Loading ...
Today’s Enquirer is reporting that the Reds roster may soon be free of Tony Womack.
Talk among scouts is that Womack will be released when Ken Griffey Jr. comes off the disabled list April 28.
Finally some good news about the 2B logjam.
I must admit that Brandon Phillips has impressed me in his admittedly short time with the Reds. He is basically a younger cheaper version of Womack.
Later,
Tom
The article also makes clear that Mr. Womack is not happy with the situation. Gee, wonder how long it’ll be before his poor performance is the Reds fault, like his poor performance last year was the Yankees fault?
Can’t trade him, can’t play him. Under O’Brien, he’d be starting.
Lest we mix up what we believe and what has actually occurred, I point out that in extremely limited playing time (20 plate appearances) Womack has hit .250/.400/.375 . He’s been good in the field, and most believe that he made the defensive plays that saved the 1-0 game in St. Louis.
These are hardly performances that justify his release on those grounds; rather, he may be released simply because the Reds have too many other players to give him the playing time he wants. He’s certainly done whatever he’s been asked to do, and I suspect if we hadn’t picked up Philips (and Freel wasn’t so hot that he’s now indispensable again) the talk would be about how much better Womack was doing than we thought he was capable of.
For the record, I think a Womack release is the next logical step with the moves that have been made. The Reds never should have gotten him in the first place.
He has a contract, and he’ll be paid whether the Reds keep him or not.
Phillips reminds me a little of Pokey Reese out there. Good fielder, decent hitter, can’t take a walk to save his life.
I hope there’s room for one more on his bandwagon.
i don’t know why the reds want three catchers more than an extra utility player, and i agree with DA, womack has done exactly what he’s supposed to whenever he’s been in the game. do we really need javy’s .550 OPS off the bench?
This just seems like more of Kriv purging DanO’s moves, and while i’m fine with that, i don’t think people should think that it has anything to do with Womack’s play. josh hancock would be our second best reliever right now, so these moves aren’t always based on what’s best for the team.
Lancaster said that there are teams interested in him, so we should be able to DFA and trade him for something, though no one of much value.
Hopefully rick white and chris hammond are the next of the old regime to hit the door. That would be a more productive move for the team.
Lest we mix up what we believe and what has actually occurred, I point out that in extremely limited playing time (20 plate appearances) Womack has hit .250/.400/.375 . He’s been good in the field, and most believe that he made the defensive plays that saved the 1-0 game in St. Louis.
Nice job of an accurate portrayal, DA. I could care less about Womack, But have been surprised at the things said about the guy in this area. His defensive play DID win the 1-0 game in St. Louis — and (not surprisingly) — little was made of it here. If EE or Freel or Lopez and probably anyone else on the roster makes that stop to save two runs from scoring, there’d be a ground swell.
I tried to explain the rationale for his acquisition in terms that were not at all hard to understand and was taken to task — big time.
If Brandon Phillips is a better choice, then I am all for it. Like I said regarding the bullpen, I don’t care who we bring in to improve the club, as long as the club improves.
Womack To Pack?
Redleg Nation notes that the Reds are likely to release Tony Womack when Griffey comes off the DL. There’s a very good discussion of Womack in the comments….
How long would the Reds hang onto 3 catchers as long as they are doing ok? I would think that would be a perfect situation to trade one of them off and get some type of pitching help in return.
As for Womack, he has no trade value and the only choice would be to let him go!
Nice job of an accurate portrayal, DA. I could care less about Womack, But have been surprised at the things said about the guy in this area. His defensive play DID win the 1-0 game in St. Louis — and (not surprisingly) — little was made of it here.
Leave the straw man alone. Everybody gave Womack credit for that play. The reason there wasn’t a ton of discussion is that it was right at the end of the game, so the discussion thread stopped. Then there was a day game bright and early Saturday, and everyone moved on. Womack’s done better than I expected, but I still expect him to revert to his career norms. And even if he outplays those, I think his roster spot could go to better use.
Then again, it’s John Fay. Instead of “scouts”, Fay could very well have said “some commenting on Marc Lancaster’s blog believe . . .”
A big reason many were displeased with the Womack trade was his perceived role, not necessarily his merits as a player. Womack serves a limited bench role nicely (defensive replacement, pinch runner, occasional pinch hitter), although cheaper alternatives exist. But if you start him several games a week, his weaknesses as a hitter really start to hurt the team. And while his start to the season has been good, his recent history shows that there’s little chance of him keeping that kind of pace.
If Womack is unhappy with a limited bench role, it’s best if he’s let go.
So far I’m ok with Womack’s performance. The problem is that log jam at 2B. Phillips has played well too plus he’s much younger and less expensive.
We can probably chaulk this log jam up to, two GM’s passing each other, but it still put’s Womack in a jam for playing time.
It’s interesting to me how folks sometimes get what I like to call “immaculate perception”.
Womack has been the whipping boy around here since he was acquired because while he has played well, won one game with his glove and done every single thing asked of him so far — he is more than likely to ultimately revert to his career norms.
Brandon Phillips was sitting at home for ten days after the Indians released him. Since he has been acquired he’s seen substantial playing time. He has done well, everything asked of him.
Is it because he is younger and cheaper that people aren’t pointing to his career norms? Why would we expect him to improve upon them? There is probably a reason why the Indians gave up on him.
I hope the Reds are an improved club with Phillips — but the way he has been spoken about here when contrasted with Womack is mystifying.
As I said before, I don’t care who Krivsky brings in if he is improving the ballclub. Still in all, the shelf-life of this Womack-bashing has been amazing.
Womack’s major league career consists of 4911 at-bats. You know what you get with Tony Womack over a full season. Some seasons will be better than others. And the numbers fluctuate even more when you look at smaller sample sizes (ie week-to-week.) But by and large, you know that Tony will bat around .250 with no power and little aptitude for taking a walk.
I don’t know that the Tony Womack deal was good or bad, depending on his role. I do think that starting him at 2nd base more than once every other week is too much. He has usefulness for position flexibility and speed off the bench.
Phillips’ major league career consists of 457 at-bats. That’s less than 1 full season. His minor league profile is much brighter than Womack’s, his defense is supposedly better, and he’s still only 24. He has upside. His downside is probably about what Tony Womack can do. His upside is much, much higher. Think Felipe Lopez ala 2005.
Bill, I’ll totally be the first to admit that my dislike for Womack is unreasonable.
But I still want to see his locker cleaned out.
Bill, I’ll totally be the first to admit that my dislike for Womack is unreasonable.
But I still want to see his locker cleaned out.
Comment by Brian B. — 4/20/2006 @ 6:05 pm
I can respect your position, Brian, but then move on. This thread has gotten a longer shelf-life than it was warranted (as evvidenced by how some are clearly just trying to troll for reactions by posting nonsense now).
Is it because he is younger and cheaper that people aren’t pointing to his career norms? Speaking of nonsense, Phillips doesn’t have career norms yet. That is my point. He hasn’t had a career yet. He has less than season’s worth of at-bats yet. It’s like why people aren’t pointing to Edwin Encarnacion’s career norms. Because he hasn’t had a career yet.
There is probably a reason why the Indians gave up on him.Because in 2004 a guy named Johnny Peralta outhit him in AAA and won the starting SS job in 2005. Ronnie Belliard already mans 2nd base.
Why did the Pirates give up on Chris Shelton and Bronson Arroyo? Who knows? But let’s hope that the Reds capitalize on more mistakes than they make themselves.
With D.Lee out for at least two months in Chicago, and talks of moving Todd Walker to 1st base, wonder if the Cubs would have any interest in T.Womack?
Is it because he is younger and cheaper that people aren’t pointing to his career norms? Why would we expect him to improve upon them? There is probably a reason why the Indians gave up on him.
I hope the Reds are an improved club with Phillips — but the way he has been spoken about here when contrasted with Womack is mystifying.
Yes, we expect Phillips to improve over his career ML norms because he is young. The following compares the two from AA to ML:
Player Age Lvl AB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Womack 24-26 AA 596 .277 .321 .329 .650
Phillips 20-21 AA 510 .312 .358 .476 .834
Womack 25-27 AAA 1063 .266 .307 .330 .637
Phillips 21-24 AAA 1398 .269 .329 .411 .740
Womack 28-36 ML 4912 .273 .317 .356 .673
Phillips 22 ML 462 .216 .253 .333 .586
Womack is 36 and been in serious decline in 2 of the last three seasons (OPS 03-05 of .558, .734, and .556). Phillips is 24 and in his one season of ML ball (At age 22, the same age as Womack was his first year of pro ball where he put up a .661 OPS in A-) put up very similar numbers (03 OPS .553) to what the declining Womack has put up in two of the last three seasons. Also note that Phillips was significantly better than Womack, at a younger age, in both AA and AAA.
Place your bets on who you’d expect to play better over the course of this season.
Mystery solved.
Later,
Tom
I hope Phillips continues just as he has. Just go back and read what folks essentially said when he was acquired and compare that to what folks like Tom is doing now to explain the clear logic and you get a great example of why folks say that hindsight is always 20-20.
Indeed.
One person in the Phillips thread wasn’t thrilled with Phillips the player. Most everyone else complained about having four second basemen, not necessarily the player involved in the trade.
I hope Phillips continues just as he has.
I do to. Because that would be the best thing for the Reds. It would keep Womack’s bat out the lineup before it starts showing its age at the Reds expense.
Griffey comes back on the 28th, hopefully Womack’s release will be the corresponding roster move to make room for him.
Later,
Tom