What do you want? Left Field

[wally post]

I am secretly hoping the Yankees go nuts and sign Crawford and we can get them to trade us Gardner!!

[edabbs44]

I am secretly hoping the Yankees go nuts and sign Crawford and we can get them to trade us Gardner!!

Anything's possible after them getting wiped out by Texas.

[_Sir_Charles_]

I voted for Gomes in a similar role. Not because I think he's the answer. Far from it. I simply don't see another guy in the organization who would produce better right now. I'm not sold on Heisey. I don't see Francisco, Frazier or Alonzo as fitting in the outfield at all. But the main reason I went with Gomes is that I just don't see many solid targets that are in our budget for left. I'd prefer that the Reds settle on positions for all those kids I mentioned earlier and take this next season to really solidify the youth defensively. Gomes is a cheap option to fill the void until somebody is ready. I know some want to trade our pitching to fill the LF hole, but I really don't want to trade off young solid pitching for what many consider to be the easiest position on the field to fill. Now if we can deal Alonzo for a solid LF'er, I'd be fine with it...but I don't see his value as being that high. So for me, another year of Jonny won't upset me that much.

[I(heart)Freel]

I'm sure he was mentioned somewhere in this thread... but today's MLB Trade Rumors site has a profile of LF trade candidates.

Might be a decent time to acquire DeJesus. Was OBPing 380 when he was hurt last year. The injury makes him risky but also less expensive from a trade standpoint.

Also bats lefty, making Gomes a good complement.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/1...medium=twitter

[cincy09]

I am secretly hoping the Yankees go nuts and sign Crawford and we can get them to trade us Gardner!!

Me too! He would be a great fit.

[Chip R]

But seriously, I think at least a few people here wouldn't be angry with Walt exercising now and looking for a LF partner for Jonny. And it seems like Walt is headed in that direction. Keep that in mind in case Mr. Platoon doesn't show up this winter. Because for all the names that get thrown around here, the two things that no one knows are price and availability to the Reds.

I was of the opinion that Nix was the LF platoon partner for Gomes. Turned out Gomes got the job full time.

[mdccclxix]

I think Stubbs will become a .350-.360+ OBP leadoff hitter next year, so I'm not keen on the Garner, DeJesus solutions, especially since they lack power.

I'm hoping against hope that Alonso can hack it in LF. I know it's not possible, but a platoon with Alonso and Gomes would really look nice. You could actually get away with batting Gomes 4th in a platoon role. I also think it's time to move Jay to 4th, I think he's ready. So, there's lots you can do with in house pieces. I'd rather give them a shot and find an ace pitcher.

[edabbs44]

I was of the opinion that Nix was the LF platoon partner for Gomes. Turned out Gomes got the job full time.

I think it went like this:

April: Dickerson/Gomes
May-July: Gomes
August-Sept: Gomes/Nix/Edmonds
Oct: Gomes/Nix

Save for Gomes' hot streak, I think there were opportunities for others to get legit playing time. Those guys either got hurt, didn't step up at the time or both.

[RedsManRick]

The article also touched on Josh Willingham. He would be a nice mid-tier upgrade over Gomes. He's a mediocre defender (as opposed to a poor one), but his bat has been very consistent. For those who don't like the internal options nor think a big signing or trade for a star is in the cards, he's worth consideration.

[edabbs44]

The article also touched on Josh Willingham. He would be a nice mid-tier upgrade over Gomes. He's a mediocre defender (as opposed to a poor one), but his bat has been very consistent. For those who don't like the internal options nor think a big signing or trade for a star is in the cards, he's worth consideration.

Agreed, but what does he get in arb this year? The article says $7MM is his range, is he worth more than $5MM over Gomes in 2011? Especially for a team like Cincy?

[RedsManRick]

Agreed, but what does he get in arb this year? The article says $7MM is his range, is he worth more than $5MM over Gomes in 2011? Especially for a team like Cincy?

If both repeat their 2009 production, he's worth more than $7MM more than Gomes given FA prices for production. Fangraphs has Willingham at worth more than $10MM in each of the past three seasons -- and he's never gotten more than 502 PA. By contrast, Gomes was worth ~$5MM last year and nothing this year.

I do know that if we add payroll, I'd want it to be on a player who is a virtual lock to earn his salary. Willingham has been extremely consistent, posting OPSs of .852, .827, .834, .863, .848 during his 5 years of significant playing time.

But to your real point, is that the most cost effective way for the Reds to add production? I don't know. We could add cheap talent by trading away cheap talent of our own, but can is the necessarily better? In a bubble, I'd much rather have Willingham at 7 than Gomes at any price -- but I realize the addition of salary carries some real opportunity cost.

[TheNext44]

The article also touched on Josh Willingham. He would be a nice mid-tier upgrade over Gomes. He's a mediocre defender (as opposed to a poor one), but his bat has been very consistent. For those who don't like the internal options nor think a big signing or trade for a star is in the cards, he's worth consideration.

I'm still wondering why the Reds didn't pick him up when he went to the Nationals a few years ago.

[marcshoe]

I'm seeing a few names suggested here and there that make me wonder if we're still stuck in the lost decade mindset. While I like some of the suggestions (Kelly Johnson), others are the types of guys teams like the Royals and Pirates have to settle for. It's time to set our sights higher. Go ahead and see if Werth or someone similar is a real possibility. Don't take a step bakward.

[edabbs44]

I'm seeing a few names suggested here and there that make me wonder if we're still stuck in the lost decade mindset. While I like some of the suggestions (Kelly Johnson), others are the types of guys teams like the Royals and Pirates have to settle for. It's time to set our sights higher. Go ahead and see if Werth or someone similar is a real possibility. Don't take a step bakward.

While I tend to agree, Werth is also the kind of contract that could murder this team.

I have referenced it before but there was an interesting podcast that Simmons had a few weeks ago with Olney talking about this exact thing. They were saying that it isn't the monster contracts that thend to kill teams, it's the second tier ones. Guys like Sabathia, Tex and whoever else tend to earn their money. But they mentioned Burnett and Lackey as two recent examples of second tier disasters.

Olney then said "Watch the loser in the Crawford sweepstakes go nuts for Werth and overpay", or something like that.

I agree with what he is saying...if this team is going to make some noise regarding a big, big FA signing, is this the guy we would want?

[RedsManRick]

I'm seeing a few names suggested here and there that make me wonder if we're still stuck in the lost decade mindset. While I like some of the suggestions (Kelly Johnson), others are the types of guys teams like the Royals and Pirates have to settle for. It's time to set our sights higher. Go ahead and see if Werth or someone similar is a real possibility. Don't take a step bakward.

It's one thing to spend your remaining money to upgrade from 78 to 80 wins. It's quite another to go from 90 to 92. Patching some holes on a team that's mediocre at best is futile exercise. Patching some holes on a team that made the playoffs is a way to make sure you're able to return the next year.

I agree that the Reds should set their sights high. But we should remember that one of the biggest contributing factors to our situation in the 2000s was that we had limited payroll flex since such a high percentage was committed to a player who couldn't perform up to his contract as he broke down through his 30s. That's not to suggest Werth would do the same or that he'd be a bad investment, but it's a risk, perhaps an unnecessary one.