Reds sign Jonny Gomes to a minor league deal

[reds1869]

Great signing. Now lets keep adding pop to the roster, please!

[757690]

Not to brag, but I did predict that Jocketty would bring in a RH bat for LF that no one on Redszone had talked about. I was hoping for a better bat, but if Gomes is healthy, and is platooned with Dickerson, LF could be very productive this year.

[davereds24]

yawn

[TheNext44]

Originally Posted by 757690

Not to brag, but I did predict that Jocketty would bring in a RH bat for LF that no one on Redszone had talked about. I was hoping for a better bat, but if Gomes is healthy, and is platooned with Dickerson, LF could be very productive this year.

I like it how people start off an attempt to brag with "Not to brag..."

[fourrunhomer]

Hopefully Gomes will be the starting left fielder at Louisville. That would mean somebody else has a good spring training or another move is made. Not a bad signing at all. It gives low cost options. And who knows, maybe Gomes can have a breakout year and live up to that ever present potential we always hear about.

[TheNext44]

If Gomes is healthy, and that is a big if, this could be a very smart move. If he is not, we'll know in Spring Training, and then not much wasted.

Here is how I see this working out, if he is healthy.

Gomes platoons with Dickerson, and that leaves Hairston, Kepp and Nix (sorry Norris, but a LHB is needed) as bats off the bench, plus whoever is not playing between Dickerson and Gomes.

Adjusting the RC projections based on career numbers and splits, this bumps up the Reds offensive production from 706 to 724 runs.

Hernandez	48
Hanigan	        33.4
Votto	        103.4
Phillips	77
EE	        79.5
Gonzo   	41.1
Kepp	        32.9
Gomes    	47
Dickerson	52.2
Taveras	        72
Bruce	        85.3
Hairston	30.5
Nix	        14.3
Pitchers 	 8
Total  	       724.6

While adding someone like Dunn, Swisher, or Abreu would be better, this is great for the money spent. Jocketty, if Gomes is healthy, adds 18 runs or around 1 1/2 wins for only $600K.
This gives the Reds flexibility to pick up a bigger bat mid season if they are in contention, or just plan for 2010 if they are not.

[DannyB]

EGADS
He sux!

[Emin3mShady07]

Originally Posted by TheNext44

If Gomes is healthy, and that is a big if, this could be a very smart move. If he is not, we'll know in Spring Training, and then not much wasted.

Here is how I see this working out, if he is healthy.

Gomes platoons with Dickerson, and that leaves Hairston, Kepp and Nix (sorry Norris, but a LHB is needed) as bats off the bench, plus whoever is not playing between Dickerson and Gomes.

Adjusting the RC projections based on career numbers and splits, this bumps up the Reds offensive production from 706 to 724 runs.

Hernandez	48
Hanigan	        33.4
Votto	        103.4
Phillips	77
EE	        79.5
Gonzo   	41.1
Kepp	        32.9
Gomes    	47
Dickerson	52.2
Taveras	        72
Bruce	        85.3
Hairston	30.5
Nix	        14.3
Pitchers 	 8
Total  	       724.6

While adding someone like Dunn, Swisher, or Abreu would be better, this is great for the money spent. Jocketty, if Gomes is healthy, adds 18 runs or around 1 1/2 wins for only $600K.
This gives the Reds flexibility to pick up a bigger bat mid season if they are in contention, or just plan for 2010 if they are not.

He might add 1.8 wins to the offensive side of the game, but what about his defense? I would have to say that he is below average defensively, so he might not be that big of an upgrade even IF he is healthy. He has played only 146 games in the OF (between RF and LF) so there is not much to work with for data, but his OF UZR is -19.7 making him a much worse fielder than Adam Dunn. Gomes is projected to wOBA .354 by CHONE next year and I would say he will get about 350 PA. A league average wOBA is roughly .335 so using Tango's wOBA1 - wOBA2/1.15 x PA Gomes will create 5.8 runs over the league average hitter. Assuming he gets the 350 PAs, he will be 11.7 runs above a replacement player. And if he plays LF, he will be hit with a -3.8 positional value, making his offensive value (if the projection is correct) 13.7 runs above a replacement player. With his defense the way it is, I would say he would cost the reds about 7 or 8 runs - lets be optimistic and say 7 - in the field making him 6.7 runs better than a replacement player. Hopper projects to wOBA .317 making Gomes worth 11.3 more runs on offense than Hopper. I would bet that Hopper is an above average fielder (because of his speed) so I would say that Gomes really is not a significant upgrade over Hopper as awful and as shocking as that actually is:ughmamoru

[Emin3mShady07]

^^Actually, I messed up a little bit. Gomes is projected to wOBA overall .354, but if he gets the majority of his PAs against left handed pitchers, his wOBA would certainly rise considering his career numbers against lefties. Hopper also has good numbers against lefties, but not as good as Gomes, so I'd say that adds a run or two to Gomes' production making him a little bit better than hopper, but like I said before, not that significant of an upgrade...darn.

[fewfirstchoice]

Its a great signing if hes the 25th man on the bench. If he was brought in to do anything but that its a bad signing. Him and Dickerson platooning in LF would be terrible for the Reds. Cincy needs to a LF plain and simple. They need to trade for Swisher, Nady,or Dye or sign Abreu. If they get one of these run producers the Reds could be a contendor this coming season.

[TheNext44]

Originally Posted by Emin3mShady07

^^Actually, I messed up a little bit. Gomes is projected to wOBA overall .354, but if he gets the majority of his PAs against left handed pitchers, his wOBA would certainly rise considering his career numbers against lefties. Hopper also has good numbers against lefties, but not as good as Gomes, so I'd say that adds a run or two to Gomes' production making him a little bit better than hopper, but like I said before, not that significant of an upgrade...darn.

I was about to mention that, thanks for catching it. His splits are very strong, and should be worth more than a run or two:

.235 .329 .455 combined
.266 .369 .510 vs. LH

that works out to 10 more runs (47-37) over 250 AB's using basic RC.

You are right about Gomes defense, thanks for pointing that out. Gomes is listed as a DH at mlb.com, that is how bad he is in the field. He is about as bad as Dunn was when he started, and much worse than Dunn was last year (Dunn was actually not bad last year).

But with a platoon, that means that Gomes will not see much time in the field. If Dusty was pulling Dunn in the 7th, he most likely will be doing the same for Gomes. And Gomes will be pinch hit for a bunch late in games when they bring in a righty. That decreases his defensive negative runs a bit, maybe by a run or two.

I also replaced Janish with Nix, and that is somewhat independent of Gomes making the club, but that adds around 6 runs too.

Anyway, you are right, his defense will make Reds fans long for Dunn out there in left, but if Dusty uses him right, that can be minimized.

[redsfandan]

Originally Posted by fewfirstchoice

Its a great signing if hes the 25th man on the bench. If he was brought in to do anything but that its a bad signing. Him and Dickerson platooning in LF would be terrible for the Reds. Cincy needs to a LF plain and simple. They need to trade for Swisher, Nady,or Dye or sign Abreu. If they get one of these run producers the Reds could be a contendor this coming season.

Yeah we need a better bat for 500 abs in left but I don't think that would be enough to win 15 more games. A decent bat and we can hope for a winning season... finally. A winning season in '09 and THEN playoffs in 2010. That's what I want. Just some improvement every season. And I think that's possible. But we need to acquire a better bat to start in left in '09 first.

[forfreelin04]

Low risk high reward signing, nothing more than that. He sure could do better than a Andy Phillps, Chad Moeller, Javy Valentin or whoever else you want to call the 25th man. He wants to play in Cincy. I'll buy into that lip service.

I still look for Walt to add someone of the same caliber or a better before the offseason is through in the OF. Walt J has a love affair with good benches (he realizes it provides depth for injuries and a trump card in close games.) If anything, (LF big name signing or not) the Reds bench will be better than anything under Bowden, Wayne, or DanO.

I still look for Walt to make a big splash (trade or signing) sometime during the season or next off season. He has about as long of leash as any GM in the bigs. Give him time before you annoit him Cheif Sit on Hands.

[akron3344]

cantu was the right hand bat

[redhawk61]

From C. Trent:

Jonny Gomes is not only excited to play for the Cincinnati Reds, but he’s excited about being a Cincinnati Red.

"I'm a big fan of the history of the game and to wear the same uniform as the Hit King, Charlie Hustle, Peter Edward Rose, that alone excites me," Gomes said Monday night after signing a minor league contract with the Reds worth $600,000, with another $200,000 in incentives, if he makes the big league team.

It doesn't just end there, of course. Like George Clooney, Gomes is attracted to the appeal of the Big Red Machine, and also the 1990 Reds featuring one of his former coaches and current Red first base coach Billy Hatcher. Gomes also said he’s excited to play for Dusty Baker, whom he grew up watching with the Giants and the A's. As a Northern California native, he also grew up watching the Oakland A's team that current Red general manager Walt Jocketty helped build.

But of all of them, Rose is the one the 28-year old most identifies with. Years ago, Gomes was in Las Vegas and had bought a picture of Rose sliding head-first into home and went to a signing to have the Hit King sign his picture. While there, Gomes said he got to talking with Rose and Charlie Hustle gave him a jersey and signed it.

"That's No. 1 in my collection," Gomes said.

Gomes said he can't promise 4,256 hits, a .300 average or any other number, but he said he can promise two things when he gets on the field: "One, respect the game and the people who play the game and two, hustle," Gomes said. "It's a shame you can't say that about everyone because it's the easiest thing you can do, hustle."

Gomes struggled in 2008, hitting just .182 with eight home runs and 21 RBIs. In August, he was optioned to Class AAA Durham to make room for pitcher Ben Zoberist and was then recalled in September when the roster was expanded.

Gomes was not on the Rays' playoff roster, but was still one of the most visible Rays during the postseason, leading celebrations and rallying behind his teammates.

"From my background and my childhood and what it took to get to the big leagues, to get a chance to put on a uniform in the post-season, I'm not turning that down for the world," Gomes said. "We had a lot of blood, sweat and tears with those other 24 guys and I was going to be there for them and be a part of that."

Gomes, a right-handed hitter who has played both outfield corner spots and designated hitter, is a career .235 hitter with 66 home runs. In 2005, he was third in American League Rookie of the Year voting, hitting .282 with 21 home runs and 54 RBIs.

Jocketty could not be reached Monday night, but had said he was looking to get a player with some pop off the bench and Gomes could qualify. Gomes hit 20 homers in 2006 and 17 in 2007.

Gomes said he talked to Baker before signing, but hasn’t talked to his manager or general manager since signing, so he doesn’t know the Reds’ plans for him.

"I'm going to come into camp 100 percent shape ready to play every day," Gomes said. "In eight years with Tampa, I was never promised a job, but I came into camp healthy, willing to play every day."

Gomes had spent his entire career with the Rays and said he doesn't know as much about the National League. He's, of course, heard how Great American Ball Park plays and is excited to play in the notoriously hitter-friendly park. Although he doesn't know many of the players on the Reds, he has looked at the roster and likes what he sees.

"I've gone through a lot of ups and downs watching with Tampa, I was there when I thought we could win 100 games, but what you want to see young upside and the least amount of distractions of possible in the clubhouse," Gomes said. "And the Reds have that."

With that, Gomes said he hopes he can provide a similar leadership to what he gave the Rays last season.

"I think one thing that's big in this game is leading by example and the other is success," Gomes said. "With success comes fun. That's what we did last year and we built off of that."