I think Harris really only plays 2b and 3b, so it's a problem to get him playing time because the Reds obviously do not want to have Phillilps change positions this season.

    Olmedo has been given enough chances. It was nice that the Reds rewarded him for being a good organizational soldier with a call up, but the guy will never be good enough to even be a utility player. So I don't mind seeing Olmedo buried on the bench.
    [Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob

    Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!

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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    Quote Originally Posted by REDREAD View Post
    I agree that Harris should get some playing time. However, I think Harris really only plays 2b and 3b, so it's a problem to get him playing time because the Reds obviously do not want to have Phillilps change positions this season.

    Olmedo has been given enough chances. It was nice that the Reds rewarded him for being a good organizational soldier with a call up, but the guy will never be good enough to even be a utility player. So I don't mind seeing Olmedo buried on the bench.
    Now that we are out of it officially, why not give Phillips 10 games at SS if he is your man there next year? He played it in CLE so it is not like he has to learn a new position. Just needs to reacclimate himself with it. Give Rich some time off. He deserves a break of a couple of days as he has been carrying the team the last month. Then get him his deserved time at 2B, 3B and 1B. Heck, if he wants to try OF for a couple of games to be able to improve his marketability for the offseason, let him do that too.

  9. #8
    Member mth123's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    Quote Originally Posted by buckeyenut View Post
    Now that we are out of it officially, why not give Phillips 10 games at SS if he is your man there next year? He played it in CLE so it is not like he has to learn a new position. Just needs to reacclimate himself with it. Give Rich some time off. He deserves a break of a couple of days as he has been carrying the team the last month. Then get him his deserved time at 2B, 3B and 1B. Heck, if he wants to try OF for a couple of games to be able to improve his marketability for the offseason, let him do that too.
    I agree with this. There are two weeks to find out some stuff heading into the offseason. Finding out if Phillips can handle SS defensively is very important to the offseason planning. Offensively players go up and down and two weeks is a "small sample size." But on defense, I think you can watch a guy for a couple of weeks and find out pretty much about him.

    We also need to find out about Harris defensively. If he could play 1B (he is an IF and ground balls and taking throws should be no problem) to platoon with Hat, that might solve a problem. We may not know about his hitting, but two weeks watching him at 1b and 2b and maybe some 3B will probably give you a good idea of his defensive potential and limitations. Moving an IF to 1B isn't a big transition. An OF like Dunn who isn't used to fielding ground balls (and generally isn't a good defender) could struggle but a guy who plays middle IF and is supposedly a good enough defender to play in the middle should have no problem with a move like this. If he does he probably just isn't a good defender anyway.

    Benching Aurilia may be an issue though. He is going into a free agent season and having a career resurrection. A benching for the final two weeks could be percieved as an attempt to surpress his stats (and his price) and may have a residual effect on others in the clubhouse. I agree with the approach but he'll still have to play some. May need to bench EE and Hat (who already has his contract) few games to get a look at these guys.

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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    I'd like to see more of Hopper. He's impressed me more than Denorfia -- better contact bat, better speed. I'd like to see him chase some balls in the OF.

  11. #10
    Member Ron Madden's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    Quote Originally Posted by lollipopcurve View Post
    I'd like to see more of Hopper. He's impressed me more than Denorfia -- better contact bat, better speed. I'd like to see him chase some balls in the OF.
    I like Deno better than Hopper myself.

    Chris made a late inning error that Narron will always remember.


    Wait untill Norris makes a late inning mistake, Hopper will then join Deno in Jerrys doghouse, behind solid vet Holly on the depth chart.


    In Narrons world errors by young players are in some strange way worse than errors made by vets who know how to win.

  12. #11
    Man Pills Falls City Beer's Avatar
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    I think both Deno and Hopper can contribute next year--both have decent sticks and both play good defense.

    But let's not lose sight of the fact that these two men represent roster spots 24 and 25.
    “And when finally they sense that some position cannot be sustained, they do not re-examine their ideas. Instead, they simply change the subject.” Jamie Galbraith

  13. #12
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    Re: Lack of contributions from the farm system

    I like Deno better than Hopper myself.

    Chris made a late inning error that Narron will always remember.


    Wait untill Norris makes a late inning mistake, Hopper will then join Deno in Jerrys doghouse, behind solid vet Holly on the depth chart.


    In Narrons world errors by young players are in some strange way worse than errors made by vets who know how to win.
    I fear you are correct on the error thing.

    AS for Denorfia vs Hopper, it is quite possible Denorfia will make his superior minor league numbers stand up at the major league level, given regular ABs. He's got more sock than Hopper and seems to have a better eye -- pretty tough combo for Norris to outperform. However, I have been surprised by the relative quality of their ABs in the show this year, limited as they have been. It could be that Denorfia has been pressing, given the high expectations placed on him after the trade.


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