Now that the Winter Meetings have come and gone, and the Hot Stove season is about half over, make your prediction: What changes will be made between now and then? Who will be brought on board?
Just Ryan Ludwick
A bigtime LF (Choo, Upton, or Myers) instead of Ludwick
Michael Bourn (FA)
Dexter Fowler (Trade)
Jacoby Ellsbury (Trade)
One of the three CF above + Ludwick
A lesser CF (ie DeJesus or Crisp) + Ludwick
No major changes (no Ludwick and no CF)
Now that the Winter Meetings have come and gone, and the Hot Stove season is about half over, make your prediction: What changes will be made between now and then? Who will be brought on board?
Go BLUE!!!
I'm going big and saying the Reds end up with Ludwick and Bourne on a one year deal.
I'd love to see them sign Bourne and get a big-time bopper in LF, but I suspect Ludwick + a lefty platoon partner for Stubbs is what they'll end up doing.
I voted for a lesser cf, but I'm thinking someone with more potential than Coco or DeJesus, like G Parra.
It is on the whole probable that we continually dream, but that consciousness makes such a noise that we do not hear it. Carl Jung.
I'm going for the Hail Mary. What the Reds really want when their heads hit the pillow at night is Michael Bourn. I have no doubt of that. Bourn doesn't look like he's going to get a monster offer from a serious contender. Might as well take a short-term stab at glory with the Reds. The GAB stat padding also won't hurt in his quest for future earnings.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Ludwick + Alejandro De Aza
I'm thinking Ludwick and either De Aza, Parra, Dejesus or Crisp to split time with Stubbs/Heisey.
Last edited by corkedbat; 12-08-2012 at 12:04 AM.
Don't tell me i have to put up with stubbs again next year.after what he has done ever since he got here I figured he would have already been gone.
I can spell,I just can't type!!
the stubbs that i have watched strikeouts alot,swings for the fences thinking he is a power hitter.The most annoying is that he hardly ever uses his speed when batting.Its either a strikeout or a popup BUT I was glad to see him finally start bunting for hits last year.Its time for him to go get a fresh start some place else.
I can spell,I just can't type!!
Of the 7 Reds batters with more than 400 PA, Stubbs had the highest GB% (51% - Only Phillips is remotely close) and 3rd lowest IFFB% (infield fly ball rate). Meanwhile, his infield hit rate (infield hit per GB) and bunt hit rate (bunt hit per bunt) were below his career average.
The strikeouts are absolutely a problem, perhaps fatally so for his career. But he's also dropped a lot of power since 2010, when he put the ball in the air more frequently. And unless swing for the fences results in a lot more ground balls, your assessment doesn't seem to hold up.
Perhaps he does need a fresh start, but no matter where he goes, his route to a successful career is more likely by being more Curtis Granderson than Juan Pierre.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
Stubbs did an interview with 1410 in Dayton today at Redsfest. One guy he brought up as an example of how he plays and who improved and was hoping to try similar things was Austin Jackson. In 2010 Jackson struck out 25% of the time, walked 7% of the time and had a 48% GB rate. He rode a .396 BABIP to a .293/.345/.400 line that season. The next year when his BABIP fell to a more normal area, his offense dropped as he hit .249/.317/.374 with a few more walks and a few more strikeouts. In 2012, he hit more fly balls than ever before, walked more than ever and struck out less than ever. Rode another high BABIP (.371), but hit .300/.377/.479. Sounds similar to what you were suggesting Stubbs try out. Sounds like Stubbs, at least in theory, wants to do that.
Stubbs is a smart guy, interesting to hear him say that. Nonetheless, you gotta go into next year with some solution in CF against righties. He has simply proven over a very long time that he is not going to be an asset, let alone average against them.
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