Bruce willing to sign long term with Reds

[mroby85]

Originally Posted by 757690

It was only two months, but the last two months of last season, Bruce was better than Votto:

.377 .459 .798 1.257

It might have been a nice streak or it could have been him turning the corner and living up to his talent. When you consider that he had a .950 OPS last season if you don't count July (which you normally shouldn't do) I think the odds are that he turned it around.

And when you add in his Gold Glove caliber defense, I would say with a .950 OPS for the season, he can be better than Votto.

That said, I don't the Reds are ever going to have to choose between the two. They can afford both of them, as long as they are producing. What this team cannot afford are players who are not producing, no matter what they get paid. The secret to a successful mid market team is not keeping payroll low, it's making sure you get the most out of it. Willie Taveras was far more damaging to this team in 2009 than Aaron Harang was.

And more importantly, as you already said it was only two months.