I agree that the Cardinals will be worse next year. They’re week at the corner OFs (Encarcion, Taguchi), catcher, and 2B. Eckstein is a nice player who had a career year at age 30, but is bound to regress some. Edmonds is getting long in the tooth (lowest ba/obp/slg since ‘99 last year). Rolen being healthy (a big “if”) will obviously help, but there are too many holes in that lineup.
Of course, that rotation even without Morris is still very good. I still think they’re the favorites for the division, especially if Clemens retires.
And I would think if you looked at the Reds the same way, it would be assumed that the Reds have upgraded, though not much and surely not enough to make any large dent in the difference between the two teams.
…and just how have the Reds got better? They traded away their best pure hitter who even after a year with shoulder issues managed to git over .300, and for who? A guy that is no better than the guy they already had, but let go, and that’s Ortiz. Ortiz settled in after the All Star break and went 5 and 5 with a 4.5 era, with only two starts that didn’t go past 6 innings. Ortiz also had 4 wins dissapear due to blown saves. No, I don’t think so. The Reds have gotten worse!
…Chris
Ortiz was lucky after the All Star break, here are his OPS against by month:
Apr – .753
May – 1.018
June – 1.001
July – .774
Aug – .830
Sept – .822
Sure he pitched better than May or June, but he was still bad.
Williams splits don’t look much better:
Mar – .771
May – .629
June – .977
July – .841
Aug – .714
Sept – 1.483 (one start)
but his OPSA was still almost 100 points lower than Ortiz. I’m not saying that he’s the answer to the rotation, but he’s not going to make it any worse.
I think Casey’s 2005 production can be replaced by Kearns and Pena playing everyday. And if the money saved from trading Casey and not offering Ortiz arbitration goes toward locking up Dunn, I’m fine with that.
I’d say that the Reds have neither improved nor gotten worse. In classic DanO style, the wheels are spinning place.
I think they’re a little better. probably not measureably, but better. The rotation will be better as Williams was about ML average (an upgrade over whoever he replaces) and the team will not miss Casey’s offense at all.
2009 stats: Sarasota 2-1 8 Games 8 Games Started 42.1 IP 4.89 ERA 1.44 WHIP
Carolina 3-2 6 Game 6 Game Started 36 2/3 IP 2.95 ERA 1.09 WHIP
Louisville 2-2 5 Game 5 Game Started 29 IP 2.48 ERA 1.21 WHIP
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I agree that the Cardinals will be worse next year. They’re week at the corner OFs (Encarcion, Taguchi), catcher, and 2B. Eckstein is a nice player who had a career year at age 30, but is bound to regress some. Edmonds is getting long in the tooth (lowest ba/obp/slg since ‘99 last year). Rolen being healthy (a big “if”) will obviously help, but there are too many holes in that lineup.
Of course, that rotation even without Morris is still very good. I still think they’re the favorites for the division, especially if Clemens retires.
And I would think if you looked at the Reds the same way, it would be assumed that the Reds have upgraded, though not much and surely not enough to make any large dent in the difference between the two teams.
…and just how have the Reds got better? They traded away their best pure hitter who even after a year with shoulder issues managed to git over .300, and for who? A guy that is no better than the guy they already had, but let go, and that’s Ortiz. Ortiz settled in after the All Star break and went 5 and 5 with a 4.5 era, with only two starts that didn’t go past 6 innings. Ortiz also had 4 wins dissapear due to blown saves. No, I don’t think so. The Reds have gotten worse!
…Chris
Ortiz was lucky after the All Star break, here are his OPS against by month:
Apr – .753
May – 1.018
June – 1.001
July – .774
Aug – .830
Sept – .822
Sure he pitched better than May or June, but he was still bad.
Williams splits don’t look much better:
Mar – .771
May – .629
June – .977
July – .841
Aug – .714
Sept – 1.483 (one start)
but his OPSA was still almost 100 points lower than Ortiz. I’m not saying that he’s the answer to the rotation, but he’s not going to make it any worse.
I think Casey’s 2005 production can be replaced by Kearns and Pena playing everyday. And if the money saved from trading Casey and not offering Ortiz arbitration goes toward locking up Dunn, I’m fine with that.
I’d say that the Reds have neither improved nor gotten worse. In classic DanO style, the wheels are spinning place.
I think they’re a little better. probably not measureably, but better. The rotation will be better as Williams was about ML average (an upgrade over whoever he replaces) and the team will not miss Casey’s offense at all.