Ordonez wouldn't be horrible, but I think he'll be too expensive. I think his agent is Boras? They'll trick somebody into giving him a multi-year deal, or he'll sign a big one-year deal with Detroit to DH.
That will be Walt's job, not Dusty's. I would guarantee that, if provided a legitimat option, Dusty would play him. Remember, last year's flavor was Dickerson. The gold glover who gets on base with pop. Then he put up a historically bad April and got hurt. Then Heisey was everyone's fav after he beat up Pitt a few times. He got a chance and did nothing with it. Then it was Nix, who many wanted released just a month or two earlier. He got hurt. Then Jocketty traded for Edmonds, who made Dickerson loom like Gehrig.
There were a few times that it looked like Jonny was going to have his role reduced but no one took advantage for a few reasons. If Walt can get someone to help I am sure he will and I am sure that Dusty would play him. But for all the screaming and yelling done this year, did Dusty really have a better choice?
No, the LF issue this year was entirely on Walt. Fair criticism considering how good the rest of the roster was? Probably not. But where there is a weakness, it should be addressed at some point. Hopefully this year changes things.
However, once Gomes' bat went south, and it was pretty clear it wasn't coming back, why not go with the better defensive option in Heisey? I'm not a Heisey fan by any means, but at least he could have provided some defense out there.
I think because Heisey became a huge liability at the plate dowen the stretch, even more so than Gomes was in the field. Gomes' bat went south, but he still out produced Heisey at the oplate by a wide margin.
Chris saw his most PAs of the season in Sept/Oct and provided us with a .234/.258/.359 line. 1 HR, 7 RBI and a 21-1 BB-K ratio in 67 PAs. I would imagine that Heisey could have stolen that job if he produced and he didn't.
The more I think about it, the more I've decided that unless a screamer of a deal falls into Jocketty's lap this offseason, standing pat in LF this off-season is the way to go.
It's generally a pricey proposition to buy in the off-season. 30 teams are trying to renew season tickets and convince their fan bases that next year's team will contend. Salary dump trades are a little tougher to find. Few teams want to give the illusion that they are throwing in the towel before pitchers & catchers report. Sign a big name FA and you have to win a bidding war, plus forfeit a pick in the subsequent draft.
Instead, I say hold things in LF as/is and instead look to find that impact LF bat at the ASB / trade deadline next season. That's when teams are out of the race, looking to dump salary, and begin retooling for the next season. Sellers are more motivated. There's an actual deadline that pushes sellers to consumate a deal and sell. No such deadline in the off-season. Plus, there are only a handful of teams who are looking to buy in late July. Less competition from other buyers.
You also get the benefit of paying only about 1/3 of the acquired player's salary. This is not insignificant if you are a small market club like the Reds.
During the off-season, I'd rather see Walt doing the legwork to address longer term issues. Namely, a SS. The Reds, and I can't believe I'm even typing this, actually have some depth in starting pitching. A good glove and bat MI is one of the few times you should deal a suprlus of pitching. If there is a potential to deal a Volquez/Cueto/Wood/Leake/Bailey + for a glove/bat SS like Hanley Ramirez (or similar), the off-season is the time to make that kind of deal.
Votto for MVP
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Why isn't it happening? The dollar amounts seem to be slightly suppressed the last year or so around baseball. That actually seems like a figure that will wind up being the going rate.
I'm not saying $20 million or more is out of the question, but I think 15 is very possible.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."
http://dalmady.blogspot.com
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |