Loading ...From the Enquirer:
Article states that now that the Reds have their RH bat…they’ll look for pitching, here’s the pitchers they mention:
There’s a long list of serviceable pitchers unsigned: Tony Armas, Keith Foulke, Dustin Hermanson, Dan Kolb, Tomo Ohka, Chris Reitsma, Arthur Rhodes, Scott Schoeneweis and Ron Villone.
As spring training nears, some players on that list may be willing to sign at relatively cheap rates.
This team is better than at this time last year in the bullpen (arguably) and defensively at SS. Is there anywhere else that this team (right now) is better than it was going into ST 2006?
starting pitching, catcher, and second base are better
and defense
Hey, saw Dontrelle Willis was popped on a DUI (after he pulled over his Bentley in traffic and urinated on the street). Is he trying to be a candidate to play sports in Cincinnati?
Saw this in the article as well:
Willis has been Florida’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award — presented annually to major league players displaying a commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others — in each of the last two seasons.
I think the outfield has more flexibility now with Junior probably moving to right field. (The Enquirer reported today he broke his left hand at home.) With Freel in center and backups
Denorfia, Hamilton, Hopper and Conine, I like the outfield setup. Certainly the starting pitching is an improvement over ST 2006 and I like the catching situation, although we don’t need Moellar.
Flexibility maybe, but better? Kearns is better than any combination of what you’re listing.
How is the ST better? We had Arroyo and Harang going into ST, or was the Arroyo trade made during ST? Other than the pickup of Arroyo, the ST is weaker with the loss of Claussen. He was coming off a decent ‘05 and no one knew he was hurt.
I see the catching as the same… Ross = LaRue. And all Moeller is doing is taking up a roster spot.
Gordon Edes reports that Keith Foulke is expected to sign with the Cleveland Indians so you can scratch him off the list.
We went into the winter needing another starter, unless everyone is comfortable with a Ramierez/Michilak combo. As far as I can tell, the Reds haven’t gone after any of the FAs. There was one rumor out of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that the Reds were talking Dunn for Bonderman but the Tigers didn’t want to give that much up.
I read a couple reports that the Reds brought in Bray with the intention of turning him into a starter. I don’t know if I buy that but it could be interesting.
So as we stand Arroyo, Harang, Lohse, Milton, ? I’m not sure about that rotation at all. It would have been nice to add a guy like Suppan into that spot.
If anything I think that 3rd base is much worse off with Aurillia leaving. I’m nowhere near the EdE supporter that most are. I’m a defense first guy. Until that develops, I’m not sold on him.
Also the Reds don’t seem to have a closer set in stone. Will it be Stanton, Weathers, another Coffey experiment? Last year, which while it didn’t pan out, the closer’s role was solidified going into ST last year.
The nice thing is there seems to be a lot of areas where guys will compete. It is possible that the competition for positions will drive up the production.
Out of that list, I’d most like to see Chris Reitsma and Tomo Ohka. Sure, they’re not all-stars, but Reitsma has closing experience and Ohka has been a decent bottom of the rotation guy for awhile now. I always liked Tony Armas, but I can’t tell if his regression is purely injury based or if it’s attitude based as well.
Of course, as no one has signed Aubrey Huff, I’d still love the Reds to get him. I know another LH bat is not a priority, but at least he’s a lefty who is a solid hitter and works pitch counts.
I could see Ohka sliding into the rotation and making the team marginally better.
I feel the Reds are too RH-heavy on offense.
Lefties include Dunn, Hatteberg, Griffey when healthy, and Valentin when he starts.
Righties include Phillips, Gonzalez, Encarnacion, Ross, and Freel (with possibly Denorfia in place of an injured Griff).
I haven’t followed this offseason as closely as the past, so have I missed any of the primary starters? There’s not really any LH-bench help. LH starters are the streaky Dunn and career-year Hatteberg.
I know that FeLo had defensive issue, but offensively, I liked that extra LH-bat at the top of the lineup.
Rotation – 2005
Harang, Arroyo, Claussen, Milton, Williams
2006
Harang, Arroyo, Lohse, Milton, ??
The difference is Lohse and ?? instead of Claussen and Williams. I realize the 2 lefties ended up having bad, injury-filled seasons, but at this time last year, they were coming off 4.2 and 4.4 ERA seasons. I was more optimistic about their 2006 than I am about Lohse’s 2007. Seeing how I was wrong about Claussen/Williams 2006, I hope I am equally wrong about Lohse’s 2007!
Greg…the scary thing is that the Reds gave up on both Williams and Claussen and both are young and can still be productive.
There is no obvious reason to have given up on either, other than they were obtained by this regime, and dumping players from the previous regime does seem to be of some importance to this management group (on both the major and minor league level).