Nick Krall Weighing SS Options

[Bourgeois Zee]

I think he has a chance to be special and it's not easy to find that at C. I don't think I can stomach trading him.

I'd totally trade Tyler Stephenson in a Story deal if I were confident I could then sign JT Realmuto.

[HammerTime]

I'd totally trade Tyler Stephenson in a Story deal if I were confident I could then sign JT Realmuto.

That seems like a pretty big leap tho.

[Thomaswaynem]

You have to imagine with the news that a lot of big spenders are in on Semien, and Didi likely going back to the Phillies, that the Reds should make a trade.

Honestly, how much would it take to get Trevor Story at this point? Pretty obvious the Rockies aren't contending in their division or wild card.

[RedTeamGo!]

You have to imagine with the news that a lot of big spenders are in on Semien, and Didi likely going back to the Phillies, that the Reds should make a trade.

Honestly, how much would it take to get Trevor Story at this point? Pretty obvious the Rockies aren't contending in their division or wild card.

Prospects and $18.5 million. Story isn’t on a cheap contract this year.

I would hope the Rockies would give him up in a pure salary dump move but he is fantastic so I don’t know.

[reds77]

We need a SS, but is it enough to vastly improve the squad or is the idea to slightly upgrade and hope to out compete the weaker NL Central squads?

[RedTeamGo!]

We need a SS, but is it enough to vastly improve the squad or is the idea to slightly upgrade and hope to out compete the weaker NL Central squads?

I firmly believe if the season was 162 games last year the Reds offense would have balanced out from an absurdly bad first month and won 90+ games. I don’t think the Reds need to improve that much. I know I will get dragged on here for this opinion, but I don’t think people understand how unlucky the reds were in the first 35 games or so.

[Kc61]

We need a SS, but is it enough to vastly improve the squad or is the idea to slightly upgrade and hope to out compete the weaker NL Central squads?

The latter may be more realistic in the current COVID environment. But Reds are lucky to be in a weaker division at this time. If they can hold onto their good players and add modestly, patch things up, it’s not a bad result.

That’s why I view Didi as a winning addition, but Simmons as adequate for them. I still have confidence in guys like Moose, Cast, Senzel even though 2020 numbers don’t look that good.

[CaiGuy]

Prospects and $18.5 million. Story isn’t on a cheap contract this year.

I would hope the Rockies would give him up in a pure salary dump move but he is fantastic so I don’t know.

He would have to fetch a bit less than Lindor did, right?

[Old school 1983]

I firmly believe if the season was 162 games last year the Reds offense would have balanced out from an absurdly bad first month and won 90+ games. I don’t think the Reds need to improve that much. I know I will get dragged on here for this opinion, but I don’t think people understand how unlucky the reds were in the first 35 games or so.

I agree. And I almost agree to the point that I think they should focus on the pitching and let it ride with Garcia at SS. The bats would have come around more I think. If Bauer isn’t an option, they need to add a #3 type starter and improve SS to make up that gap. A lefty or two in the pen would help as well.

[Mitri]

The bottom line when it comes to Didi and Semien is that the Reds will probably have to offer the additional year to bring one of them to Cincinnati.

That may mean a 3rd or 4th year for Didi, and probably at least 4 years for Semien.

You can see why a guy like Story is attractive, so long as the prospect cost isn't any of the clear top-5 guys. I wouldn't lose sleep over Mike Siani leaving the Reds org.

[HammerTime]

Jon Heyman @JonHeyman

Reds are among many teams interested in Andrelton Simmons

[Kc61]

The bottom line when it comes to Didi and Semien is that the Reds will probably have to offer the additional year to bring one of them to Cincinnati.

That may mean a 3rd or 4th year for Didi, and probably at least 4 years for Semien.

You can see why a guy like Story is attractive, so long as the prospect cost isn't any of the clear top-5 guys. I wouldn't lose sleep over Mike Siani leaving the Reds org.

But as somebody noted, Story is guaranteed $18.5 million for 2021. Isn’t that likely the main issue for the Reds?

Hope would be that Rockies desperate for a deal, few takers, agree to pay a meaningful part of his salary. Probably a larger issue in any negotiation than the prospects involved, who hopefully would not be top 5-7 Reds’ prospects.

[Bourgeois Zee]

We need a SS, but is it enough to vastly improve the squad or is the idea to slightly upgrade and hope to out compete the weaker NL Central squads?

Gregorius and Simmons have similar 2.5-ish fWAR predictions. Semien's is around 3.5.

Last year, Red SS were almost exactly replacement level.

That's a pretty massive difference.

The assumption, I suspect, is that the rest of the offense will be better. Votto may regress a bit, but Akiyama should find more success. Senzel will hopefully be healthier. Suarez, Moustakas, and Castellanos will more likely perform to the back of their baseball card in the longer season. Winker's found another gear. Barnhart is Barnhart, but Stephenson may provide more power-- and earn more ABs because of it.

The rotation is undoubtedly going to take a massive hit at the top, yet the fifth starter could negate some of that by being better than replacement level. (Miley and DeSclafani were horrid in their 40+ IP.) The pen is unfinished, IMO, and a total crapshoot.

If the offense performs as they expect, that should be enough to compete for a division crown. Finding a SS who's not a total nothing with the bat is important. (Krall said as much when he outlined his plan for this off-season way back in November.)

[Alpha Zero]

I firmly believe if the season was 162 games last year the Reds offense would have balanced out from an absurdly bad first month and won 90+ games. I don’t think the Reds need to improve that much. I know I will get dragged on here for this opinion, but I don’t think people understand how unlucky the reds were in the first 35 games or so.

Agree 100%. This team has 3 everyday players who will likely post an .850 or better OPS in 2021 (Suarez, Winker, Castellanos) and another two who will very likely be right around .800 (Moustakas, Votto). These are all guys with substantial career samples who don’t need to have something break right to get to the next level. They just need their production to match the back side of their respective baseball cards.

Then you have the upside guys in Senzel, Stephenson, and Shogo. If anyone from that group breaks out and the Reds add a competent offensive SS, this is a offense to be reckoned with.

[757690]

Agree 100%. This team has 3 everyday players who will likely post an .850 or better OPS in 2021 (Suarez, Winker, Castellanos) and another two who will very likely be right around .800 (Moustakas, Votto). These are all guys with substantial career samples who don’t need to have something break right to get to the next level. They just need their production to match the back side of their respective baseball cards.

Then you have the upside guys in Senzel, Stephenson, and Shogo. If anyone from that group breaks out and the Reds add a competent offensive SS, this is a offense to be reckoned with.

I don’t want to derail this thread, so I won’t go back and forth on this, but Statcast revealed that the Reds were not underperforming offensively by that much. They weren’t being that unlucky, they just weren’t hitting the ball well.

Maybe they adjusted and started to hit the ball harder and better, but Statcast suggests that if they kept playing the same way, they were not destined to improve offensively.