happy with where we're going?

[cincrazy]

Well ladies and gentleman, I've been a very busy man, and have been MIA from this site for a while. But, I'm glad to be back, and I'm curious as to how optimistic everyone is for the coming season. I have to be honest, I don't think we'll be a playoff team as currently constituted, but I can't remember the last time I had so much confidence in the Reds front office. I truly believe that sooner or later, these guys will get it right.

Krivsky isn't panicking, and so far (knock on wood) hasn't thrown millions of dollars at a vastly overrated starting pitcher. With Bailey, Wood, Votto, Bruce and others on the horizon, I'd rather see him stay patient and make some moves for the next few years.

This is my first time here in months, so I wanted to see what some opinions were. Do you feel comfortable enough in our future to be patient, or do you want us to make a BIG splash this offseason, whether it be trade or FA signing? I

I know it's not even December yet, but I'm already excited about the upcoming season. I think this team's on the right path. I'm not too concerned with the moves our rival's have made. Soriano and Lee will certainly help the Cubs and Astros, respectively, but long term, are those really sound deals? For the short term we may be in trouble, but when Soriano starts to slow down and Lee is the size of the Goodyear blimp, I think we'll be looking pretty in a few years!

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by cincrazy

Well ladies and gentleman, I've been a very busy man, and have been MIA from this site for a while. But, I'm glad to be back, and I'm curious as to how optimistic everyone is for the coming season. I have to be honest, I don't think we'll be a playoff team as currently constituted, but I can't remember the last time I had so much confidence in the Reds front office. I truly believe that sooner or later, these guys will get it right.

Krivsky isn't panicking, and so far (knock on wood) hasn't thrown millions of dollars at a vastly overrated starting pitcher. With Bailey, Wood, Votto, Bruce and others on the horizon, I'd rather see him stay patient and make some moves for the next few years.

This is my first time here in months, so I wanted to see what some opinions were. Do you feel comfortable enough in our future to be patient, or do you want us to make a BIG splash this offseason, whether it be trade or FA signing? I

I know it's not even December yet, but I'm already excited about the upcoming season. I think this team's on the right path. I'm not too concerned with the moves our rival's have made. Soriano and Lee will certainly help the Cubs and Astros, respectively, but long term, are those really sound deals? For the short term we may be in trouble, but when Soriano starts to slow down and Lee is the size of the Goodyear blimp, I think we'll be looking pretty in a few years!

You're excited because they've avoided stepping in the bucket of doodie?

Jeez, wait until they actually improve the club first.

I'll be honest, for as much griping as I do, I still can't exactly say where this team is going.

[TOBTTReds]

I personally don't like the direction. I'm not a "strikeout less" type of guy as long as there is production. You have to get on base at a decent rate unless you prevent a lot more runs than AGonz will. Not looking forward to a Dunn deal, unless it nets a MAJOR piece.

[terminator]

I'm more excited for 2008 or 2009 when we have the young talent ready to come up and have some payroll flexibility from Milton and Griffey's contracts being gone.

So far I'm glad Krivsky hasn't done any of the deals our rivals have done. I would have passed on Lee, Soriano, Pierre, Matthews and Speier. I don't think I've seen a FA signing I like this offseason aside from Gonzo and Casey.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by terminator

I'm more excited for 2008 or 2009 when we have the young talent ready to come up and have some payroll flexibility from Milton and Griffey's contracts being gone.

.

The only difference-maker in the minors, IMO, is Jay Bruce, who's likely to appear in 2009 at the earliest. No question that he's about as real as you're going to get as a prospect. He looks fantastic.

Bailey may make a dent in 2008, but I'd have to rank that as the longest of long shots when you consider the historical failure of this team to rear young pitching.

But I don't see a single other blue-chip minor leaguer in the bunch. Not a single one.

[Ltlabner]

I think we are headed in a good direction although there are many pitfalls ahead.

Kriv dealt with MI defense by adding Gonzo. He dealt with the 3 headed catching monster and saved some money (not as much as I would have liked). Added another arm in the bullpen (I'm not real thrilled about that one). Also, he's added some ML contracts to put in the pipeline for later on or as trade bait.

These are steps in the right direction. Nothing earth shattering, but steps that improve the team and move ahead none-the-less.

The major pitfalls revlove around starting pitching and another RH bat for 1B. Will they spend money to get them? Trade for them? Both? Stay with the staus quo (which would get a big thumbs down from me)? Lots of questions to be answered.

Not trade or FA activity, but how they deal with Jr next year will be a huge question IMO. If he's in RF and Deno/Freel are in CF I think that's a massive step in the "right direction".

But I like the level of activity we've seen here in Novemeber. Especially considering the wacky FA market.

[Redny]

I liked the Gonzalez signing. The Stanton signing is okay given what relievers are going for nowadays. I won't really be able to answer the title question until I see where things go over the next few weeks.

[Johnny Footstool]

The problem is, this team currently has a two-year window (at most) to be competitive. Arroyo will almost certainly be gone, and Harang may be gone as well unless he inks a multi-year deal. Dunn has two more years on his contract. Freel has one. Griffey aged dramatically last season and may be waiver fodder after 2007. We're talking about the core of the team here.

You can't expect Votto, Bruce, and Bailey to produce like veterans in 2008. They'll likely need a few years of seasoning. And by that time, Ross, Phillips, and Encarnacion will be expensive and/or approaching free agency.

The 2008-09 Reds will have plenty of holes to fill -- more than the 2007 Reds, IMO.

The team has cash right now. Overpaying a guy like Ted Lilly wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if he ends up like Eric Milton v.2.0. As I've said before, another Eric Milton would hurt the team a lot less than another Kearns/Lopez fiasco.

I say go for it.

[nmculbreth]

I'm happy that the Reds haven't gone out and made a splash (bad) signing so far but I'm still not sure the club has a real direction yet. After watching last years squad I think it's pretty safe to say this club is more than a defensive SS and another ancient middle reliever short of being competitive and given the lack of quality starting pitching / closers on the market I'm not sure the club is going to be able to adequately address it's most pressing needs. In my humble opinion spending a lot of money on spare parts for a mediocre team makes no sense.

I don't know about anyone else but if the club isn't going to win anyway I would have rather seen the club give some of their minor leaguers like Olmedo or Harris a shot rather than locking up a defensive SS with a sub .300 OBP to a multi year deal.

[M2]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

I'll be honest, for as much griping as I do, I still can't exactly say where this team is going.

I can't either. It's fun in a certain way. I knew where it was going when DanO was running the show and hated every second of it.

[Redsland]

Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool

The problem is, this team currently has a two-year window (at most) to be competitive. Arroyo will almost certainly be gone, and Harang may be gone as well unless he inks a multi-year deal. Dunn has two more years on his contract. Freel has one. Griffey aged dramatically last season and may be waiver fodder after 2007. We're talking about the core of the team here.

The team has cash right now. Overpaying a guy like Ted Lilly wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if he ends up like Eric Milton v.2.0. As I've said before, another Eric Milton would hurt the team a lot less than another Kearns/Lopez fiasco.

I say go for it.

Same here, Johnny.

[flyer85]

can't see that they are going anywhere. Seem to be running in place.

[Spring~Fields]

Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool

The problem is, this team currently has a two-year window (at most) to be competitive. Arroyo will almost certainly be gone, and Harang may be gone as well unless he inks a multi-year deal. Dunn has two more years on his contract. Freel has one. Griffey aged dramatically last season and may be waiver fodder after 2007. We're talking about the core of the team here.

You can't expect Votto, Bruce, and Bailey to produce like veterans in 2008. They'll likely need a few years of seasoning. And by that time, Ross, Phillips, and Encarnacion will be expensive and/or approaching free agency.

The 2008-09 Reds will have plenty of holes to fill -- more than the 2007 Reds, IMO.

The team has cash right now. Overpaying a guy like Ted Lilly wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if he ends up like Eric Milton v.2.0. As I've said before, another Eric Milton would hurt the team a lot less than another Kearns/Lopez fiasco.

I say go for it.

Johnny has laid this out very well and really seems to have his finger on the pulse, while speaking to my concerns.

[BRM]

Originally Posted by flyer85

can't see that they are going anywhere. Seem to be running in place.

Well, I guess that's better than running backwards.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by BRM

Well, I guess that's better than running backwards.

trading Larue and adding Moeller may have started that process.