Jack Hannahan was not a bad signing last year. At the point he was signed, Frazier appeared to be more bat than glove and a defensive minded 3b to spell him at the end of the game was needed. It was not a bad signing at the time. The opposite turned out to be true about Todd. His bat struggled and he picked up the D so Jack was less needed. Going into this year, what happens if Hannahan is let go and Fraziers glove regresses? The Reds would be left defensively between a rock and a hard place. The guy lacks power but he isn't an auto out. Santiago has had offensive success in the past. He's not too shabby. The primary lefty bat is Shumacker and righty is Heisey. Don't forget lutz in AAA. Those aren't as bad of options as some make it sound. The bench was improved in the offseason IMO. I don't get the hand wringing. These guys are bench players not platoon players or starters. Bench players, good ones, usually have some redeeming quality and it's up to the manager to insert them accordingly. IMO Baker was poor in this category. Hopefully Price is better and we get more from the bench.
Really IMO the only thing the bench lacks is some left handed pop. That may be in AAA in the form of Donald Lutz. Hannahan IMO should be kept around in case of a Frazier defensive regression. To me it seems like there's a lot of wishing that our backups would put up starter type numbers. SS with a good OBP and some pop tend to be starters.
Last edited by Old school 1983; 02-07-2014 at 07:50 PM.
Well, a .316 lifetime OBP isn't particularly good, but the Reds have a number of other players with much worse OBPs for their careers or last season.
Including two starting players (of an 8 man lineup) who can't get their OBP above .300.
So if we're talking "auto outs" which is the phrase that was used, Hannahan is far from the worst offender on the ball club.
Nobody is asking for a starter caliber backup. What the real desire is for is a backup who isn't one of the worst hitters in the league.
The Reds seem to think that all their bench players need to play gold glove caliber defense for some reason. They shouldn't. A bench player with both a competent glove and bat is far preferable.
A guy like Heisey? But his OBP isn't high enough right? Or a guy like Shumacker? Despite being able to play multiple positions his D isn't good enough. All back up players have their talents, but they also have their issues. That's why they are backups. Guys with solid bats and solid gloves become starters. If they true backups and not a platoon, then it's usually because they have come up through the system and really don't have a spot due to being blocked by a veteran a la Frazier in 2012 and usually get a chance to start later. Right nkw the only guy in the system that possibly fits that bill at least to me is Lutz maybe Soto or Rodriguez. There really isn't such thing as a strong bat and strong glove true backup (not platoon) unless they are an up and comer on the bench who will get a shot to start down the road or someone in the system who is blocked by someone who is much better. Guys like you described are hard to find because they are either platoon players or starters. Not true backups.
Once again, you're using the word strong as an equivalent to competent. That's not what that means. Schumaker doesn't play good defense, but it's competent enough for a backup. He can get by out there without killing you.
That's not really the case with Hannahan for example, whose hitting is so far below acceptable that he becomes a drag, even as a bench player.
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