bird in the hand and a pack of dynamite strapped to it.
Yeah! Another thread to discuss the Rolen trade! Just like ex-wives, you can never have enough of them.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
Not sure if you're joking or not.
For a reliever, runs allowed is only one measurement. Stewart has had a few less than stellar outings with the Toronto organization, and some very good ones. His WHIP is over 2, which is quite high.
His first three outings were very good. On 8/14 he allowed four hits and a run in one-third of an inning. On 8/16 he walked two in an inning. He allowed five baserunners, but no runs, in 3.2 innings on 8/24 and 8/27 (combined) (not bad). And then on 8/31 he allowed four runs and five hits in two thirds of an inning.
I don't put too much stock in these early returns, but that's what he's done.
8/14: Really poor outing (four hits and a run in one-third of an inning)
8/16: Bad outing (2 baserunners in an inning is poor, no matter the results.)
8/24: Average outing (2 baserunners in 1.2 innings, but 2 K's make it okay.)
8/27: Good outing (2 innings, 3 baserunners, not bad)
8/31: Really poor outing
All in all, probably not the start Stewart wanted with his new team. Of course, this puts him at a 2.62 ERA in AAA, with 22 K's in 20.1 IP. (On the negative side, he does have 12 BBs and there have been 25 his against him in those 20.1 innings.)
A good prospect, certainly, but not worth the amount of hand-wringing currently being displayed on Redszone.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I measure success by the number of Championship Trophies the REDS get. Any goal other than that is one I find counter-productive.
Scott Rolen does nothing for the REDS towards the earning of a Championship. Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart could have.
In a small market club the key for winning a Championship is really simple. There's some other ways, but I prefer this one:
The exact formula that worked for the 1990 REDS, and it's the formula I've felt that the REDS have had to follow since about 1984, even since it was obvious they would never be able to compete in the Free Agent Market.
That familiar formula:
1. One Uber-Ace (must be one of the 5 best pitchers in MLB that year).
2. Outstanding bullpen (must be top-5 bullpen in MLB that year).
3. One Uber-clutch power hitter, but it doesn't have to be league leading power, just Top-25 power. Adam Dunn is not clutch, so he's not the type. Bruce will be and Votto already is.
4. Great Defense all around, especially up the middle (Catcher, SS, 2B, CF).
5. A good farm system to fill out the rest of the positions and bench and many of the aabove-mentioned players.
6. Trade or acquire in Free Agency 2 or 3 of #'s 1, 3, and 4.
I do believe that Walt understands this philosophy and would like to get there. I don't believe Dusty does. I think Walt made a mistake in thinking that Rolen has enough left to still be a RED when we can reach that window.
Roenicke would have been a part of #2. Stewart would have been a part of #2 or a good replacement for Harang or Arroyo in 2011.
Cueto has a chance to be the Uber-Ace. I don't think Volquez or Bailey have that. We are very close. Rolen fixes some of the defensive problems. But, we could have gotten him for much less after the season. We'd still have Zach Stewart on the team. Walt panicked.
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