Reds Claim OF Matt Kata from Phils

[deltachi8]

Per Mark's blog.

EDIT: MATT Kata. My bad.

[Crash Davis]

He's a utility player, but he's actually more of an infielder.

Meh.

Let's see here: Aurilia, Womack, Menechino, Olmedo, Bergolla...and now Kata. How many futility infielders does one team need? Maybe Aurilia is trade bait as he was DanO's boy anyway, and Edwin's spring raking has made that insurance superfluous?

I see they released Allen Simpson to fit Kata on the 40 man. They must believe his control problems are unfixable, which is odd after they sent him to the AFL where he had success followed by his recent success this spring. A bit of a headscratcher.

[oneupper]

Originally Posted by deltachi8

Per Mark's blog.

EDIT: MATT Kata. My bad.

It's OK. We can make some chowder.

[pedro]

I think he catches too.

edit : guess not.

[savafan]

Originally Posted by oneupper

It's OK. We can make some chowder.

beat me to it.

[pedro]

oh goody. another marginal second baseman. we're cornering the market we are.

[Doc. Scott]

-Ohio native (Avon Lake)- attended sports-factory St. Ignatius.

-Vanderbilt grad. Ninth-round pick in 1999 by Arizona. Originally picked out of high school by Minnesota in 1996 (bingo!).

-Switch-hitter.

-Made the bigs at age 25 in 2003 and hit .257/.315/.420 in 78 games, playing mostly at second, sometimes at third, and occasionally at shortstop.

-Dropped to .247/.301/.364 in 42 games in the Diamondbacks' 51-111 2004 season, playing almost all second base.

-Thirty games in 2005 with Arizona and 10 with Philadelphia, but a total of 37 at-bats. Used primarily as a pinch-hitter, and didn't do much. The Phillies got him on July 22nd from Arizona for aged reliever Tim Worrell.

The Toronto Star's scouting report (these are always pretty optimistic):

ASSETS: Has everything you'd want in a utility player: defensive versatility, a strong glove, the ability to switch-hit, speed, hustle, and a little pop in his bat.

FLAWS: Struggles some as a left-handed hitter and breaking balls give him trouble.

CAREER POTENTIAL: A decent utility infielder.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by Crash Davis

I see they released Allen Simpson to fit Kata on the 40 man. They must believe his control problems are unfixable, which is odd after they sent him to the AFL where he had success followed by his recent success this spring. A bit of a headscratcher.

Hopefully the start of Krivsky culling the deadwood leftover from DanO.

Hopefully the Kata acquisition signals the end of Menechino and Womack.

[pedro]

I think they're trading Freel, why else would they continue to stock pile second basemen?

[Doc. Scott]

I think this development is good for fans if it might help accidentally get T-Woe out on his bony little ass.

Menechino doesn't have Kata's glove or pop, but he'll get on base more. I'm not sure that Krivsky would pick Frankie given those parameters.

Having Matt as your infield backup next to whichever of Freel or Aurilia isn't playing and Denorfia and Hatteberg and whoever's not catching that day on the bench... not a terribly bad reserve corps. Not much power, but good versatility and no total offensive zeroes.

Of course, we'll likely get Womack or McCracken instead of Denorfia at least to start. But even that still makes this bench better than the ones Bob Boone was sitting on.

[Crash Davis]

Originally Posted by flyer85

Hopefully the start of Krivsky culling the deadwood leftover from DanO.

Hopefully the Kata acquisition signals the end of Menechino and Womack.

That's what I figured. Krivsky must not be a Simpson fan. It just seemed like odd timing to me.

Here's a depressing thought. If we give Dave Williams the benefit of the doubt as the "major" offseason acquisition to bolster this ballclup, then Kata would have to be in the mix for the 2nd biggest addition along with such luminaries as Womack, Hatteberg, Hammond, Rick White, Gosling, Burns, Timo, McCracken & Balfour's mangled arm.

Is it too late to sign up for season tickets?

[savafan]

Originally Posted by pedro

I think they're trading Freel, why else would they continue to stock pile second basemen?

You may be right, but I hope not. I don't think Freel could get the kind of return that his value for the team would be equally replaced.

[pedro]

In just don't see them cutting Womack. But I'd love to be wrong.

I guess if Kata can play a competent SS then he might not be bad to have around in AAA.

[Crash Davis]

Rotoworld:

Reds claimed infielder Matt Kata off waivers from the Phillies.
This monopoly on mediocre second baseman doesn't seem at all likely to pay dividends for the Reds. Kata should have no place on the team with Ryan Freel, Rich Aurilia and Tony Womack all expected to have jobs, and since he's 28, he's not going to benefit from more Triple-A time. We just don't see any point to this waiver claim. Even Frank Menechino is probably a better player than Kata, and he's not going to have a roster spot. Mar. 15 - 2:03 pm et

Reds released RHP Allan Simpson.
Another surprising choice from the Reds. Simpson, acquired for Jose Acevedo a year ago, pitched very well in the AFL and had allowed just an unearned run over five innings this spring. The 28-year-old was neven going to amount to much despite his big fastball, but the Reds can hardly afford to keep throwing away their pitching depth like this. Mar. 15 - 2:00 pm et

[Doc. Scott]

Except Kata should be out of options. So he'd have to clear waivers.

My guess is that Matt isn't a terribly great shortstop if he plays mostly at second base. If he were a really good second baseman he'd probably have gotten more opportunities to play short.

As for third base, there's this recent Rotoworld nugget:

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Mar. 7, 2006 - 5:30 pm et

Matt Kata went 0-for-4 and committed three errors as the Phillies' third baseman today.
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