I predicted he wouldn't be taken and was not surprised. Too many teams are contenders; they can't afford to have a guy in the pen who is not covering innings and blocking a roster spot. The work he should be doing is going toward wearing out the other relievers. Acuna is not far enough along to take a regular turn in a good bullpen. I'd guess that was the Reds calculation and they were right.Originally Posted by RED VAN HOT
On the other hand, they protected Tyler Callihan who had only 20 PA's at AAA. The net price of at least a spring training tryout for a poorer, non contending team seems worthwhile.
Kingspoint (12-12-2024)
With his annually, extremely high success rate at stealing bases implies that he's not just running willy-nilly like we saw so much of from the REDS' roster in 2024. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that this guy's Baseball IQ is higher than most of the REDS who wore a uniform for them last season.
Replace the DH/no-glove types. Replace the low baseball IQ types. Addition by subtraction, just like someone who is a 0.0 WAR player would be a huge upgrade over our LF/RF/CF/3B/1B situations we had last season and the grossly negative WAR that each of those positions produced.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Except that Acuna obviously was not judged good enough to expend the time/money on. Conclusion: he's not thought of as highly anywhere in MLB as he is by the hopeful hometowners on RZ.
Who on RZ thought Acuna could not just stick, but stick all year in an MLB rotation?
In my mind, Acuna is one step ahead of the "break glass in case of emergency" type starters, at least for this coming season.
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)
Bowman looks like a poor-man’s Matt McLain, which is a compliment. I agree that he may be replacing Stu Fairchild once the Reds actually acquire another OF.
I don't think anybody thought he'd be in a rotation, but obviously people who feared losing him thought he'd stick on a 26 man roster.
He's a BOR guy who might end up logging a bunch of innings.
He's Carson Spiers but with more upside.
Kingspoint (12-13-2024)
In the long run, yes. But if he's taking regular turns in 2025, that's not so good. Still better than a guy like Casey Leguimina(sp?).
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)
It's not great is Spiers gets any innings either.
He can, IMO, put up similar numbers.
I think we're in general agreement on the rotation pecking order. Mine is something like:
Greene
Lodolo
Singer
Abbott
Martinez
Lowder*
Spiers*
Ashcraft**
Petty*
Phillips*
Acuna*
Burns***
* = AAA rotation
** = Reds bullpen
*** = AA rotation
Last edited by WrongVerb; 12-13-2024 at 05:20 PM.
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)
Bourgeois Zee (12-13-2024)
I did actually and had a plan in place for a team to use him in games where the pitcher in front of him gets 2/3 of an inning and can come out. Usually this is the starter, but it can happen with RP as well.
Plus you can phantom DL a guy as he was injured most of last year.
So, yes, I was a little surprised and very pleased he was not taken.
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Kingspoint (12-13-2024)
Not really. My pecking order is:
- Greene
- Martinez
- Singer
- Lowder
- Abbott
- Lodolo**
- Spiers*
- Ashcraft**
- Phillips*
- Richardson***
- Petty*
- Acuna*
I figure they're going to use Martinez as a SP based on his $21M pricetag. (I would too, fwiw. Dude was absolutely great last season.) I think Lowder is nearly a lock to be in the Red starting rotation based on both his remarkably successful short stint last year and the Reds' desire to (maybe) get an extra draft pick if he were named RoY. Singer's obviously signed as both a MOR guy and as an innings eater. That leaves Abbott and Lodolo for the 5th starter's spot. I suspect they'll want to protect Lodolo, so they'll put him in the pen and limit his innings that way. I do think he'll be very successful in that role, if used properly.
I have Ashcraft in the back of the pen, as you do. I think he can be very, very good as a closer/ fireman/ set-up guy and will end up saving the Reds quite a bit of cash as that guy for this team-- assuming everyone remains healthy.
However, if the Reds need two SP out of the gate, I suspect they'll scrap that plan (and Ashcraft's role) in order to add another innings guy (and relative sure thing/ veteran presence) in the rotation. They'll put Spiers in the bullpen-- maybe. If Phillips or Richardson show any type of control in Spring Training, they can absolutely leapfrog him for that spot. And very well might. Both have really good stuff, and the Reds tend to gravitate toward stuff.
Petty and Acuna are below all of those guys because they're not on the 40-man roster. (Burns is, IMO, with them as well.) If the pitching staff falls apart and four or five guys can't go, it'll depend on whether Cincinnati needs a short-timer or long-term solution. If it's short-term, Acuna's probably going to get it. If it's a long-term thing, they'll turn to Petty (or, if he's dominating, Burns).
The good news is that the Reds have options after their options-- and many of those options have upside, a high floor, or both.
Based on who I'd expect to be effective from top to bottom:
Greene
Lodolo
Martinez
Singer
Lowder
Abbott
Petty
Ashcraft
after that it's pretty hard to pick but I'll go:
Acuna
Spiers
Phillips
Richardson
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
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