The reds may well be involved in another deal or two before opening day. There was a bit of caterwauling about what a bad off season the reds were having.
Understanding that it's spring and...well, everything looks better in the spring? How do you feel about the off season now?
They way I saw it, Krivsky needed to...
Find a shortstop. Not three guys who can do part of the job, but one guy.
He's pretty much done that. You can argue with his choice, but the reds have a guy who deserves a full time shortstop gig far more than Clayton, Aurlia or Castro.
Get the elephant out of centerfield. It has become increasingly apparent that Junior isn't really a centerfielder anymore. He's done that. Between Freel, Denorfia, Hamilton, Hopper and Crosby, there are any number of true centerfielders in camp. Even Junior has to see that the team is better with Junior in right and one of those guys in center.
sign a righthanded platoon bat. Either Aurlia or somebody like that. We got Jeff Conine. This is a tough one. You want a decent player here, but you don't want somebody good enough that Junior can say..."Hey...why doesn't this guy start in right and I'll be in center." but you want somebody good enough that you don't mind sitting Hatteberg for him against lefties. Conine fits that profile about as well as anybody.
Lock up the two big starters. I never dreamed the reds would actually do this, but they have their two best starting pitchers locked up for the foreseeable future. That's ...That's huge.
The reds shed Rey Olmedo, Willioam Bergolla, Brandon Claussen Brendan Harris David Shafer, Michalik and Jason Standridge and picked up Saarloos, Livingston, Keppinger and Gill.
In a move worthy of Jim Bowden, Krivsky snuck two rule v picks into the system who both might be capable of making the roster and lasting out the season. Even if Josh Hamilton is only lefty pinch hitting power off the bench that can run and play outfield D, he's worth the money and most likely the roster spot.
The reds paid a lot of money to shed themselves of Jason LaRue. They then replaced him with Chad Moeller who is bad enough that they may not even carry three catchers this year. Crazy like a fox. If Moeller will actually go to AAA, that's a coup.
Feeling he had four starters, he didn't overspend in the free agent market. He's giving Belisle a clear shot at a starting job and has guys in place if Belisle fails (Saarloos, Santos). Here again, you can argue with the perception that he has four starters, but given that he felt that way, he's upgraded the tail of the rotation from what we are used to seeing.
He rebuilt his bullpen without dramatically overpaying for a closer. From where I sit, I think he's brought in too many high priced vets with too many innings on their arms, but there are going to be a ton of guys at AAA that he can call up once Narron slags the vets. Many of the vets (Guardado, Hermanson, Wilson, Santos, Lightenberg, Meadows) are essntially no-cost signings.
Given that they guy has been on the job for a year, I think the way he has turned over the roster has been superb. Without breaks, the reds are not contenders yet, but they are much closer to a baseball team than they were 14 months ago. The reds may have a "rebound" year where they only win 78 games or so and that could be percieved as a failure, but considering where Dan O'brien left them, that would be extraordinary.
Plug Votto in at first and Baily into the rotation, and darn good things could happen in 08.