Sorry, but Aurilia Is Valuable

[BuckU]

At the risk of causing an uproar...I have to lay down my opinion of Aurilia...

I think Rich is a very important member of this team. He has the ability to play all four infield positions, although I doubt we'll be seeing him at SS since the acquisition of Phillips. He has learned 1B in a pinch and is actually pretty decent. He has the ability to be moved around the infield late in ballgames to allow the Reds to have their most reliable infield out there to protect a lead.

He's pretty clutch with RISP as we all know. And as much as we like to make fun of "professional at bats", they do mean something (even I'm not sure what), and Aurilia provides them.

Over the course of his tenure in Cincinnati folks on here have blasted the signing. Last year he was signed to a 600K contract and clearly out-performed it, this year he signed for more (1.3M) and will likely under-perform it. But if you look at the cost for his two seasons, for less than 2M you got a pretty serviceable player who produces.

The other knock was hit attitude. It was a big distraction at the beginning of last season. I think that was more of a clash with Miley than anything. Maybe Miley over-promised playing time? Once Narron took over he appeard to accept his role more. And this year he seems to have a great attitude. We all saw Monday night when Lizard came out of the game and Rich walked down and offered his hand and a pat on the back. Classy thing to do in my opinion.

All in all, I think Rich is valuable. He is what he is, a slightly-more-than-average-part-time-player who is versatile and still has some life in his bat and not a burden financially.

I'm glad to have Aurilia on the club. :aurilia: =

[/cheesy rant complete]

[pedro]

I think he's an ok guy to have on the team if he's used correctly and thusfar this year I think Narron has been doing a pretty good job of utilizing him.

[traderumor]

His bashing is in the past. I'd say most, if not all, agree with you. Some of it has to do with an obvious attitude change. Folks are won over when they see someone admit by their actions that they have been humbled and understand their role. Heck, I can almost live with him in the 3 spot with Griffey out of there.

[Ohioballplayer]

Buck, Pedro, I agree with you both, but let us not forget about his excellent hitting with runners on.

[M2]

Originally Posted by pedro

I think he's an ok guy to have on the team if he's used correctly and thusfar this year I think Narron has been doing a pretty good job of utilizing him.

Yep. My problems with Aurilia ended when Felipe took the starting SS job from him. If he's going to be deployed as a bench player and if he can swallow his ego to accept that, then I don't mind having Aurilia around.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by M2

Yep. My problems with Aurilia ended when Felipe took the starting SS job from him. If he's going to be deployed as a bench player and if he can swallow his ego to accept that, then I don't mind having Aurilia around.

Absolutely. A bench player with a bit of pop is the best kind of bench player to have, IMO.

[CTA513]

Originally Posted by traderumor

His bashing is in the past. I'd say most, if not all, agree with you. Some of it has to do with an obvious attitude change. Folks are won over when they see someone admit by their actions that they have been humbled and understand their role. Heck, I can almost live with him in the 3 spot with Griffey out of there.

My problem with him last year was his attitude. I think he finally realized his role with the team and accepted it.

[gonelong]

Originally Posted by BuckU

At the risk of causing an uproar...I have to lay down my opinion of Aurilia...

I think Rich is a very important member of this team. He has the ability to play all four infield positions, although I doubt we'll be seeing him at SS since the acquisition of Phillips. He has learned 1B in a pinch and is actually pretty decent. He has the ability to be moved around the infield late in ballgames to allow the Reds to have their most reliable infield out there to protect a lead.

I have no issues with Rich this season. He is a high contact hitter which helps to balance out this lineup ... and I think he has done a decent job at 1B. HIs range is very pedestrian, so saying he can man 4 positions is a bit misleading. IMO he passes at 2B IMO, is pretty decent at 1B, is merely adequate at 3B, and is horrible at SS.

He's pretty clutch with RISP as we all know. And as much as we like to make fun of "professional at bats", they do mean something (even I'm not sure what), and Aurilia provides them.

We have a whole lineup of guys that have "professional at bats" ... to a man the guys are seeing a good amount of pitches ... it makes the pitcher work, gets us to the long-relief guys, makes the fielders stand around, etc.

Clutch? Fleeting. He certainly didn't get it done on the road last year.

Over the course of his tenure in Cincinnati folks on here have blasted the signing. Last year he was signed to a 600K contract and clearly out-performed it, this year he signed for more (1.3M) and will likely under-perform it. But if you look at the cost for his two seasons, for less than 2M you got a pretty serviceable player who produces.

Out of context it might seem irrational. In a vacuum, the RA signing in either year was nothing to get extremely worked up about. However, it wasn't in a vacuum.

His signing was blasted, and rightly so, because of the possibility that he would steal ABs from Lopez ... and he did. It looked like a replay of that this season, however, EE hit so well in ST and has carried it over to the start of the season that he has secured the position.

The other knock was hit attitude. It was a big distraction at the beginning of last season. I think that was more of a clash with Miley than anything. Maybe Miley over-promised playing time? Once Narron took over he appeard to accept his role more. And this year he seems to have a great attitude. We all saw Monday night when Lizard came out of the game and Rich walked down and offered his hand and a pat on the back. Classy thing to do in my opinion.

Rich has shown a better attitude, though, I think a bit of that could be contributed to the notion that nobody other than the Reds made a serious play for him this off-season.

GL

[membengal]

He's now being used as I hoped he would originally be used, he isn't complaining about it, and he's producing. No complaints here.

Just wish Miley had known how to use him, but that's a different discussion. Narron is really impressing me at this point (didn't think I would say that back in about mid-March).

[KronoRed]

He's a backup and as long as he stays one (not a starter) and doesn't call the press everytime he fails to start I have no qualms with him on the team

[RedsManRick]

As he's currently being utilized, he's a valuable player. As your everyday 2B/3B getting 600 ABs a year while your .380 OBP guy sits on the bench, he's not.

[REDREAD]

Really, I don't think Rich ever had an attitude problem last year. A few quotes from him hoping to get more playing time or hoping to get traded to a contender were blown out of proportion.

Let's be honest, is it reasonable to expect a player on the downside of his career, who was just signed for 600k to be all "gung ho" about playing for Cincy last year, especially when DanO probably promised him a lot more playing time then he ended up getting? Cincy was a place for him to keep his career going. It's hard to blame him for wanting to be traded to a contender while he's sitting on the bench on a 5th place team.

[kbrake]

I think like people have said the only problems with Rich last year were that 1. Felipe should have started at SS out of spring and everyone knew it. 2. The comments he made and the percieved attitude and maybe REDREAD is right and it was blown out of proportion. Its not like people though Aurilia was a Womack and could serve no useful purpose.

[OldXOhio]

Originally Posted by REDREAD

Really, I don't think Rich ever had an attitude problem last year. A few quotes from him hoping to get more playing time or hoping to get traded to a contender were blown out of proportion.

Let's be honest, is it reasonable to expect a player on the downside of his career, who was just signed for 600k to be all "gung ho" about playing for Cincy last year, especially when DanO probably promised him a lot more playing time then he ended up getting? Cincy was a place for him to keep his career going. It's hard to blame him for wanting to be traded to a contender while he's sitting on the bench on a 5th place team.

Yeah, I think some on here expressed their frustration w/ RA not so much with his attitude, but rather with the possibility that he would be taking time away from youngsters like Felipe that were the future of this organization. In that role, having RA in the lineup pointed to everything that was wrong with this organization.

[George Foster]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

Absolutely. A bench player with a bit of pop is the best kind of bench player to have, IMO.

He won the "Silver Bat award" while with the Giants. I like him. I also thinks he demands respects with the players of other teams.

personal note: I'm finally a member of "The Old Red Guard" thank-you for the points, I'll try not to embarrass myself. I hope you respect my opinion.