Dick Williams Needs To Resign

[Kc61]

Well, the bullpen can’t get worse.

Wait...can it?

DUN DUN DUNNNNN

Presumably, if they use the more effective guys, it’ll get better.

Could it get worse? Pen is 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA so it’s going to be tough to get worse.

Interesting, for xFIP fans. Reds bullpen is 4.01, mid-pack. So that’s hopeful.

[757690]

Bullpen should improve as they learn more about all the guys and their current ability/skill set. Maybe it’ll totally turn around for the second half of the season. I wish the pen only good things. I’m a fan of several of the guys.

But I can’t accept the current organizational philosophy toward the pen. Williams, Krall, ownership, whomever, the current plan is a mistake.

In 2020, strong bullpen is part of the team’s infrastructure. It’s not exciting but essential. Have to prioritize it with more spending on proven guys, drafting and development of dynamic pen arms. Need to prioritize it.

Not a lot of time in a 60 game season to experiment and figure out what works. By the time you do, it may be too late.

[mth123]

Just plugging my reverse draft idea.

Non-playoff teams draft by best-to-worst records, and then playoff teams draft last.

Gives non-competitors something to actually play for or spend money on.

This is exactly how it should be.

[Roy Tucker]

I’m just glad I’m not David Bell. In a 162 game schedule, we’re in mid-April. But the mentality is mid-August. And there is an expanded roster with too many pitchers to sort through. It’s not an easy task.

[HammerTime]

I will say this, if the Reds go through another 2014-2018 stretch where they are that awful and aren’t really trying without having a couple winning seasons and serious playoff runs before they go through another 5 year tanking cycle, I think I’m probably going to completely lose interest.

The league desperately needs to change something up to de-incentivize tanking, it’s not good for the sport to have half the teams in baseball giving up before the season even starts.

Salary Cap and salary floor. Will never happen though.

[Kc61]

I’m just glad I’m not David Bell. In a 162 game schedule, we’re in mid-April. But the mentality is mid-August. And there is an expanded roster with too many pitchers to sort through. It’s not an easy task.

Funny, David Bell seems to know who his starting pitchers are. Even thrust into this mid-August situation. He has five clear guys with a clear sixth on standby (Mahle). And tonight a pretty clear 7th choice in Antone.

The rotation was prioritized, as it should be. More emphasis on pen formation might have resulted in a clearer path there. Instead, it seems like trial and error.

[Roy Tucker]

Funny, David Bell seems to know who his starting pitchers are. Even thrust into this mid-August situation. He has five clear guys with a clear sixth on standby (Mahle). And tonight a pretty clear 7th choice in Antone.

The rotation was prioritized, as it should be. More emphasis on pen formation might have resulted in a clearer path there. Instead, it seems like trial and error.

Sure. Even I could have picked out the starting 5 since they are so clear-cut (except for Antone, he kinda came out of nowhere).

But the bullpen? At least in my eyes, there were a whole lot of question marks beyond Iglesias, Lorenzen, and Garrett.

[Bruce Berenyi]

why dont they put aquino in until his- batting average approaches what winkers is now

[757690]

It seems like the organization has been playing whack-a-mole the last few years.

Good offense /Weak starting pitching - add starting pitching

Good starting pitching/Weak offense - add offense

Now weak bullpen

It would be nice if they could put a solid, well rounded team out there each year.

[BluegrassRedleg]

It seems like the organization has been playing whack-a-mole the last few years.

Good offense /Weak starting pitching - add starting pitching

Good starting pitching/Weak offense - add offense

Now weak bullpen

It would be nice if they could put a solid, well rounded team out there each year.

I do think there's something to those points (at least it feels that way) but they haven't had a good offense in 8 years. They've been 12th, 8th, 8th, 8th, 12th and 13th in run production since making the Wild Card game in 2013 when they were 3rd in the NL. Only one of those following years was above league average (2017, 8th).

[RedTeamGo!]

So, uhhhh?

[Griffey012]

So, uhhhh?

We should obviously replace him with Jeff Bridich.

[Falls City Beer]

So, uhhhh?

I don’t think he has to leave now, but I certainly wouldn’t be upset if he was to be replaced tomorrow.

[Wonderful Monds]

One thought about Williams - he gets a lot of credit for bringing the Reds fully into the advanced analytical era of baseball, which sure. Stuff like bringing in Driveline are generally good moves. But I think he’s mostly just brought the Reds up to speed where most teams were already starting to head like 5-6 years ago. I think the fact that he gets so much credit for that just goes to show how far behind the times the Reds were under Jocketty, more than Dick being exceptionally good himself.

It still seems from how bad it seems they underperform their apparent talent level that something is off organizationally, and if I had to guess, it would probably be that the Reds are still behind the ball when it comes to the modern level of scouting. I don’t have any way of quantifying that obviously, but they look so lifeless and unprepared against teams they should beat up so frequently, I have no idea what else could be going on.

[757690]

One thought about Williams - he gets a lot of credit for bringing the Reds fully into the advanced analytical era of baseball, which sure. Stuff like bringing in Driveline are generally good moves. But I think he’s mostly just brought the Reds up to speed where most teams were already starting to head like 5-6 years ago. I think the fact that he gets so much credit for that just goes to show how far behind the times the Reds were under Jocketty, more than Dick being exceptionally good himself.

It still seems from how bad it seems they underperform their apparent talent level that something is off organizationally, and if I had to guess, it would probably be that the Reds are still behind the ball when it comes to the modern level of scouting. I don’t have any way of quantifying that obviously, but they look so lifeless and unprepared against teams they should beat up so frequently, I have no idea what else could be going on.

All really good points and observations.

I would just add that getting up to speed in terms of analytics is half the job. The other half is knowing what to do with this new information. It seems the Reds front office is still struggling with the latter.