Wagner gone?

[RANDY IN INDY]

Originally Posted by Spitball

Wagner needs major work on his mechanics. He will never have command nor health until he is smoothed out.

Couldn't have said it better.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Apparently you need to be on the north side of 30 to get in this pen.

any farther north of 30, this club's gonna be pitching from Sault Ste. Marie.

Marty mentioned on ESPN that the Reds were looking for a relief pitcher who is young with some experience that throws mid-90's. I'll have Krono start up the wayback machine and I'll see if I can whip up Doug Bair.

Oh whoops, my bad, he's a pitching coach now.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by max venable

Ryan Wagner for Ryan Shealy.

Do it. Do it now.

I'd almost deal Jason LaRue and a LOOGY-or a ROOGY TBNL to the Rockies for Zach Day and Ryan Shealy.

But Dan O'Dowd might laugh.

[Spitball]

Originally Posted by traderumor

His mechanics is what seems to make him effective in the first place. I think his problems are maturity more than anything else, which one sign that they are improving is that he showed up in great shape this spring. Unless he's leaving for some pitching, he needs to stay.

If those mechanics are the key to his success, Wagner is in big time trouble. Command and health have a whole lot more to do with successful pitching than violent (deceptive???) mechanics.

Originally Posted by RANDY IN CHAR NC


Couldn't have said it better.

Thanks, Randy.

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by Heath

Marty mentioned on ESPN that the Reds were looking for a relief pitcher who is young with some experience that throws mid-90's. I'll have Krono start up the wayback machine and I'll see if I can whip up Doug Bair.

Them and 29 other teams.

[Spitball]

Originally Posted by Heath

I'd almost deal Jason LaRue and a LOOGY-or a ROOGY TBNL to the Rockies for Zach Day and Ryan Shealy.

But Dan O'Dowd might laugh.

No Day, please.

[Team Clark]

Wagner has pouted in the past. It will be interesting to see how he handles his demotion this time around.

[pedro]

zach day sucks

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by Team Clark

Wagner has pouted in the past. It will be interesting to see how he handles his demotion this time around.

I REALLY hope that the days of "message-sending" demotions are over for this club. I'd rather they just trade the bad apples than look like a two-bit day care.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by pedro

zach day sucks

Yep he does. But I'd be banking on "Heath's Hometown Theory" - You might do one of two things when you get traded home.

Rule 1 - You might pitch better in more familiar surroundings. You might be hasseled to family get-togethers, more ticket requests, and phone calls from old girlfriends, but the distractions might be enough to where you aren't thinking too hard about pitching or hitting and you do the things you need to do and it falls into place.

or

Rule 2 - You do all the above, but the distractions are too great and you get WORSE.

Thomas Wolfe can pound salt. You can go home again - it's just how you deal with it that makes or breaks you.

[KronoRed]

No more hometown junk.

[Eric_Davis]

How old is Wagner?

That's right! He's young,....very young. And had he been brought up through the organization like he should have been instead of being rushed, he'd be right where he's supposed to be this far into his career.

The REDS are fools to consider anything but keeping Wagner on the roster for the entire season.

[Eric_Davis]

From Wednesday's (3/29) mlb.report.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Almost there.
The latest wave of Reds cuts claimed three more players Wednesday morning, when pitcher Brian Shackelford and infielders Matt Kata and William Bergolla were optioned to Triple-A Louisville.

Cincinnati has 33 players remaining in big league camp. That number dwindles to 30 healthy bodies since pitchers Paul Wilson (shoulder) and Grant Balfour (shoulder/elbow) will start the season on the disabled list. Non-roster outfielder Dewayne Wise (sprained left ankle) also won't be heading north.

These 20 players appeared to be roster locks for Opening Day:

Catchers Jason LaRue and Javier Valentin; infielders Rich Aurilia, Edwin Encarnacion, Ryan Freel, Scott Hatteberg, Felipe Lopez and Tony Womack; outfielders Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Austin Kearns; starting pitchers Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Claussen, Aaron Harang, Eric Milton and Dave Williams and relievers Chris Hammond, Kent Mercker, David Weathers and Rick White.

That left 10 players competing for the final five spots on the 25-man roster.

"When it gets down to these last few cuts, it gets very, very difficult," Reds manager Jerry Narron said.

Four pitchers -- Matt Belisle, Mike Burns, Todd Coffey and Ryan Wagner are fighting for what's expected to be three bullpen spots. All four have Minor League options left.

In the sixth inning of Wednesday's 7-6 win over the Devil Rays, Belisle gave up a three-run homer to first batter Ty Wigginton but then recorded two quick outs. Coffey later pitched a scoreless ninth and recorded the save despite allowing a hit and a wild pitch.

Narron is expected to carry 12 pitchers.

"I'm still 99 percent sure it will be 12," Narron said. "(Saying) that gives me a tad of wiggle room."

Catchers David Ross and Dane Sardinha and outfielders Jacob Cruz and Quinton McCracken are leading the fight for the final two roster spots. The decision on whether or not to keep an extra catcher will depend heavily on LaRue's recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery. LaRue contends he'll be ready by Opening Day but he could likely start the season on the disabled list.

Ross -- acquired in a March 21 trade with the Padres -- and Sardinha are out of options. Both would likely be claimed off of waivers by a catching-starved club.

Cruz, the Reds' pinch-hits leader last season with 20, has struggled at the plate during camp while batting .194 (6-for-31). Batting .356 (16-for-45), McCracken appears to have the edge but has been bothered lately by a sore right foot.

Throwing a wrench in the projections are two things -- the potential for a last-minute trade and veteran outfielder Brian Buchanan.

Buchanan, who was not even invited to big league camp, might be enticing for Narron and general manager Wayne Krivsky to consider keeping after he made the most of his chances. He batted an eye-popping .568 (21-for-37) with 13 RBIs in 20 games with Cincinnati this spring.




News and features:

• Arroyo stifles Red Sox in Reds' win
• Reds notes: Roster sees further trimming
• Dunn, Griffey lead Reds over Rays
• Reds notes: Second base not set
• Five-run sixth inning propels Reds
• Griffey stars as Reds rip Bucs
Multimedia:

• Reds Spring Training report: 350K
• Sheldon on Ruhle's cancer diagnosis
• Reds broadcaster Welsh on Dunn signing
• Reds GM Wayne Krivsky on plans
• MLB.com's Mark Sheldon on Krivsky
• Reds introduce new GM Krivsky
Spring Training info:
• MLB.com coverage | Schedule | Ballpark | Tickets

More on the cuts: The decision to cut Shackelford came down to control. The lefty posted a 4.50 ERA (six earned runs over 12 innings) in 10 games, but issued seven walks.

"Shackelford was inconsistent this spring, especially at throwing strikes," Narron said. "He did a good job against left-handers this spring. But overall, we would have liked to see a little more consistency. He's got to be able to get right-handers out."

The versatile Kata, who was claimed off waivers from Philadelphia earlier this month, batted just .143 (4-for-28) since joining the Reds. Bergolla missed most of camp with a high groin strain. He didn't play in his first game until Tuesday night.

Sick numbers: Harang, the Reds' Opening Day starter, put a crooked number (5) on the scoreboard for the first time all spring on Wednesday. It happened during the final inning of his final outing.

But Harang certainly had a valid excuse -- he was sick. Before the game, the right-hander said he needed to nap for about an hour to feel better.

Still, Harang looked good for three scoreless innings. After Cincinnati posted four runs during a long bottom of the fifth, Tampa Bay responded with five runs -- four of them charged to Harang. Overall, he gave up five runs on 10 hits. He also walked his first batter of the spring and struck out three.

"I ran out of gas. I was exhausted," said Harang, who still got the win and finished the spring 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA. "I'm getting a bug that's going around. I had a little temperature this morning. I haven't been sleeping the last couple of nights. I wanted to make sure I got my work in."

Harang pronounced himself ready for Monday's opener against the Cubs, but wasn't dwelling on it.

"It probably won't hit me until we get to Cincinnati," he said. "It probably won't hit me until that day."

[Heath]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

No more hometown junk.

Tell that to Pete Rose. And Jim Brosnan. And Bill Doran.

[KronoRed]

What decade were they again?