Anyone thought much about what to expect of Cincinnati's outfield next season? It is probably a foregone conclusion that Ken Griffey Jr. won't be roaming the right field grass next year. And it's equally as likely that Adam Dunn's time in left appears to be dwindling. So that said, who will join Jay Bruce?
Here is a list of free agent outfielders (it's not very pretty):
Source: Cot's Baseball Contracts
RF Bobby Abreu, NYY
LF Moises Alou, NYM
LF Rocco Baldelli, TB
OF Emil Brown, OAK
LF Pat Burrell, PHI
OF Endy Chavez, NYM
OF Juan Encarnacion, STL
LF Cliff Floyd, TB
OF Raun Ibanez, SEA
OF Jacque Jones, FLA
OF Mark Kotsay, ATL
OF Kevin Mench, TOR
OF Jason Michaels, PIT
LF Craig Monroe, MIN
OF Jay Payton, BAL
LF Scott Podsednik, COL
OF Juan Rivera, LAA
OF Rondell White, MIN
Additional Names that could be traded or options not picked up (though the last four seem unlikely to me):
LF Garrett Anderson, LAA
LF Carl Crawford, TB
OF Brian Giles, SD
RF Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
LF Manny Ramirez, BOS
The name the jumps out at me is Mark Kotsay. He's a very good defensive player in center and he's expendable for the Braves with Brandon Jones and (soon to be) Jordan Schafer arriving. My hunch is that Kotsay will not be re-signed. The Reds could put him in center and shift Bruce to RF.
The big name that will likely be on the market is Pat Burrell. I'm not sure if the Reds would go that route, especially if Burrell becomes involved in a bidding war. Being the premier OF on the market in the offseason, Burrell, coupled with his career-like season, might command $15 mil per. Frankly, the only names that might tempt me on that list are Baldelli if he gets healthy or fliers on either Endy Chavez or (maybe) Kevin Mench.
So with that said, the Reds will either need to pull off a trade of an outfielder that might not be in this group or find someone in-house. Jerry Hairston could be a possibility to play left field if he continues his production, though that seems unlikely to me. Corey Patterson probably won't be brought back. I'm assuming Ryan Freel will be traded, but if not, he certainly would be likely to win a spot. The only other guys on the 40-man roster are Norris Hopper and Chris Dickerson.
Any other ideas?
Originally Posted by thorn
