bottom_feeder (06-21-2019),Old school 1983 (06-14-2019)
Alabama (06-13-2019),bottom_feeder (06-21-2019)
Pretty small window on Williams if you ask me. Wasn't he was promoted into his current position (President of Baseball Operations) in 2018? He held the GM position prior, but I think that was a "puppet job" with Jocketty still in control. It wasn't till this past off-season that Williams was able to begin to put his "hand-print" on this team.
Pitching is the key. And William's emphasis seems to be on pitching (which I like).
Need we refresh the memory's of some of just how bad our pitching was last season? One of the absolute worst in MLB. It was a war-zone with high body counts as we were making ambulance runs between Louisville and Cincy. It got to the point where we just wanted an arm, anybody, to trod out there. An absolute embarrassment.
Now fast forward to the present. So far this season we're one of the best in MLB. Does Williams get any credit for that? Not with some. There's always a way to find a negative in anything (and some do) ... It ain't gonna hold up in the second half! Our BP's being overworked!" etc, etc. You can't find anything positive, or even enjoyable, in the present - because you're too busy worrying about, or trying to project, the future.
As we progressed through the early stages of the season, I've heard calls for firing the hitting coach, firing the first year manager Bell .... and now Williams. So Cincinnati (LOL)
I guess it all boils down to what one's expectations were for this team going into '19. Obviously - because of that "blockbuster" LA deal, and a few other off-season acquisitions - expectations were play-offs, and anything less is failure. I posed this question on another thread and got no response, so I'l post it here (and not that it's impossible) ... But what other MLB team, that has been in last place in their division the last four years (and looking pretty bad in doing so also), turned it around and made the play-offs the fifth year?
We all should have expectations; but shouldn't they be reasonable? That's a helluva leap for a team at the bottom, and in the condition the Reds have been.
And they are still in the play-off picture (for whatever that's worth). Whether they're going to be there or not come season's end I don't know, nor do I care to get into the "prediction" business.
IMO, that LA deal was nothing more then two organizations finding a way to "help" each other out in specific areas - you pat my back, and I'll pat your's. It helped the Reds out financially (Bailey), giving them some leeway.... while it helped LA get rid of an aging Kemp, while avoiding have to deal with the pending free agency of a couple of their young players (Wood, Puig) who they saw as expendable.
So if Puig and Wood are gone after '19, would this deal then be a bust? Not IMO. Wood is the only "piece" I'm interested in (at this stage). And he's going to have to come back and show he's worth pursuing.
They are progressing, and all I want to see, going forward into '20, is that they continue to be aggressive as they're moving into that window.
IMO, this next off-season will be the most telling (revealing).
Last edited by GAC; 06-13-2019 at 05:42 AM.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
cumberlandreds (06-13-2019),Powder River (06-13-2019)
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
cincyinco (06-16-2019),GAC (06-14-2019),Revering4Blue (06-14-2019),UKFlounder (06-13-2019),wlf WV (06-24-2019)
The television crews left and about 10 reporters remained in the room. That's when Price took his turn doing the talking.
What followed was a five-minute, 34-second expletive-filled tirade. The final tally was 77 uses of the "F" word or a variant and 11 uses of a vulgar term for feces (two bovine, one equine).
Exactly. IMO, they are heading in the right direction, and this team is in a better position currently than they were over the last few years. The question for Williams is - Is he going to keep this momentum going and build on it? While we have some issues that need to be addressed going into 2020 with some of the position spots, pitching still has to be the strong emphasis moving forward.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
Bob Sheed (06-14-2019),Chip R (06-18-2019),cumberlandreds (06-14-2019)
Not hitting just to make other teams pitchers look great just to make ours look bad just to keep salaries down? Yeah...that makes no sense too..
I never thought this team was going to be good I though maybe just below .500 as a positive year. I have not been impressed with Williams since day one.
This team is looking worse going forward not better. The minors are not looking good if you hoping for a contender only 1 player in top 60 prospects in baseball according to fangraphs updated list. Greene's injury really hurts since it is likely 5 years before he could handle a starter's workload. Santillan is the only good pitching prospect right now that started the year with the Reds organization. At the MLB level we are losing a lot of players Roark, Hernandez, Wood, Puig, Scooter, Iglesias.
We have only 2 good position players going into next year Suarez and Senzel. Dietrich is a useful player. Peraza and Winker are fighting with replacement level production. Votto has become one of the least productive 1B and is on the decline. Casali/Barnhart needs to be upgraded.
I have a hard time seeing the pitching being better next year.
Basically we are going to lose talent from a sub .500 team with no one to replace from the farm, FA does not seem like an option for improvement and we do not have a lot of assets to trade to make the team better.
We lack a good enough core to build around which I blame on the front office.
Hoosier Red (06-14-2019)
You're both right.
Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 1st Batter G 30 30 26 9 2 1 2 2 3 7 .346 .414 .731 1.145 Leadoff Inn. 34 60 53 18 5 1 3 3 6 11 .340 .407 .642 1.048
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/14/2019.
Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Batting 1st 31 30 146 134 21 38 11 2 4 14 4 3 10 35 .284 .331 .485 .816 Batting 2nd 1 1 7 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .200 .429 .200 .629 Batting 5th 1 1 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 .000 .250 .000 .250 Batting 6th 2 2 7 6 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 .167 .286 .667 .952
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/14/2019.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
Rolando (06-14-2019)
True. And that's not exactly a disaster for a 23 yr old rookie who has only been with the team a little over a month. But when he leads off an inning, he's getting on base at a very impressive clip (.407). This is not Drew Subbs here. This kid has that natural ability, presence at the plate, and will get on base.
Simply think you're being a little premature at this stage.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
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