Reds sign Emmanuel Burriss

[dougdirt]

I do not know why but weird feeling on this guy honestly, My gut says we as in Red's fans will be pleasently surprised. The talent is there and no I do not expect another performance as we got with the low expectations Brandon Phillips had when acquired but something makes me feel this players chapter in his career is about to be rewritten.

What makes you think the talent is there? Career .693 OPS in the minors. Career .573 OPS in the Majors. He is 27 years old. He has never shown much of anything with his bat as a professional.

[dougdirt]

These end-of-the-roster RZ discussions always seem to be the most impassioned.

Probably because guys not at the end of the roster are typically at least ok players.

[JaxRed]

Frankly I think Bats fans will be pleased with his work. I don't think he's on the ML team.

[Kc61]

The odds of two starting IF's getting hurt in the same game are about as likely as both catchers getting hurt in the same game. So I'm fine with one backup IF, provided he's legit at 4/5/6. And if he hits like a pitcher, fine. I can add another bat. Plus -- Mike Leake!

Last year, for most of the year, the Reds had three backup infielders. Cairo, Valdez, and Frazier, who also plays OF.

Last year, for most of the year, the Reds had only four outfielders and (obviously) only one backup outfielder, Heisey. Then, later in the season, Xavier Paul came up and then in September the whole roster expanded.

I'm interested to see how the Reds fix their bench. Obviously, Cairo and Valdez will be gone. Presumably Mesoraco/Hanigan will consume one bench spot. That leaves the OF, which right now would be Heisey and XPaul.

I would like to see the Reds use the bench to help with offensive balance. I would keep Paul and add another LH hitter or switch hitter.

I'm not a big Heisey fan, I'd rather see them add some OBP with his spot, but the Reds seem to like him and I wouldn't be shocked if he's back.

The Cairo/Valdez spots really hurt offensively last year, as did Mes, and we can debate Heisey. Paul was good. Burriss, a switch hitter, would help with balance but may be too weak a hitter to help very much.

[Scrap Irony]

I'd take a gamble on Burris, if only because he's never played in a park like The GABP. Add a wRC+ near of 85 to a plus glove, and you've got a near league average backup hitter. And that's something hardly anyone has.

[Rojo]

I'm not a big Heisey fan, I'd rather see them add some OBP with his spot, but the Reds seem to like him and I wouldn't be shocked if he's back.

Heisey's had some success at PH duties. Small sample size and all. He has some power, can run, play defense. He's not a bad guy to have.

Yet, the one thing you'd really want from a PH is that he gets on base, churns the batting order. And he's short there.

I'd like to add a professional on-base-getter like Overbay or Abreau, along with Paul, Heisey, catcher, backup IF.