my opening day lineup for 2008!

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by vic715

Hamilton-cf
Keppinger-3b
Griffey-rf
Phillips-2b
Dunn-lf
Votto/Cantu-1b
Gonzo -ss
Ross-c

To me its never been about the starters or the bench for that matter. If they comeback next year with the same kind of pitching then you can send an all-star team out there and still lose 90 games.Probably Dunn or EE will have to be traded to get pitching.I would keep Bruce in AAA unless he just comes out smoking next spring.

Like he is right now?

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

You would have a 21 year old on the bench rather than in AAA getting at bats every day?

Well it depends on what he does the rest of the year in AAA and in ST, around here 4th OF's get a lot of playing time, and I'd rather Bruce get a taste of the majors and be ready in 09 then the Reds have to sign an aging Reggie Sanders in 09 so Bruce has backup

[Jpup]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Like he is right now?

like he always does.

[remdog]

I think that a lot of what the opening lineup will be in '08 will depend upon who is the manager.

If the Reds hire a strong, experienced manager (Davey anyone?) on a 4 or 5 year contract I think that they will take a deep breath and commit to building with the kids, even if it means they aren't competitive in '08.

OTOH, if they use the manager's spot as a training ground for Rick Sweet or Ron Oester types on a 2 year contract for little money then I think it will be a very depressing year in '08. In fact, if that's the case, would worry greatly that EdE will be gone for some tired old arm and I would even worry a lot about Wayne dealing some good arms from the minor league system (maybe Bailey) so that he can make a splash with a 'name' pitcher like a Schilling or Buehrle. :thumbdown

Rem

[pahster]

Originally Posted by toledodan

we all need to admit the current way of doing things isn't working.
atleast with votto, bruce and cantu we have some new blood. cantu had close to 120 RBI's a couple of seasons ago. who was the last red to do that? griffey when he was in seattle?

That's all well and good, except for the fact that Cantu does absolutely nothing better than does Enacarnacion. He makes outs at an ungodly rate, he plays, by all accounts, atrocious defense, and only hit for power in 2004/2005, when many suggest he may have had chemical enhancement. His career SLG in the majors is pretty decent for a 2B (though because of his lack of defensive abilities, he's miscast at that position), but in the minors it was below .400. That's awful.

As for the RBI, their team dependent and SLG driven. He had a high (almost .500) SLG that year, so that fits. I'd imagine he got an awful lot of chances that year.

His game seemingly revolves around avoiding walks at all costs. If he's slugging at a high rate and hitting .300+, it can be ignored. If not... well... there's a reason why he's in the minors and playing poorly there.