Hatteberg or Conine?

[AmarilloRed]

I have been thinking about this awhile. One of these two will be traded and who should it be. Conine is a player with postseason experience who can help a contender this year. Hatteberg is a first baseman who can consistantly hit for 300, but with little power. I think right now I would choose Hatteberg as the back up first baseman, and see what a contender would give us for Conine. Conine will probably retire at the end of the year, but he might be able to help a contender win the World Series this year. Hatteberg might be a serviceable reserve for a couple of years.

[jmac]

I have been thinking about this awhile. One of these two will be traded and who should it be. Conine is a player with postseason experience who can help a contender this year. Hatteberg is a first baseman who can consistantly hit for 300, but with little power. I think right now I would choose Hatteberg as the back up first baseman, and see what a contender would give us for Conine. Conine will probably retire at the end of the year, but he might be able to help a contender win the World Series this year. Hatteberg might be a serviceable reserve for a couple of years.

I would like Votto to get the starts rest of season and Yes, I would like Hatt coming off the bench.
He would be a good LH stick plus he could catch in a "must" situation.

[AmarilloRed]

I was preceding on the assumption Votto would be the starter the rest of the year. I am just thinking which should we trade, and which one do we keep as a back-up.

[Fil3232]

Assuming Votto comes up, I would think you would want the RH Conine to be the backup to occasionally platoon with him. Also, I think Hatteberg can net the Reds better talent in return for a trade. I would trade both for talent, but if you had to keep one, I would keep Conine.

[uoduck1017]

Assuming Votto comes up, I would think you would want the RH Conine to be the backup to occasionally platoon with him. Also, I think Hatteberg can net the Reds better talent in return for a trade. I would trade both for talent, but if you had to keep one, I would keep Conine.

I agree with Fil. Votto would platoon with Conine for the rest of the year to get some Major League experience. Conine will probably retire at the end of the season and Votto would be our starting 1st baseman next year.

[mroby85]

i like hatteberg better, but i think other teams will as well, so i'd keep conine.

[AmarilloRed]

You just said Conine will retire at the end of the year. In that case, you would need to sign someone to back-up Votto. Hatteberg can still play for 2-3 years, so it would seem logical to keep him as the reserve.

[uoduck1017]

You just said Conine will retire at the end of the year. In that case, you would need to sign someone to back-up Votto. Hatteberg can still play for 2-3 years, so it would seem logical to keep him as the reserve.

The only problem there is Hatteberg and Votto are both LH hitters. It would be nice to have Votto's backup/platooner to bat righthanded.

[AtomicDumpling]

Interesting thread.

I agree with all of you guys.

Hatteberg is a very solid hitter against RH pitching, but he is terrible vs LH pitching. So he is not a good option to play every day. Since he bats lefty like Votto does then they really don't fit together on the same team.

Hatteberg's value is higher right now than it ever has been or ever will be again. I will be shocked if he is still a Red in two weeks.

Conine will platoon with Votto in August and September. If he doesn't retire then he would be useful to have on the team next year. But I would rather use Dunn and Griffey as the backup 1B when Votto needs a day off. I know they are left handed too, but I don't think the Reds are planning to use Votto as a platoon player in the future. He will be an everyday player as long as he shows he can handle the job.

So the answer to the original question is that I would not keep Hatteberg nor Conine, especially if someone is willing to trade us a useful prospect or pitcher for either one.

[Krawhitham]

I have been thinking about this awhile. One of these two will be traded and who should it be. Conine is a player with postseason experience who can help a contender this year. Hatteberg is a first baseman who can consistantly hit for 300, but with little power. I think right now I would choose Hatteberg as the back up first baseman, and see what a contender would give us for Conine. Conine will probably retire at the end of the year, but he might be able to help a contender win the World Series this year. Hatteberg might be a serviceable reserve for a couple of years.

Hatteberg is a .300 hitter he will not want to be a backup 1st baseman. But he has a club option for 2008 at 2M (he should reach 500PA this season) That might make him attractive to other clubs (not a Rent-a-Player and cheap for 2008)

Conine is a player that does not mind being a backup, talk to him and see if want to play next year, if so keep him if not trade him

Worst case if you trade both is you have to find a backup 1st baseman, Aaron Boone (would make 11larkin11 happy) will be available or a ton of other guys

[Krawhitham]

Jeff Conine is leaning to retiring after this season.
"Physically, I feel great," Conine said. "There's no issues I'm battling right now. It's just mentally and with the family, it's getting tougher every year. I'm missing a lot of stuff," he said. "You miss things that you're never going to get back." Conine could be moved near the trade deadline to a team looking for a cheap pinch-hitter.

[AmarilloRed]

It seems like Conine will definitely retire. He definitely would have some value to a contender this year with his playoff experience. If you consider trading Hatteberg as well you might have trouble finding a back up who can hit .300. We would probably keep Hatteberg this year, and then we might consider signing a righthanded reserve first baseman.

[Vada Pinson Fan]

Yes- Conine to retire E.O.Y.

Depending on what Hatteberg potentially brings in a trade but I would hate to deal him.
Votto is the future and the future is now! A right-handed hitting backup 1st baseman shouldn't be to hard to acquire for the 2008 season.

[mound_patrol]

i say get rid of both and let Keppinger be the back up.

[Chi-Town Red]

I agree, it really does not matter who we keep at this point as long as Votto gets most of the playing time