Reds post-season transactions 2022-23 Part Two

[Kc61]

I mean their words, between Krall and Stephenson themselves, state the exact opposite. So that’s really just wishful thinking on your part.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/spo...s/69691782007/

You read this article by one of the mouthpiece writers for the FO and it’s really pretty unambiguous that he’s still a catcher as far as they’re concerned.

The Reds had 3 catchers for much of Barnhart’s time here for example and yet he still caught 115 games or more basically every single season.

If Stephenson is their long term best hitter, or only good hitter, then they’re screwed regardless. I’m not screwing with a guy who might end up the best catcher in the league so a 60 win team can be a 65 win team or whatever instead.

You cite to a December 2 article that pre-dates both the Casali and Romine signings. Doesn’t address why Reds are signing all these catchers if Stephenson’s catching time isn’t being reduced. And Kyle Farmer wasn’t a dedicated third catcher, but a utility player, unlike Casali, Maile, Romine. Given the facts, I’m not the one engaged in wishful thinking.

Stephenson wants to catch, I’m sure Reds won’t outright publicly say he’ll be catching less. They need to be supportive of him, publicly and privately. But the handwriting is on the wall.

[Danny Serafini]

Not sure why people are starting to get hung up on this 3 catcher thing. Maile has only played in over 50 MLB games twice in his career and is a career 61 OPS+ bat. He is in no way, shape or form guaranteed a roster spot, I'd say it's much more likely he opens the season in Louisville. It's even more likely Romine will considering he hasn't even broken a .600 OPS in any of the last 3 years. It'll be a Stephenson/Casali 2-man rotation behind the plate, as it should be.

[Kc61]

Not sure why people are starting to get hung up on this 3 catcher thing. Maile has only played in over 50 MLB games twice in his career and is a career 61 OPS+ bat. He is in no way, shape or form guaranteed a roster spot, I'd say it's much more likely he opens the season in Louisville. It's even more likely Romine will considering he hasn't even broken a .600 OPS in any of the last 3 years. It'll be a Stephenson/Casali 2-man rotation behind the plate, as it should be.

Maile caught in 76 games for Indians last year and was on the post-season roster.

[MoneyInTheBank]

Stephenson wants to catch, I’m sure Reds won’t outright publicly say he’ll be catching less. They need to be supportive of him, publicly and privately. But the handwriting is on the wall.

I'm not sure how straight up lying to the man is being supportive in any way

[Wonderful Monds]

You cite to a December 2 article that pre-dates both the Casali and Romine signings. Doesn’t address why Reds are signing all these catchers if Stephenson’s catching time isn’t being reduced. And Kyle Farmer wasn’t a dedicated third catcher, but a utility player, unlike Casali, Maile, Romine. Given the facts, I’m not the one engaged in wishful thinking.

Stephenson wants to catch, I’m sure Reds won’t outright publicly say he’ll be catching less. They need to be supportive of him, publicly and privately. But the handwriting is on the wall.

Mentioned it before, but it’s just as likely a contingency plan for Stephenson going down again as it is anything else.

They also signed Knapp and Garcia by this point last year, and it didn’t mean that Stephenson ended up not being the primary catcher at that point either.

[Wonderful Monds]

Given the facts, I’m not the one engaged in wishful thinking.

Oh you most certainly are lol, especially starting with the notion that your form of speculation is somehow “facts”

The Reds have stated outright for the same reasons discussed here that they want Stephenson behind the plate. Stephenson has insisted that he’s a catcher. He’s re-designed his catchers gear this off-season to prepare to catch next year and protect himself from injuries. Those are the actual facts.

The only thing supporting your speculation is that the Reds signed a couple anemic backup catchers, which they frequently do every offseason by this point.

[JCM11]

The way I see it is the penny pinching Reds wouldn't have guaranteed 3.25 million to Casali after the Maile signing if they felt confident in Stephenson catching 100 games next year. Actions speak louder than words and two of their three main FA signings so far have been catchers.

[Danny Serafini]

Maile caught in 76 games for Indians last year and was on the post-season roster.

And he's still a long shot to make the Opening Day roster. The only reason Maile was on a playoff roster was because Cleveland's catcher situation was somehow worse than Cincinnati's. Their starter had an OPS of .489, and Maile still couldn't beat him out of a job. Sandy Leon was so bad the Reds wouldn't even call him up in a year they used 8 catchers, and Cleveland traded for him and gave him a little big league time. Maile is emergency depth, nothing more.

[Wonderful Monds]

Lost in this conversation is that the Reds *have* guys coming in the near future that profile as their 1B/DH of the future. You’ve got Encarnacion-Strand where that’s his specific position already. Then you’ve got whatever shakes out between the various 3B/SS types, not to mention wherever Steer ends up.

There really is no urgency to fill that position, and certainly not with a guy who profiles as a top 3 major league catcher.

[Kc61]

I'm not sure how straight up lying to the man is being supportive in any way

Not lying to Stephenson, who undoubtedly knows the score.

But pointing out that he’s still the #1 catcher on the team is supportive.

[redsfan9988]

Lost in this conversation is that the Reds *have* guys coming in the near future that profile as their 1B/DH of the future. You’ve got Encarnacion-Strand where that’s his specific position already. Then you’ve got whatever shakes out between the various 3B/SS types, not to mention wherever Steer ends up.

There really is no urgency to fill that position, and certainly not with a guy who profiles as a top 3 major league catcher.

CES is the biggest variable in all of this for me...

If CES is going to spend part or all of the year in AAA, I'd try to limit Stephenson's innings behind the plate. Playing Ty Steve at 1B and Votto at DH will help both players stay on the field. Casali and Maile are both deficient offensively, but pretty solid defensively. In this scenario, moving Stephenson to catcher and Votto back to 1B will free up the DH spot for... who?? Friedl? I'd rather start a plus defensive catcher than Friedl given those two options.

Now... if CES forces his way on to the roster, you'll need the DH to accommodate one of Votto, CES, Steer, and having Stephenson spend more time at C will make sense to get Encarnacion-Strand's plus bat in to the lineup. Failing that though, I'd still rather keep Stephenson from behind the plate as much as possible.

[MoneyInTheBank]

Not lying to Stephenson, who undoubtedly knows the score.

But pointing out that he’s still the #1 catcher on the team is supportive.

If their actions are more important than words and their actions show they are phasing him out of catching but are telling him privately he's the #1 catcher, isn't that lying?

[757690]

If their actions are more important than words and their actions show they are phasing him out of catching but are telling him privately he's the #1 catcher, isn't that lying?

This is the quote from the article Monds posted:

It’s possible Stephenson could see a little more time at first base and designated hitter next year, but he will remain the Reds’ primary catcher.

That matches up with what they are doing. Not sure how this is lying to Stephenson.

[Mitri]

I don’t think CES should have any impact on this decision. They’re just protecting Stephenson in a lost year. I think, ideally, they just want him playing a lot no matter where he is defensively (C, 1B, DH). It’s one of the only smart things they’ve done with the big league club. I’d love to see him start 100 at C and 40 elsewhere for the next 6 years or so.

[MoneyInTheBank]

This is the quote from the article Monds posted:



That matches up with what they are doing. Not sure how this is lying to Stephenson.

I'm not engaging with you on this because it's going to turn into something like what the definition of primary catcher is