Kearns isn't ready for the bigs...

[Rocket_Fuel]

Originally Posted by traderumor

Why does anyone listen to Hal McCoy? And further, why would anyone get worked up about what he says? If you believe what he was saying is true, let me tell ya about some land I got to sell.

Well Hal McCoy IS a Hall-of-Famer and very credible. I'd trust Hal over anything the Cincinnati Reds say or do.

[Rocket_Fuel]

Originally Posted by MWM

Not saying he's not trying to do his job and I don't hate the guy. In my opinion, he doesn't do it very well. I've read plenty of McCoy columns and I can't remember ever reading anything that made me think he's a good writer or really knows baseball all that well. He loves the game and I'm sure he's a good enough guy. I just don't find him especially insightful or interesting to read. I don't know what makes him hall worthy other than the fact that he's been around a long time.

Really? I remember 2 years ago when Bartolo Colon was with the Indians Hal said he was available and the Reds were interested in him. The guy got TRASHED. A month later we found out that the Reds had been trying to get Colon for the past TWO months. Hal's info is strong. My god, people say that Hal isn't reputable, what on earth has O'Brien done to make HIM credible right now!? I like some of O'Brien's moves (getting Lidle and I think the Bong/Nelson trade will eventually pay off), but the guy drags his feet on so many things it has become frustrating. And when you completely dismiss getting a quality player like Boone instead of at least EXPLORING the opportunity you look bad. Nobody is saying sign Boone, but at least explore it. Don't blow it off and tell the guy not to wait by the phone. And don't talk about investing in young players when Boone is a mere 3 years older then Larson. Things like that just tick people off.

[TeamCasey]

Why is it whenever there's news we don't like, folks on here tend to trash the messenger? Not just picking on you, MWM. It's a trend.

[Bowden's Ghost]

Let me be the voice of reason here, folks. And let's all take a deep breath and relax. I wouldn't put much credence in whatever Hal McCoy says, he likes to stir the pot (which is fine, because that is his job).
As far as our so-called GM, i am usually the first person to bash him. But until O'Brien publicly states this opinion we can't accuse him of saying it. But if he does, he should be tarred and feathered in fountain square.

[Dan]

From Today's DDN:

Kearns not convincing

There is at least one person in the Reds organization who thinks general manager Dan O'Brien isn't convinced about the abilities of outfielder Austin Kearns, which may explain his lengthy rehab stay at Class AAA Louisville, where he is hitting .385.

"Dan only saw him in spring training and then the start of this season, and Austin wasn't playing that well either time," the man said. "I'm not so sure Dan believes, at this point, that Austin can play at this level. He is being assured that he can."

With Freel out and with Colorado left-hander Shawn Estes starting, Tuesday would have been a perfect spot for Kearns, but he was shuffled off to Buffalo with Louisville.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...redsnotes.html

[Phhhl]

It's a general manager's job to know a LOT more about all the major league players (and minor league for that matter) all around baseball. If it is true that DanO only knows Austin Kearns from what he has seen since he became General Manager, then he is an imbecile. Kearns was recognized as one of the finest young hitters in all of the game the first part of 2003, not some 30 year old career minor leaguer taking his final shot at a major league roster.

I believe Hal. Dan O'Brien was a rotten choice to be the general manager of this team. We're probably stuck with him for at least 10 years because he follows the company line and will never put his ass on the line for a deal or ask to expand the budget.

[GoReds]

What, if anything, is Austin's time in the minors doing to his arbitration clock?

[letsgojunior]

Originally Posted by Chip R

The Reds once again let the media tell the story rather than tell the story themselves. I know DanO likes to play things close to the vest and not blab all kinds of stuff out there but in this case it was a bad move. When Kearns was sent down on rehab he could have said, "We're giving him so long down there then we'll call him up." or "We'll keep him down there a few days, evaluate him and make a decision at that time." Instead all we get are shrugs and "I dunnos" about Austin's status. Since no one knows what exactly his status is it becomes a breeding ground for rumor and innuendo. Maybe these guys who talked to Hal have it in for DanO so they concoct some rumor that DanO doesn't think Kearns is big league material. Now whether this is true or not is irrelevant. Even if Hal goes to DanO and tells him he's going to run a story that says that DanO thinks Kearns is a stiff and DanO denies it, people aren't going to believe him. If he doesn't comment it looks just as bad because it looks like they are hiding something. Instead of being open and controlling the story from their end, DanO and the Reds let the story play them. From now on this is going to stick to DanO like the "Old 30" remark stuck to Bill DeWitt. Whenever Kearns does something good people are going to say, "And O'Brien didn't think he could play. What does he know?" It doesn't matter if it's true because people are going to believe it's true even if DanO swears on a stack of bibles that it isn't. JimBo's problem was that he didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. DanO's problem may be that he doesn't know when to open it.

Great post Chip.

[smith288]

Originally Posted by Santo Alcala

It's a general manager's job to know a LOT more about all the major league players (and minor league for that matter) all around baseball. If it is true that DanO only knows Austin Kearns from what he has seen since he became General Manager, then he is an imbecile. Kearns was recognized as one of the finest young hitters in all of the game the first part of 2003, not some 30 year old career minor leaguer taking his final shot at a major league roster.

I believe Hal. Dan O'Brien was a rotten choice to be the general manager of this team. We're probably stuck with him for at least 10 years because he follows the company line and will never put his ass on the line for a deal or ask to expand the budget.

I think you might be forgetting about Haynes.

[RedsBaron]

If Kearns is healthy and now swinging the bat well, and this appears to be the case on both counts, he should be in Cincinnati ASAP, i.e., NOW.

[Chip R]

As I said, it doesn't matter if this is true or not, the perception is there that it is true. But one of the reasons I don't think it's true is that if you remember during ST there were rumors that Dunn or Jr. would be traded. But the rumors also said that Kearns was untouchable. I really don't think that he's gone from untouchable to AAA lifer in 2 months in DanO's mind.

[Marc D]

It took this FO 1-1/4 years to figure out Haynes sucks

They are committed to a 27 year old Larson at 3B and summarily dismiss even thinking about brinning back Boone

AK goes down and instead of getting AB's for the only prospect we have, they fill the gap with Freel/Romano/Cruz


I don't know HM's track record but this FO has done nothing to earn the benifit of the doubt imo.

[Redsland]

Originally Posted by GoReds

What, if anything, is Austin's time in the minors doing to his arbitration clock?

Austin is on a rehab assignment, so his clock continues to run. If he'd been optioned down, then it would have stopped running.


Chip, great post about DanO's tight-lippedness. (Hmm, Carl's tight-fisted, Dan's tight-lipped… Can we work John Allen into this matrix?)

Santo, you're dead-on, as always.

[traderumor]

I haven't seen one person have anything other than a .385 BA with a few extra base hits as the smoking gun that Kearns is ready to contribute up here. Rather, a sportswriter that even his supporters admit he is sometimes full of crap and gets stuff started with little or no evidence but pure conjecture is being taken at his word. Honestly, I enjoy Hal's column, but when he starts his "Rona Barrett of sports reporting act" I could care less what he has to say because he often is sensationalistic with his speculation. Some bring up a few rumors that he got right, yet how many hundreds over the year has he been dead wrong about? I guess since he's a baseball reporter, he'd be about a .250 hitter.

What I would like to see is one person that has actually seen Austin hit in his time with Louisville and give an opinion on how he's swinging the bat. While we know what he is capable of doing, you have to admit that a lot of folks thought this a rehab assignment was just what he needed. Since that is exactly what they are doing, now Hal McCoy getting a few ballplayers' opinions in the clubhouse tells us he's ready to produce like we know he can at the major league level. The change of heart of so many is interesting.

[princeton]

if I'm another GM, I'm making some really solid offers for Austin Kearns right now...

fortunately for us, it'll take DanO a few years to think about it. Here's where deliberation helps