What does our late season success mean?

[mlh1981]

Bunch of young guys playing with no pressure against joke competition such as the Pirates and other teams who are out of it?

OR

A sign that this organization is making progress and ready to take the next step in 2010?

OR

Something in the middle?

What is your stance on the team as of late? Some people may like the idea of losing ballgames and sending a "message" to the front office and what not, but I like to win. I am skeptical on our recent success. Given that there is NOTHING to play for, guys are loose and just going out there and having fun. No telling what they will do in a pressure situation.

[Slyder]

We played well at the end of last season too.

Im pessimistic that the offense and rotation will be good enough (without MAJOR additions) to be anything more than maybe 500 in one of the softest divisions in baseball again.

We're playing teams out of it for the most part and the young guys are just playing to "prove" themselves going into next year.

[BigPoppa]

I, for one, am basking in the wins, no matter the circumstances.

We all know one thing that has to happen either way, Willy has to ride the pine or get gone.

I have confidence in the rotation (I wouldn't mind picking up a good FA starter this winter) and we see when everyone is healthy at the same time what the offense can do......(Bruce, Votto, BP, Rolen, (if we keep) Gomes).

Bruce is going to play some winter ball to iron out the rough spots.

Is Janish the answer at SS ? He ain't Larkin or Concepcion, yet by he shows flashes of big league stuff. Can he get some more AB's over the winter anywhere ? We just need him to be a .250 ish batter and keep doing the glove work. I heard somebody (Marty, I think) say it had been a long time since he had seen a Reds keystone pair look more comfortable together as BP and Janish do.

We don't have superstars behind the plate, but we have solid defensive players (and inexpensive) with Hanigan, Tatum, and hell, even Corky has had a good late season. I like Hernandez, but if we could unload him and use his money elsewhere, I'd be okay with that.

We know Volquez won't be back, but if everyone else can stay healthy, and we can get Willy T. out of the lineup, I think we'll have something next year.

[Ghosts of 1990]

I think it means the same thing it means every year when we play well down the stretch. It means that baseball is a funny game and when the pressure is on, players in this city don't perform well. Just my 2 cents

[pjhogan]

It probably means less of a sense or urgency of upgrading the club. That and a lower draft pick makes these wins potentially detrimental to the future.

[BlastFurnace]

Dusty will be back for another season

[will5979]

What success? We now have been delievered our 9th consectutive losing season as of about 4:35 today...thanks a lot @$$holes...I love being a Reds fans, thanks for everyone who has disgraced this great once proud franchise.

[bellposter]

It means the same as the number of rbis that cubs outfielder sam fuld has this year

[bounty37h]

the same as it has the last several seasons, nothing.

[flash]

it is encouraging to say the least. Seriously though, some things to note

Bailey has looked good. Now he must be consistent
Arroyo has been great. Now he must do it all year.
Phillips may have grown up with a real ballplayer on the field, not super studs Griffey and Dunn. (By the way Rolen is good, but not HALL OF FAME material. maybe Mike Shannon/ Joe Torre, but not Hall of Fame.)
Maybe Sutton has figured it out, I would like to see how he might fare at SS next year, at least with a platoon with Janish.
Gomes has played well. I'll be honest he has done better than I expected.
Kip Wells has done better than I expected.

[tobttr]

Winning games in the late season has to be good. If we had lost 8 out of 10 to Houston & Pittsburgh, can you imagine the bellyaching that would be going on now? "...We can't even beat Pittsburgh's AAA team..."
It means that Bailey MAY be on the verge, that Votto is terrific, that Phillips is solid again this year, that Arroyo somehow still gets people out with that 68 mph curve, that Rolen is the best 3B we've had for a long time.
So there is good news. While I'm encouraged by Gomes & Stubbs, we've certainly seen one-year wonders before, so I'm not sold on these guys just yet. Not saying they won't be very good, just that the jury's still out. Same with Bruce & Janish.
It means that despite some offensive fireworks in the past week, this team has to improve offensively. The posters who worry that the front office will be fooled into thinking that we are OK on offense are either wrong or else we've got the worst executives in the history of sports.

[FlyerFanatic]

Winning games in the late season has to be good. If we had lost 8 out of 10 to Houston & Pittsburgh, can you imagine the bellyaching that would be going on now? "...We can't even beat Pittsburgh's AAA team..."
It means that Bailey MAY be on the verge, that Votto is terrific, that Phillips is solid again this year, that Arroyo somehow still gets people out with that 68 mph curve, that Rolen is the best 3B we've had for a long time.
So there is good news. While I'm encouraged by Gomes & Stubbs, we've certainly seen one-year wonders before, so I'm not sold on these guys just yet. Not saying they won't be very good, just that the jury's still out. Same with Bruce & Janish.
It means that despite some offensive fireworks in the past week, this team has to improve offensively. The posters who worry that the front office will be fooled into thinking that we are OK on offense are either wrong or else we've got the worst executives in the history of sports.

i dont think the front office thinks we are ok offensively. i think the money we have or dont have, is going to determine what we do to fix that problem. i dont see us spending any this offseason. that doesnt mean the FO likes what they see in the offense, but that they can pass it off as a decent offense so they dont have to spend money in the off season. there have been numerous quotes about injuries dating back the first half of the season. i remember hearing someone walt or dusty mentioning how we hadnt had our starting day lineup out on the field, this was midway through the season, i'm shaking my head saying, you had darnell mcdonald in your starting day lineup!

[DannyB]

the same as it has the last several seasons, nothing.

bingo

[Kingspoint]

It means Dusty's gauranteed to be back.

[redram]

Well to me it mean they are a lot more fun to watch and this team did not lay down and die like I have seen in the past. I see promise for the future in Bailey, Bruce and I see a TEAM playing right now. IMO the addition of Rolen was big and hopefully this will carry over to next year.