Bottom line: Reds suck because of an inability to produce prospects

[GOREDSGO32]

Seriously, when is the last time this organization produced ANYONE from within the system? Homer Bailey seems to be the Reds lone hope. Votto is batting like .240 at Louisville. I mean, just look at the players on the Reds roster, how many came WITHIN the organization? Adam Dunn, is basically it.

- 4 of the 5 starters on the Reds staff came from trades. The 5th spot is a rotating position of, "maybe we'll try this guy this time"

- Bullpen, do we need to go there?

- The starting 9 on the field is a mish mash of free agent signees and guys that couldn't cut it in other organizations, who get hot for a small amount of time here, then give an every day job to. Hatteburgh, Phillips, Hamilton, Ross were all other team's rejects and have done reasonably well here for the most part.

The main question is - if we can have an eye for OTHER teams rejects who get released and perform at least decently here - how come we don't have an eye on who in the heck to draft to produce talent? It appears there is a lot of low ERA guys here at Louisville, but who knows if they can accomplishthat in the majors? 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings from the guy just called up, isn't cutting it. There's only one every day player down here batting over .300.

This is just horrible. There's not a single guy in the Reds bullpen that can get a guy out. Signing free agent pitching rejects is NOT the answer. Invest some of the money in building up the minor leagues, not signing washed up rejects.

[CTA513]

Seriously, when is the last time this organization produced ANYONE from within the system? Homer Bailey seems to be the Reds lone hope. Votto is batting like .240 at Louisville. I mean, just look at the players on the Reds roster, how many came WITHIN the organization? Adam Dunn, is basically it.

Votto is hitting .364 this month after a slow start in his first year with Louisville.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

The Reds suck because the entire organization sucks - top to bottom.

It's been sucking for a while now.

I suggest they consider burning it down and start over to remove said suckiness.

Honestly, I'd have hope, but the infatuation with the Castro's, Coninie's, Cormier's, and Stanton's lead me to believe that there is nothing to be desired at the top.

[George Anderson]

- 4 of the 5 starters on the Reds staff came from trades. The 5th spot is a rotating position of, "maybe we'll try this guy this time"



Its alot deeper than that. This organization has not produced a quality starter thru their farm system since Tom Browning, which was well over 20 years ago.

That is beyond pathetic.

[redsupport]

wait what about curt lyons or scott scudder

[FlyerFanatic]

Did Krivsky not get clear house in our scouting department and bring new people when he came in?

[TeamBoone]

They trade away all the prospects.

[membengal]

Sigh.

There are plenty of prospects coursing through the system right now. A few are ready to help RIGHT NOW. That they are not here is more of a philosophical issue, than a talent issue.

WK, for better or worse, comes from a franchise that brings its players along in slow (painfully slow) ways. Deference is given to vets (even vets outside the organization) over younger far more talented players in the organization. Sidney Ponson helping to ruin Minnesota's first six weeks this year is only the most recent example. They did this last year too when they kept Liriano from starting until June. They did this with Michael Cuddyer, who spent about five years trying to convince Minny to give him regular at-bats. Like it or not, it's the Minny way. And that is WK's background.

So, please know that Cincy could, immediately, go to Votto at 1b. It could bring up Dumatrait or Bailey. It could bring up bullpen help (there are pitchers down there who certainly would not do worse than Stanton). But WK priortized spending money, and significant money, on vets like Stanton, and Conine, and Castro. And in so doing chose the certainty of those players over the uncertainty of the talent within.

I don't agree with that approach, not when Minny does it, and not here, but it's WK's modus operandi, I think. If you have a beef with anything, it's with that philosophy, NOT with the players in the minors. For my part, as it was last off-season, I would rather lose with the talented kids up and prepare for the future, than scuffle along near .500 with throw-away vets. Now that the throw-away vets are losing? Makes it an even easier choice in my view.

[bucksfan2]

There are a lot of reasons the reds have been bad for the past 5+ seasons. It starts with poor drafting, player development, and trading. They have been cheap and didn't spend too much money but when they do they have stuggled in signing the right players for the right price. You can look over the past 5 years and see that the players being paid the most were some of the worst producers overall. I think now is the time to scrap this current team and system and start anew. I thought they were going to do that with the change in ownership and management but they havn't. I am tired of roll players being signed to be performers while prospects are being promoted very slowly. Guys like Stanton and Conine would be ok if they were the 24 and 25th man not guys who you expected big time results from. Enough with being a poor team, take the hit and build for the future.