Walt Jocketty Poll Time

[KronoRed]

I for incomplete, so far I'm not sold this guy is that much better then Wayne.

[M2]

It's not fair to grade Jocketty. He's proven himself capable in the past. The hopelessness of the Cincinnati Reds overwhelms all. Branch Rickey would be a disaster with this franchise.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

Feeling generous (and desperately hoping he's not in over his head) so I gave him a C.

Probably more like a C- (if it were an option).

Just what this organization needs. Sweet.

[AmarilloRed]

I have to give him a D for his moves so far. He needs some improvement quick.

[fearofpopvol1]

None of the principal prospects gone. No pitching lost. Upgraded catcher. Well, most important of all, he's not even had one offseason.

I'm not going to jump off a bridge because he acquired a .700 OPS CF without losing any prospects in the bargain.

I agree with this. This entire thread is based almost exclusively around the Taveras move.

I don't think it's really fair to grade Jocketty until spring training starts. All of the players the Reds realistically hoped to possibly acquire are still without homes at this point.

This poll should absolutely have an option that would indicate it's too early to say.

[Vada Pinson Fan]

None of the principal prospects gone. No pitching lost. Upgraded catcher. Well, most important of all, he's not even had one offseason.

I'm in the same group as Falls City Beer and Buckeye Redleg. I'm not ready to call it a lost season by a long shot but I previously thought (3 months ago) Jocketty would have a very good offseason. I didn't expect Mark Teixeira to be brought to the Reds by WJ and I most certainly didn't expect Taveras here either but that's what we have;Taveras, like it or not. How can Bob Castellini be so impatient for a winner and now witness a move like this?

So I continue to hold out hope, wish for the best and give Walt Jocketty an incomplete grade as of today. Let's hope the Reds GM signs or trades for a proven OPS guy to hit cleanup. As good as Brandon Phillips is, he is not a 4th place hitter.

[GAC]

It's not fair to grade Jocketty. He's proven himself capable in the past. The hopelessness of the Cincinnati Reds overwhelms all. Branch Rickey would be a disaster with this franchise.

Agreed. I'm not going to be so quick to judge at this stage. The FA market, looking at our needs and what "ails" us wasn't offering up much in those specific areas. That is not Jocketty's fault. Where, so far, have we seen a lot of movement going on within this market?

It's nice, as fans, to be able to sit back and look at your Sears "wish book" and talk about how you'd like to have this or that player, and how they would be a good fit for this team; but quite a different thing when it comes to the other variables we, as fans, don't always take into consideration, or have any control over. GMs have to though.

He's let some "dregs' walk from this roster, held onto our younger players/prospects, and not saddled this team with bad, guaranteed, long-term contracts.

You have to "pick n choose" your moments, and right now those moments really haven't presented themselves. You don't make moves just for the sake of making moves.

[Caveat Emperor]

In all fairness, I can't give a grade until the roster is set going to spring training.

It doesn't fill me with warm and fuzzy feelings, though, to hear the name Norris Hopper being thrown around as a candidate for LF. Walt needs to go get himself a masher for the middle of the lineup. As has been pointed out, he's been historically good at acquiring big bats (see: Edmonds, Pujols, Rolen).

If he can find a .850+ OPS bat, I'll think about issuing a passing mark for the offseason.

[mth123]

So far, the best player he has acquired is Nick Masset and he's screwed the pooch on that one by bringing in other bullpen mediocrities to push him off the roster or to try some ill fated idea of making him a starter. He's done some good in the addition by subtraction department, but negated much of that with the Willy T acquisition.

Not giving away his prospects keeps him off the F-List, but some improvement is needed to upgrade from "D."

[edabbs44]

He also gave up a .900 OPS bat for well, just about nothing.

1.5 months of said bat

[wheels]

So far, the best player he has acquired is Nick Masset and he's screwed the pooch on that one by bringing in other bullpen mediocrities to push him off the roster or to try some ill fated idea of making him a starter. He's done some good in the addition by subtraction department, but negated much of that with the Willy T acquisition.

Not giving away his prospects keeps him off the F-List, but some improvement is needed to upgrade from "D."

Wow.

That is something I hadn't thought about. The best player's he's accquired in his tenure is Nick Masset.

I'm gonna cry.

[Raisor]

I can see any grades from B-F, I really can. I just don't get the idea that two of you (so far) think he's done an Amazing job.

Really?

[macro]

A grade at this point in the off-season is similar to a midterm grade in college - it's an indicator, but likely to be deemed insignificant when the final grades are issued in March. FCB summed it up pretty well for me.

[membengal]

Agreed. I'm not going to be so quick to judge at this stage. The FA market, looking at our needs and what "ails" us wasn't offering up much in those specific areas. That is not Jocketty's fault. Where, so far, have we seen a lot of movement going on within this market?

It's nice, as fans, to be able to sit back and look at your Sears "wish book" and talk about how you'd like to have this or that player, and how they would be a good fit for this team; but quite a different thing when it comes to the other variables we, as fans, don't always take into consideration, or have any control over. GMs have to though.

He's let some "dregs' walk from this roster, held onto our younger players/prospects, and not saddled this team with bad, guaranteed, long-term contracts.

You have to "pick n choose" your moments, and right now those moments really haven't presented themselves. You don't make moves just for the sake of making moves.

In fairness, GAC, whether the market lined up or not, I would have expected Jock to NOT bring in one of the worst players in baseball to "fill a need". The phrase that keeps running through my head is "first do no harm". Fail.

Even if they bagel'd on the FA market and came up small, this team is better off rolling the dice with Dickerson. I still can't fathom why the Reds have bought into a player who, if everything breaks right, OPS's way up at .720 or so. I mean, it boggles the mind.

Just out of curiosity, would people be defending a move to bring in Juan Castro to fill the SS hole? Because that is essentially what the Reds have done with Taveras.

Man, speed must really seduce. Unseemly.

[Mario-Rijo]

I'd have to say C at best if I look at it from an unbiased perspective. If I do the opposite then there is no "C" there is only A or bust and in that regard he's a bust.

I'm not so sure I feel all that comfortable judging him though because there is no way to judge him completely fairly. He has someone to answer and so far the lip service from ownership has not matched up to the actions made by either of his GM's. So what's the problem? I hardly doubt 2 different GM's have purposely ignored his pleas for the losing to stop now. Or that they were both too incompetent to get the job done. What I am starting to see is an owner who is one clever salesman who has now hired a competent gm in terms of managing expectations. Walt gives us enough info to let us believe we are on the right track but tempers expectations with convenient and even somewhat logical excuses. So that when he carries out their actual plan he can blame it on something other than intent without completely losing his credibility.

Wayne's biggest mistake seems more apparent than ever, he didn't allow for us to believe in immediate contention because he didn't believe it. Walt doesn't believe it either but understands how important it is to create the illusion that they are trying. Krivskys style be it difficult to follow was in retrospect a lot less cruel and unusual at least.