Alex Gonzalez to the Reds

[Aronchis]

Originally Posted by flyer85

I'm ambivalent.

is addressing SS defense a huge concern that so much that this team needed to give a marginal player a 3 year deal?

I don't know but if it wasn't as big a problem as people thought the deal for AG could be another anchor that this team can't seem to avoid.

I'll wait and see.

If he gets a GAP power lift, then it becomes better, maybe much better, but his lack of OBP and little power right now means they just wanted to get rid of the position, but they gave little effort to do so.

[Gallen5862]

I like this move. 3 years 14 Million is not a bad contract. This helps improve the defense at Shortstop and leaves Phillips at 2b.

[Kc61]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

RF Ryan Freel
SS Alex Gonzalez
CF Ken Griffey Jr.
3B Edwin Encarnacion
1B Scott Hatteberg
C David Ross
2B Brandon Phillips
LF Chris Denorfia

That lineup will be lucky to score 600 runs.

Dunn was traded? No offensive player came in his trade? Reds didn't sign any offense this winter? Freel and Denorfia are both starters?

[harangatang]

Can someone please change the thread title, some people actually get their news here.

[deltachi8]

Originally Posted by GAC

I agree. If it ain't broke then don't try and fix it.

No offense GAC, but i dislike that saying. How about "If it ain't broke, whats wrong with making it better?"

Back to the point on Phillips, he came up as a SS and a darn good one. I saw him play a few time in Buffalo and he is quite good there.

I'm not against the AG signing as long as his glove at ss outweighs what a 2b with a better stick could have brought in (with Phillips at ss).

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by mth123

This is the part I'm not convinced of. He looks good because we've suffered through Walker, DeLo, Richie and even a little Womack the last few years. Freel looked better than all of them as well, but I know he really isn't that good there. Is BP really that good? He seemed to blow a lot of DP chances last year, but that could be from poor feeds from the other players. I haven't looked at any stats and am basing this on what I saw which I know is very dangerous ground so I could be very wrong.

I jumped all over Phillips' offensive game last year when they first acquired him, but just one look at the guy in the field told me he was not simply an upgrade over the bad that we've seen. He's a solidly above average 2nd baseman, IMO.

He's young, and like EdE, will only continue to improve on what his impressive natural skills allow him to reach and accomplish.

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

I jumped all over Phillips' offensive game last year when they first acquired him, but just one look at the guy in the field told me he was not simply an upgrade over the bad that we've seen. He's a solidly above average 2nd baseman, IMO.

He's young, and like EdE, will only continue to improve on what his impressive natural skills allow him to reach and accomplish.

Good for you FCB I so remember how you slammed him and to see you own up to it, and pull for this kid.

[RedsManRick]

If we wanted to defensive wiz with pop but can't get on base to save his life, why not just play Jerry Gil?

[Falls City Beer]

The Reds' infield next season could be one of the absolute worst in Reds' history viz. offense (when you factor the almost-certain collapses of Hatteberg/Ross and the almost-certain jettisoning of Aurilia).

That's an incredibly real and exigent circumstance. (I'm not saying it won't be dealt with, but if it's not dealt with, this team will absolutely positively have a losing season next year).

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by Topcat

Good for you FCB I so remember how you slammed him and to see you own up to it, and pull for this kid.

I call it like I see it. The kid's got real defensive skill.

[IslandRed]

Originally Posted by flyer85

I'm ambivalent.

is addressing SS defense a huge concern that so much that this team needed to give a marginal player a 3 year deal?

I don't know but if it wasn't as big a problem as people thought the deal for AG could be another anchor that this team can't seem to avoid.

I'll wait and see.

I'm basically in wait-and-see mode also, but I don't expect to either love or hate this deal down the road, really. Gonzalez strikes me as one of those "he is what he is" guys, a plus version of the good-field poor-hit shortstop.

On the general subject of what we should want in a shortstop, I'm a bit old-school in that I want a genuinely good defender and will sacrifice some offense to get it. A team can't claim to take defense seriously while treating shortstop as an offense-first position, in my opinion. That doesn't mean I want every position to be defense-first. But shortstop, I do.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by IslandRed

I'm basically in wait-and-see mode also, but I don't expect to either love or hate this deal down the road, really. Gonzalez strikes me as one of those "he is what he is" guys, a plus version of the good-field poor-hit shortstop.

On the general subject of what we should want in a shortstop, I'm a bit old-school in that I want a genuinely good defender and will sacrifice some offense to get it. A team can't claim to take defense seriously while treating shortstop as an offense-first position, in my opinion. That doesn't mean I want every position to be defense-first. But shortstop, I do.

The remaining issue is that with a fly ball pitching the biggest defensive issue is CF and as I near as I can tell it has not been addressed.

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

The Reds' infield next season could be one of the absolute worst in Reds' history viz. offense (when you factor the almost-certain collapses of Hatteberg/Ross and the almost-certain jettisoning of Aurilia).

That's an incredibly real and exigent circumstance. (I'm not saying it won't be dealt with, but if it's not dealt with, this team will absolutely positively have a losing season next year).

Who did you think we were going to play at shortstop? How much are you willing to spend and what would you need to see in return to avoid this tragedy?

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by RFS62

Who did you think we were going to play at shortstop? How much are you willing to spend and what would you need to see in return to avoid this tragedy?

It has nothing to do per se with the signing of Gonzalez, but the onus is on the Reds now to bolster the offense at other positions because they've "locked in" a poor hitter at shortstop. That's all I'm saying.

The Reds now have to find a way to replace runs at positions that will see massive declines in runscoring ability (e.g. 1st base, catcher). It's not impossible, obviously, but they have created another chore for themselves by guaranteeing a spot for a bad hitter.

[Matt700wlw]

His numbers (power numbers) may go up a bit in the Cincinnati sandbox as well...

It's possible, but this move was made for defense more than anything