Glancing at the Reds current roster, a few things pop out at me. Players' ages. At what point in the year does the Reds front office have to face facts and realize that we're not winning the world series this year? At what point do we have to play and plan for the future? So with that in mind...
Why do we have Kent Merker (40) and David Weathers (38) on our staff when we've got promising young arms down in Louisville and Chattanooga? If we were actually contending and these guys were throwing well then I'd consider it. But they're not and they certainly aren't going to improve at their ages, so give Roenicke, Herrera, Pelland, Maloney, etc a chance.
While Paul Bako (35) is playing well above his norm (and that's NOT going to last) we're holding back Ryan Hannigan (28) who's hitting .309 with only 9 k's in 70 ab's and playing better than average defense. At the very least, get rid of TWO of the current threesome and give Hannigan a shot.
Why do we have Scott Hatteberg (38) riding the pine when it's very obvious that he's not going to be a major contributor to this team and he's not suited for pinch hitting duties? We've got Boliver (27), Rosales (25) and Griffin (24) down in Louisville who could easily gain some experience this year as defensive subs, spot starters and pinch hitters. I personally don't think any of those 3 are totally ready for the bigs, but heck, if you're gonna have an IF pinchhitter on the bench...why not a right handed one who's young and has some upside to them? And more importantly, getting some of these young infielders up would open up needed spots for the plethora of infielders we have lower down in the minors.
And since I'm on the subject...what about the way Louisville is being handled. Is it normal to have aging players clogging up slots in AAA? Haven't the Reds come to the conclusion that if you're over 30 years old and still in AAA that the odds of you making it in the bigs are REMOTE at best? So why do we have 5 pitchers on the Louisville roster over 30? Jon Adkins (30), Justin Lehr (30), Adam Pettyjohn (30), Tom Shearn (30), and Jim Brower (35!?!). Some of those guys are throwing well. I'm not trying to bash them at all. I'm saying they don't belong in Louisville anymore. Either get them up here or deal them. At 30+ you simply don't have anymore you can prove in AAA. Shearn is pretty much a career minor leaguer who got an unexpected shot in Cincy last year and look what happened. He played MUCH better than expected. Give these guys a shot and see if they can step it up. Either that, or move them.
We've also got several position players that we picked up during spring training this year or are career minor leaguers who are clogging up the minors. Kevin Barker (32), Andy Green (30), Andy Phillips (31), and Jolbert Cabrera (35). I'm not saying these guys aren't good players. I'm saying we should DO something with them. Either bring them up and let them contribute or deal them. We're currently very shorthanded in terms of righthanded hitting. So why do we have Green, Phillips and Cabrera languishing down with the Bats when they're all righthanded hitters who could easily fill the place of current reds who aren't playing at all or playing well at all (hatteberg, valentine, ross, etc). I simply don't see any reason for having that many aging players down in AAA. If they haven't proved that they have the stuff by now, they never will. Give the even YOUNGER guys a chance. Chattanooga and Sarasota are LOADED with promising young players. Many of whom aren't being brought up due to a lack of possible playing time with the Bats. Dumb player management if you ask me.
Sorry...just had to get that off my chest. :O)
