last season, the Reds had a very fluid roster because they had a lot of open spots. Partly this was due to the absence of a deep crop of older prospects. Joey Votto was the only significant add from the farm. At year's end, the Reds also added Tyler Pelland, Ramon Ramirez, Daryl Thompson, Craig Tatum, Paul Janish, and Chris Dickerson-- none of whom were really guys that we would have hated to lose, but the drafts of 2002-4 were poor, so there wasn't a lot to add and as a result, we had the roster spots. We also added several waiver claims.
Things'll begin to change this season. There will be less roster flexibility. Instead of just adding a Joey Votto, the 2008 Reds will add Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto and Matt Maloney, with Adam Rosales as a possibility as well. By year's end, the Reds might feel like protecting Sam Lecure and Carlos Fisher from Rule V, possibly Sean Henry as well. Also, I don't have the signing dates of Pedro Viola and Juan Francisco-- they might be eligible by end of season.
A roster crunch can make a team do funny things. For instance, one of the great values of Daniel Herrera, who was acquired in the Josh Hamilton deal, is that he doesn't have to go on a 40 man roster for another couple of years. Even if he kicks butt in 2007 and the Reds need a lefty, they may choose to keep him down. Ditto for other relievers like Lutz and Roenicke. Daniel Dorn is another player that might have value to the Reds this year, but might stay down because he doesn't have to be protected until end of 2009.
this crunch will only get tougher in 2009. The 2006 draft doesn't seem as high end, but has nice depth. The 2007 draft is tough to assess, but at this time seems like more of the same: great depth. Depth is great, but also can be a problem as you lose players to other organizations as you try to option them off the 40 man roster, or lose players to Rule V.
To address this, there will need to be trades in which we clear up spots on the 40 man rather than lose a guy to waivers for $10,000, or in which we throw in several prospects rather than risk their loss in Rule V for $50,000, or in which we deal for prospects like Herrerra who were more recent draftees that don't have to be protected for quite a while. Jose Castro is another good example of this-- as a young 2005 draftee, he doesn't have to be protected until late 2009, which gives him more value than a comparable player with an earlier draft date. We'll also be likely to avoid Rule V altogether in future seasons.
it won't be business as usual, will at times be painful and should lead to some moves that will spark some interesting threads. Krivsky strikes me as a GM that could be quite good at managing deep rosters-- but we'll see how he does.
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Originally Posted by RedsManRick
