Reds keeping Kearns as part of the solution

[steig]

I saw this online about Kullman deciding to keep Kearns in Cincy unless they get an overwhelming offer. I prefer to keep Kearns in Cincy and haven't like the potential players that have been talked about in Kearns deals.

Reds commit to keeping Kearns :beerme:
Interim GM's vote of confidence silences recent trade rumors
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com


CINCINNATI -- All of the recent trade rumors surrounding Reds right fielder Austin Kearns appear to be doused for the time being.

Kearns' name has run rampant in media reports all week since new owner/chief executive officer Robert Castellini dismissed general manager Dan O'Brien and named baseball operations director Brad Kullman the team's interim GM.

Kullman spent the past couple of days huddling with top advisors from the baseball operations staff, and the consensus of the group was that Kearns should stay unless there's an overwhelming offer.

"We have no active talks going on involving Austin Kearns, and we have no plans to trade him," Kullman said on Saturday afternoon.

Reports this week had both Cleveland and Boston interested in acquiring Kearns from Cincinnati, which is seeking an established starting pitcher and a closer before Spring Training.

On Friday, Cleveland added outfielder Jason Michaels from the Phillies in exchange for reliever Arthur Rhodes. The Indians also sent left fielder Coco Crisp to the Red Sox for three players in a separate deal.

Kearns has battled injuries that have limited his playing time the past few seasons, but he will get to play every day this season for the first time in his career. That became possible when Cincinnati moved Adam Dunn from the outfield to first base upon trading first baseman Sean Casey to Pittsburgh this winter.

During a Q&A session at a Reds Winter Caravan stop in Dayton on Saturday, a fan asked manager Jerry Narron about Kearns' status.

"Austin Kearns will be our right fielder this year," Narron told the crowd. "We're going to give him a chance to play."

"We feel that Kearns is going to be part of the solution here," Kullman said. "We want him to be in right field. He's a potential Gold Glove winner, and his bat can help this team win."


Meanwhile, Kullman said that he's continuing to talk with other clubs about making any potential deals.

"It's not a very active time right now," said Kullman, who is one of six candidates scheduled to interview for the permanent GM job next week. "A few teams are making deals, as people can see, but a lot of teams aren't really in that mode."

[iaredsfan]

I don't have a real problem with this, however we still need pitching, and we're going to have to give up something to get a decent starter. Griffey? Dunn? Pena?

[Caveat Emperor]

I truly do question the wisdom of all this.

If they're fielding offers for Kearns right now and names are coming up like Jake Westbrook and Matt Clement, there were probably even better names floating around during the winter meetings and prior to the start of free agency. Now, with all the teams pretty much set into their lineups, it's only a few teams bidding against one another as opposed to many teams all looking to add players at various position. Despite that, this still might be their best chance to get return on Kearns.

All of this trade talk with Kearns revolves around his "potential" to develop into an all-star calibur outfielder. That "potential" isn't a limitless commodity; the tag tarnishes with every passing season (Hell, every passing month) where he plays below an acceptable level. If he goes out this season and has another mediocre year, the number of teams willing to buy into "potential" dwindles even further.

We'll have to see how the season plays out, but Kullman is setting himself up to look like either a genius (if Kearns goes out and returns to his rookie form, where he was posting a plus-.900 OPS and absolutely raking the ball) or just a continuation of the O'Brien regime, unable to strike quickly enough to get value for talent. Either way, this is a big season for Austin Kearns and the Reds stake in him (either as trade bait or as an offensive and defensive anchor).

If I'm Kullman, I send him somewhere with a film room and a batting cage and tell him to start figuring out how to hit the hard, inside stuff that pitchers have been feeding him for the past two years.

[RollyInRaleigh]

His hands have not been right since he had the problem with his thumb.

[RFS62]

I know it's not the popular opinion around here, but I still think if Austin gets dedicated to fitness and starts working harder at his craft, he will be a much better major leaguer than Wily Mo.

I'm hoping last year was a wake up call. He's skated by on potential for years. He's been told that he's a future all star for so long it looks to me like he took it for granted.

[steig]

I agree RFS62, we need to see what type of heart he has.

[KronoRed]

I don't have a real problem with this, however we still need pitching, and we're going to have to give up something to get a decent starter. Griffey? Dunn? Pena?
Everyone wants pitching and the OF is the easiest place to find O so people aren't going to making us any big offers for them.

[George Foster]

There are a lot of good stat people that post here. What was Kearns stats after he came back form Lousiville? What was his stats before the thumb injury?

[George Foster]

His hands have not been right since he had the problem with his thumb.

Before they shut him down in 04, he tried to come back. During BP his thumb started bleeding because the bone spurs were puncturing through the skin..wow that's a real injury.

[StillFunkyB]

I am glad to hear this, honestly.

[Aronchis]

If Kullman isn't GM, this discussion is all for not.

[John McGwire]

And maybe the Reds are driving the price up for teams who want Kearns.

[deltachi8]

Well, I question this is well. I'm sorry, but I am no longer an optomist when it comes to Kearns. He is the one I would move if I could. Not give him away mind you, but make a trade, take a chance to improve this awful pitching.

[MattyHo4Life]

And maybe the Reds are driving the price up for teams who want Kearns.

I don't think the price can possibly go any higher. Kearns' price is as high as it will get, and it can only go lower. Teams want Kearns based on his potential from 3 or 4 years ago. The last two seasons have not been good at all. Most Reds fans, and the Reds front office seem to overvalue Kearns, and expect the moon for him. With every season that passes, it's looking more and more like he will never be the player that everybody once thought he would be. Of course the Reds would love to get a front of the rotation starter for Kearns, but those pitchers are worth a lot more than a player like Kearns. Teams that are bidding on Kearns are offering above average starters in the hopes of Kearns finding that promise that he once had, and becoming a good player again. For that, teams are willing to take a leap of faith, at least for now. Kearns only has a couple of years until he's a Free Agent, and his value is on the decline. The Reds can flip him now for a good (not great) Starting Pitcher or they can wait and always wonder what might have been.

[Jpup]

I don't think the price can possibly go any higher. Kearns' price is as high as it will get, and it can only go lower. Teams want Kearns based on his potential from 3 or 4 years ago. The last two seasons have not been good at all. Most Reds fans, and the Reds front office seem to overvalue Kearns, and expect the moon for him. With every season that passes, it's looking more and more like he will never be the player that everybody once thought he would be. Of course the Reds would love to get a front of the rotation starter for Kearns, but those pitchers are worth a lot more than a player like Kearns. Teams that are bidding on Kearns are offering above average starters in the hopes of Kearns finding that promise that he once had, and becoming a good player again. For that, teams are willing to take a leap of faith, at least for now. Kearns only has a couple of years until he's a Free Agent, and his value is on the decline. The Reds can flip him now for a good (not great) Starting Pitcher or they can wait and always wonder what might have been.

or they can keep him and see what happens. he's cheap and has a huge upside. no reason to deal him unless you get exactly what you want. the Reds need his defense.

[Chip R]

I know it's not the popular opinion around here, but I still think if Austin gets dedicated to fitness and starts working harder at his craft, he will be a much better major leaguer than Wily Mo.

I'm hoping last year was a wake up call. He's skated by on potential for years. He's been told that he's a future all star for so long it looks to me like he took it for granted.

Oh, I think so too. The only advantages WMP has over Austin is his power and speed. Pena probably won't get much better defensively and he probably won't make a lot more contact than he is now. We've had a glimpse of what Kearns can do. He was so good it was scary.

I'm somewhat worried now that DanO is gone that AK will start coasting again. DanO has a lot of faults as a GM but he wasn't afraid to demote Kearns last season. Now that he's gone it's possible that Kearns feels vindicated and will go back to his old habits.

[MattyHo4Life]

or they can keep him and see what happens. he's cheap and has a huge upside. no reason to deal him unless you get exactly what you want. the Reds need his defense.

The Reds can get a good pitcher that will help them, but I don't think they'll ever get as much as they want for him. If he has another bad season, then no team will offer anything of quality for him. You would rather use Kearns as a defensive replacement that trade him for one of these pitchers that teams have been rumored to be offering?

[OldXOhio]

I'm somewhat worried now that DanO is gone that AK will start coasting again. DanO has a lot of faults as a GM but he wasn't afraid to demote Kearns last season. Now that he's gone it's possible that Kearns feels vindicated and will go back to his old habits.

If you, I and everyone else on here knows that AK's got to fully commit to this his "last chance" type season with the Reds, don't you think AK does as well? Perhaps he won't be proactive , that remains to be seen. However, before he sees his first pitch in spring training, I'd think a sit down with Austin explaining exactly what's at stake for him will be in order.

[RFS62]

I think we're going to get a real good look into Austins head when we see how he shows up at spring training.

After all the things that happened to him last year, if he doesn't show up buff and in top shape, he's crazy.

The bars are full of guys who once had potential.

[westofyou]

mwball75 (Cincinnati, OH): Will trading Kearns for pitching really improve this team enough to contend? Why not hold onto him and try to improve via free agency next year?

Nate Silver: A great number of Kearns questions. I think it's telling that his #1 comparable is Pat Burrell. Like Burrell after 2003, he's a guy that should expect some rebound at the plate. But he's also looking like more of an "old players skills" guy than the all-around player people were hoping they'd get a couple of years ago, and I don't know if he's going to be a good big leaguer past the age of 30.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=163

[remdog]

So, has anyone seen or heard anything about Kearns and an off-season conditioning program? Does he have one? If so, is it being followed? In what kind of condition will AK show up in Sarasota?

Rem

[M2]

I think we're going to get a real good look into Austins head when we see how he shows up at spring training.

After all the things that happened to him last year, if he doesn't show up buff and in top shape, he's crazy.

The bars are full of guys who once had potential.

Yep. That's my thinking too. We'll probably know what we need to know about Austin when he shows for ST.

And I'll second the Nate Silver old player's skills observation.

[REDREAD]

I don't think the price can possibly go any higher. Kearns' price is as high as it will get, and it can only go lower.

I agree completely. In fact, in my mind Kearns value has already slipped a little bit in every year since his rookie year.

Kearns only has 3 years left until FA. If the Reds don't move him this year, at best in 2007, they are shopping a 2 year rental who finally had a year close to what was expected (and going to be rewarded in arb for it).

At worse, Kearns has another disappointing year, and there's even less interest.

I agree with you Matty.. In the REds' minds, Kearns is worth as much as when he was a rookie. But reality says otherwise.

[Chip R]

So, has anyone seen or heard anything about Kearns and an off-season conditioning program? Does he have one? If so, is it being followed? In what kind of condition will AK show up in Sarasota?

Rem

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/SPT04/601300373/1071



He's already hitting and throwing, and continues to adhere to a conditioning program assigned to him by the Reds.

The results are noticeable.

"I've dropped a few pounds," said Kearns, who was listed at 245 pounds last season. "I've been waiting all offseason for somebody to ask what I weigh. I was going to mess around and tell them that I weigh about 250, 260."

[TeamBoone]

Here he is!

[Falls City Beer]

Here he is!


He's lost weight. For whatever that's worth.

[StillFunkyB]

For those who have never seen Ears in person, up close, he is actually a pretty big framed guy. I was surprised, as from seeing him on TV before he seemed to me like he would be smaller.

Edit: Oh, and this was before he "got fat".

[Hondo]

Kearns is the key to getting "Adam Dunn" signed to a LTC...

JaredRoberts.com