Second Half Thoughts

[mikemo14]

Send Stubbs to Louisville for a couple week confidence builder.
Recall Sappelt
Call up Cozart, DFA Renteria
Move Rolen out of middle of lineup
Pray Walt deals for a clean-up guy
If not go with this lineup

Lewis/Sappelt LF
Heisey CF
Votto 1B
Phillips 2B
Bruce LF
Hernandez C
Rolen 3B
Cozart/Janish

[mrherd05]

I like it except that i like Renteria over Janish.

[ukwazoo]

Trade Hernandez while he's at his peak selling point...maybe throw in Stubbs if we can get a good SP?
Agree with calling up Cozart & Sappelt, but send Janish down
Give Cairo A LOT of Rolen's at-bats...possibly even platoon them

[bigredmechanism]

Trade Hernandez while he's at his peak selling point...maybe throw in Stubbs if we can get a good SP?

Fine by me but we need a hitter imo. Pitching has been fine for a few weeks now, save for some rare blowups.

[Vottomatic]

I don't see any answers because I've yet to read any comments from management that make me think they will do anything. I know they have to keep things under wraps. But I never dreamed we'd be at the All Star Break and they'd be so content with 4th place. By content, I mean.........they haven't done a daggone thing to get better. They keep waiting to get "hot".

I have zero confidence in Castellini and Jocketty at this point. And I've come to the conclusion that last year was a fluke.

[brm7675]

All of those moves have their merits, but none will happen. As long as the divisional race is close and neither the Cards or Brewers or Pirates open a big lead, Walt is not going to do anything. Since no team is going to pick up and run away with it not one single major move will be done, not one single player will be DFA'd and we won't see any of the AAA talent on this roster till Sept. Again blame the inability of the Brewers or Cards or maybe even the Pirates to put some distance between them and the Reds as the Reason why Walt won't do anything...

[brm7675]

I don't see any answers because I've yet to read any comments from management that make me think they will do anything. I know they have to keep things under wraps. But I never dreamed we'd be at the All Star Break and they'd be so content with 4th place. By content, I mean.........they haven't done a daggone thing to get better. They keep waiting to get "hot".

I have zero confidence in Castellini and Jocketty at this point. And I've come to the conclusion that last year was a fluke.

I would disagree last year was a fluke, I think last year alot of things went right and we got good performances out of certain players we are not this year. I think overall long term this team has strong potential, and with some key moves can be right up there with the Phils, Giants, Braves, and such for the coming years, but those changes won't happen till the upcoming offseason after we finish 4th this year...

[Crumbley]

Hey nothing is wrong, Reds are in line to win the the vaunted Pythag Cup.

[Vottomatic]

I would disagree last year was a fluke, I think last year alot of things went right and we got good performances out of certain players we are not this year. I think overall long term this team has strong potential, and with some key moves can be right up there with the Phils, Giants, Braves, and such for the coming years, but those changes won't happen till the upcoming offseason after we finish 4th this year...

Fluke is probably not the best word. The Reds were definitely the worst of the playoff teams though. And the Central Division sucked last year. No wonder the Brewers and Cards made offseason moves, because they knew the division was ripe for the picking, knowing the Reds won because the division was weak. Frankly, I was embarrassed to be a Reds fan after that pathetic showing against the Phillies.

I've said all along that a few quality moves would make this a team to be feared. But our owner is too cheap, our GM is too complacent, and our manager is too stubborn. They are simply hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with such moves as signing Gomes, Corey Patterson, Willy Tavares, Hermida, Lewis, Cabrera, Renteria, etc. Filler material.

Therefore, I see no changes coming, and I see more of the same boring, .500 record type of play.

[brm7675]

Fluke is probably not the best word. The Reds were definitely the worst of the playoff teams though.

Again I would disagree with that. Overall I would say we were the 2nd best team going into the playoffs last year. I would say that overall the Giants were the best we were 2, Phils 3 and Braves 4th. But we had deer in the headlights type of play in game 1. We should ahve won game 2 which changes that whole series if we don't give it away. We lost because of lack of experience, not talent.


And the Central Division sucked last year. No wonder the Brewers and Cards made offseason moves, because they knew the division was ripe for the picking, knowing the Reds won because the division was weak. Frankly, I was embarrassed to be a Reds fan after that pathetic showing against the Phillies.

How was it pathetic? Game one was a deer in the headlight game, the other two were good games.


I've said all along that a few quality moves would make this a team to be feared. But our owner is too cheap, our GM is too complacent, and our manager is too stubborn. They are simply hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with such moves as signing Gomes, Corey Patterson, Willy Tavares, Hermida, Lewis, Cabrera, Renteria, etc. Filler material.

Again numbers financially don't support your view. Our "owner" spent money in the offseason, has spent money since getting the team. Heck he shelled out 30 million in guarentee money to an unkown kid. I agree our GM is to complacent, but lets also see his side in that with how bad we played we are still right in it.

Therefore, I see no changes coming, and I see more of the same boring, .500 record type of play.

[Vottomatic]

Originally Posted by Vottomatic
Fluke is probably not the best word. The Reds were definitely the worst of the playoff teams though.

Again I would disagree with that. Overall I would say we were the 2nd best team going into the playoffs last year. I would say that overall the Giants were the best we were 2, Phils 3 and Braves 4th. But we had deer in the headlights type of play in game 1. We should ahve won game 2 which changes that whole series if we don't give it away. We lost because of lack of experience, not talent.

2nd best??? We will just strongly agree to disagree. We were definitely the weakest team in the NL playoffs. Our numbers were skewed because we were in a weak division.

And the Central Division sucked last year. No wonder the Brewers and Cards made offseason moves, because they knew the division was ripe for the picking, knowing the Reds won because the division was weak. Frankly, I was embarrassed to be a Reds fan after that pathetic showing against the Phillies.

How was it pathetic? Game one was a deer in the headlight game, the other two were good games.

We got owned by a far better team with far superior starting pitching. But again, that's your opinion.


I've said all along that a few quality moves would make this a team to be feared. But our owner is too cheap, our GM is too complacent, and our manager is too stubborn. They are simply hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with such moves as signing Gomes, Corey Patterson, Willy Tavares, Hermida, Lewis, Cabrera, Renteria, etc. Filler material.

Again numbers financially don't support your view. Our "owner" spent money in the offseason, has spent money since getting the team. Heck he shelled out 30 million in guarentee money to an unkown kid. I agree our GM is to complacent, but lets also see his side in that with how bad we played we are still right in it.

I agreed with signing Votto and Cueto. Not so much Bruce. I've never been a Bruce fan, and I've been in wait and see mode on Stubbs (who hasn't been signed long term yet). Biggest need was a 4-hole hitter and the organization continues to neglect it. Can't even be argued. Rolen is too old and unproductive. They are making no moves because they don't want to spend any money. And they will whine about lack of attendance, even though they're fielding a .500 team. Fix the problems and they will come. If they build a winner, they will come see it.

Therefore, I see no changes coming, and I see more of the same boring, .500 record type of play.

[brm7675]

We play in the division we are in. Had Dusty not made some poor choices throughout last season we could have had the No. 1 seed, at worse the 2 seed. Outside of game 1, we led in game 2 and were close in game 3. No way the Phil's "owned" us. The Braves were not better then us in any way adn the only thing the Giants had which is what got them the WS is hot pitching at the right time.

You have zero proof that the lack of moves is due to money. In fact I am willing to bet that is the last thing holding up any move. I think reasons why no big move hasn't been made are as followed and in order of why:

1. Walt and Dusty both believe the present roster can win the division in it's present form. They see how poorly we have played and yet are only 3 games back. I believe they feel if we can match what we did last year we can win the divison. They don't see a need to make changes.

2. There really isn't anything out there on the market this year that can be gotten that will make a HUGE change. Right now to many teams are still in the hunt and not willing to part with talent. Heck the Mets are even saying they are going to go hard after resigning Reyes, so there is a "key" player people want us to get who isn't available. You can't get players if there are none available.

[Girevik]

2. There really isn't anything out there on the market this year that can be gotten that will make a HUGE change. Right now to many teams are still in the hunt and not willing to part with talent. Heck the Mets are even saying they are going to go hard after resigning Reyes, so there is a "key" player people want us to get who isn't available. You can't get players if there are none available.

I think there's a lot of truth to this. We see the same thing every year in the NFL draft. "The Bengals should have traded up for this guy", or they " should have moved down to get better value", but it takes two teams to make a trade. We'll see over the next few weeks. If other teams are able to make trades for guys that would help the Reds and the price was a reasonable one that the Reds could have paid, we can say that the Reds sat on their hands. If no one moves, or the price is exorbitantly high for the guys that are traded, we can say the market just wasn't there.

[Vottomatic]

We play in the division we are in. Had Dusty not made some poor choices throughout last season we could have had the No. 1 seed, at worse the 2 seed. Outside of game 1, we led in game 2 and were close in game 3. No way the Phil's "owned" us. The Braves were not better then us in any way adn the only thing the Giants had which is what got them the WS is hot pitching at the right time.

You have zero proof that the lack of moves is due to money. In fact I am willing to bet that is the last thing holding up any move. I think reasons why no big move hasn't been made are as followed and in order of why:

1. Walt and Dusty both believe the present roster can win the division in it's present form. They see how poorly we have played and yet are only 3 games back. I believe they feel if we can match what we did last year we can win the divison. They don't see a need to make changes.

2. There really isn't anything out there on the market this year that can be gotten that will make a HUGE change. Right now to many teams are still in the hunt and not willing to part with talent. Heck the Mets are even saying they are going to go hard after resigning Reyes, so there is a "key" player people want us to get who isn't available. You can't get players if there are none available.

Zero proof?

The team payroll is at an all-time high.

Management said in the offseason it might get a slight bump and that's all. Intimated was that it was all they could afford and they were counting on a bump in attendance.

They may take a chance and spend money at the deadline simply because there will only be 2 months left of someone they acquire's, salary to be paid. But I doubt it.

We are small market. Management has small market ways.

Stop kidding yourself.

[brm7675]

Zero proof?

The team payroll is at an all-time high.

Management said in the offseason it might get a slight bump and that's all. Intimated was that it was all they could afford and they were counting on a bump in attendance.

They may take a chance and spend money at the deadline simply because there will only be 2 months left of someone they acquire's, salary to be paid. But I doubt it.

We are small market. Management has small market ways.

Stop kidding yourself.

Sorry but the numbers don't support your claim. Are we in the area that the Yanks, Red Sox, Phils, Cubs or even Cards play...no, but trust me if Walt went to Bob and say hey...I can get player X and he will be key to get us to the playoffs but it is going to cost us X, I believe Bob would okay it. Our owner now is in it to win, not make money, unlike our previous owner. Our previous owners wouldn't have spent 30 million on an unknown player like Chapman, wouldn't have agreed to contract extensions the likes the Hanigan, Bruce, Cueto and others have gotten. Hell previous ownership never would have EVER approved of the Rolen deal and it's added costs. Again this is NOT a money issue, it's a view by the GM that there is no talent out there worth getting and we have the talent here now to win.