Loading ...We have a day off today, before beginning a huge series tomorrow in St. Louis. If you’re like me (and I know I am), you’re anxious to get the games started. It’s a good opportunity for the Reds finally to make a statement and take control of this race in the National League Central.
Use this as an open thread to discuss whatever you want, including how you think this year is going to play out. Who’s going to win the playoff spots? Where will the Reds be in October? Let’s hear your thoughts.
Also, don’t forget to go enter the contest for the final 1975 DVD box set giveaway. The deadline to enter is midnight tonight, so hurry over and post your entry.
My picks:
AL: New York, Detroit, Oakland
AL Wild Card: Minnesota (risky)
NL: New York, Cincinnati (gotta believe…), and LA.
NL Wild Card: St. Louis (I’ll be nice ;-))
hey guys what do you think about this.
the reds pick up preston wilson for off the bench.
he has a decent stick and could still play some outfield if somebody needs a a day off. sounds good to me. i also heard that b phillips has the arm and range for short. i say move him over and put aurilia at second.
what do you all think.
According to espn.com, Wilson is making $4 million this year. I doubt they would make that move for a bench player.
Preston Wilson was just designated for assignment by the Astros. If he makes it through waivers (not sure what the chances of that are, given his salary) then the Reds could just pick him up for the minimum salary, and the Astros would be responsible for the rest of his current contract. If he’s a free pickup I guess that’s fine, but the Reds have enough roster issues already without actively creating more of a crunch. They need pitching more than anything else, of course.
i don’t know what preston wilson brings beyond another body to man the outfield. The reds would have to be willing to dfa a catcher or clayton to fit him on, and they’ve been pretty reluctant to do that so far.
I think the Reds are being wise to keep BP at 2nd for the remainder of the year. The guy is finally having a good year in the majors and the last thing you want to do is mess with his head mid-season by switching him somewhere else. They’ll probably do it in the off season when BP has time to adjust mentally.
Wilson strikes out a ton and is a zero defensively, with his age and bad knees. I’d pass.
Went to the game yesterday and had a blast. We sat close to the line in right and had a great view of Freel’s sliding catch and Dunn’s blast, among other things. Funniest thing that happened was when a few fans around me threw the give-away Pat Burrell caps onto the field when he struck out with RISP. Tough town.
As far as Phillips and Aurilia switching, I say absolutely…..IF Phillips is asked first. For all we know, he’s ready to do it right now, but if he’s reluctant at all to make that move this season, then that should be the end of the discussion. This seems like such common sense and a lack of communication! Sure, it’s just my opinion, but it seems to be shared b many fans I know, let alone folks on this board. Why the media hasn’t pestered Narron about this more is interesting to me.
I really believe the Reds would be much better offensively and defensively with that lineup out there (nearly) every day.
As it is, I’ll take it like it was yesterday if Richie can show he’s still got enough range at short to play adequately.
If he can’t, the simple fact is that with our pitching, we NEED a solid glove over there, and that glove should be Castro, NOT Clayton. Castro is still one of the most solid defenders in the darn league, and offensively, he won’t be any worse than Clayton (who I have nothing against at all but who Jerry seems definitely to have something for due to their past). Fine, but loyalty to Royce isn’t gonna win them any more ballgames.
the sample size is too small to take seriously, but right now rich has the highest zone rating, range factor, and fielding percentage of anyone who’s played short for us this year.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/Statistics/Team/playerstats?team=cin&pagetype=fielding&seasonYear=2006
Juan Castro has been hitting over .300 since re-joining the Reds (see link). Surprising, I know. He is also one of the most impressive infielders defensively. He should be starting with Aurilia filling in for everyone in the infield when they need days off or late in the game when they need a power boost. It just makes so much more since than using Clayton. Let him come in and pinch hit or fill-in in case of injury, then dump him at the end of the year. He is worthless.
I meant to say “sense” not “since”
I would also not mind seeing an EE, Castro, Aurilia rotation out on the left side. Basically, don’t start Royce and things will be just fine.
What does everyone think would be a better scenario…
Win the Wild Card and play the Mets
or
Win the Division and take on the Dodgers (most likely)
I’ll have to wait and see how the Reds’ trip out west plays out but from the games I’ve watched them play against the Mets vs. those against the Dodgers, they seemed to be a better matchup against the Mets. The Dodgers just beat them in every way possible 3 days straight. What does ebveryone think???
In case this hasn’t been seen yet, it appears that Kent Mercker knew what was up. His career is indeed over. On his second to last pitch on Saturday he completely snapped one tendon and had an 80% tear in another. How he managed to throw another pitch to finish the inning is beyond me.
Sorry, I’m no medhead – he tore the elbow -ligament- completely and had an 80% tear in the flexor tendon.
As far as the playoff picture is concerned, both the NY & LA teams are pretty good, but right now the Mets are still the better team. It may come down to which team is hot at the end of the year, and which one is healthier/better rested. The Mets are being very conservative with Pedro so he can be rested and ready for the playoffs. LA, meanwhile, has both more injury issues (Nomar, Kent, and JD Drew) and less luxury to rest them, while fighting for their playoff spot.
i’d rather face the NL West winner, regardless who it is, regardless of the situation..because this would mean a division win and that would equal more confidence for this ball club, and if they can go into the playoffs as the NL Central champions i don’t see any way they’d have more confidence
I’d rather play the NL West division champ, too, regardless of who it is.
Adding to my earlier post, Jr. is also an issue, but an issue that, again, isn’t going to be resolved this year because, apparently, there’s a LOT going on behind the scenes we don’t know about and aren’t gonna know about either.
Case in point: Jr. should NOT be in the 3-hole any longer OR playing CF (much as I still love him and believe in him). He needs to be moved down in the batting order, AND Freel should be in CF with Griff in RF. THAT makes sense, at least until Jr. heats up again (and that’s becoming a big if, though I still want desparately to believe in the guy). Either way, they’re a better team with him in the lineup – just not with him hitting 3rd and in CF.
Arizona, San Diego, and Houston all lose. Not a bad off day huh?
Hey guys,
I have some great insights on the reds but have can’t figure out how to start a post on the main page to graciously share them with all of you friends. How exactly do you start up a post thingy?
Gapper – like all blogs, only the site admin(s) may start threads. No diary feature here – but this is what open threads and game threads are for, sharing any thoughts you have. Go ahead and post them in a comment.
For an ‘off’ day, the Reds had a good day. The Redlegs increased its lead in the WC race by doing nothing as SD and AZ lost. Nice, very nice.
And I agree with Steve … move Junior to RF and put him 5th in the lineup. The Reds still need him – and I too love the guy, he’s a class act and a HOF’er – but I think they’d be better if he was in RF with Freel in CF and batting a little in lineup.
Here’s my Reds lineup I’d like to see:
1. Freel (CF)
2. Dunn (LF) – he just seems better in the 2-hole to me
3. Hatteberg (1B)
4. Aurilia (SS)
5. Griffey (RF)
6. Encarnacion (3B)
7. Phillips (2B)
8. Ross/LaRue/Valentin (C) – I’m actually comfortable with any of the three, and you can put the catcher in the 7-spot and move BP down one.
You gotta love Jay’s lineup (though, yes, tinkering the batting order might be in order – might not). There isn’t a single easy out there.
Maybe they do take a hit defensively with Aurilia at SS, but is it enough of a downgrade to justify Clayton? No way. Castro?…..maybe.
Not being nearly the stat-machine that Chris is, I don’t have a clue of how to weigh the two options pro and con, but I’d be surprised if Aurilia playing every day at SS (should be 2B dammit, with BP at SS! – I’ll say it again and again until proven wrong) is gonna hurt them more than help them. I mean, the guy’s a ballplayer who does everything at least well, if not spectacularly.
Interesting, though. I’ll admit that at this time last year, I wanted Richie gone b/c of his whining over playing time. I didn’t think the Reds needed a cancerous presence in an expendable veteran. But this year, I’ve totally changed my tune about him b/c I haven’t heard a word of negativity from the guy (the opposite, actually), and frankly, he’s their best utility guy (now that Freel is everyday now, that is). His versatility has given Narron (too?) much flexibility this year.
i don’t know if it was not getting a FA deal this winter or what, but i’m with you steve, rich has been a model citizen this year. that said, the guy still can’t hit righties very much, so i wouldn’t mind seeing castro at short for those games.
can harang throw the game that we need him to tonight?
I’m sure Junior watches Freel make those spectacular catches and says to himself, “wow! I used to be able to do that…”
The problem here is that the Reds are not going to move Junior until he says he wants to. I agree he should move to a corner, but it will him coming out and asking for it and I don’t see that happening this season, but maybe next year.
It is also apparent that Phillips should be playing short, but I also see that as being an off-season move, not a final month of this season switch.
Sunday’s lineup was about as best a team the Reds can field for now. I really like Al’s concept of putting Castro in at SS against righties. Even on those days there might be an opp for Aurilia to take over 3B, 2B, 1B to give EE, Phillips, and Hatte a day off here and there. Clayton can fill gatorade cups and grab the guys gloves when they’ve hit into the final out of the inning, that’s about as useful as he will ever be for this team. Ok, maybe that was a bit over the top, but I don’t see him playing any other role than being a last guy pinch hitter, or late-game sub/ injury insurance.