Loading ...Kyle Nagel of the Dayton Daily News has some predictions for the upcoming season, including:
The Reds will finish 15 games back in the National League Central Division. There is some seriously negative juju around that team right now. People quitting. Junior breaking his hand. It’s unfortunate when the best things you can say about a team’s offseason are they have nice new uniforms and a wonderful broadcasting crew.
Not unreasonable, I’d say. Of course, don’t get RN contributor Chris started on the new broadcasting team. We’ll be here all day listening to him rant about that one. 
Oh, and what is “juju”?
First of all Chad, ‘juju’ is mojo or iow a vibe or feeling or aura. What Nagle is saying is there is some bad vibes coming from the Reds.
I want to get excited about the Reds season … I mean, it’s baseball, how can you not get excited about that??? Right??? … But, the Reds have given me no hopes of a winning season this offseason. They only thing they have determined is that this season is going cost me a lot with the new unis and higher ticket prices.
Kyle Nagel?
Ok….. what ever I guess.
Yeah, it’s Kyle Nagel, but can you disagree with him? I think the reason is more “insufficient talent” than “bad juju,” but (at this point), I don’t see this team winning more than 82 games.
The thing I’m most interested in are hearing the “untold tales” once Krivsky era ends. I’m very curious to hear the real story behind all the palace intrigue.
And as for broadcasters…
I do have to give Thom Brennaman credit. I re-watched the end of the Fiesta Bowl on Tivo, and Thom was actually silent for about 30-45 seconds after OU scored ran back that INT for a touchdown with 1:07 left. He appreciated the moment and let it happen.
Of course, the first words out of his mouth after the pause were, “The big dog came out to eat!”, so…
Speaking of people leaving….on Lance’s show he was quoting (and I can’t remember who he was quoting) about Johnny Alvarez leaving, The quote was how bad it must have been considering he gave up a huge salary (for his position) of something like $200K and he still had (I think he said) 4 years left on his contract.
If the Reds have some money left to spend, I’d like to see them spend it. At this point, I’d take just about anything. As I watch risk/reward guys like Pineiro and Huff go off the market for prices the Reds could easily have afforded, I wonder really what Krivsky’s long-term plan is. I don’t know about everyone else, but I initially thought that Krivsky would bring the Twins plan to Cincinnati, but I don’t see a defined plan. I know it’s only one year and he has the rest of the offseason to prove me wrong, but I’d like to hear at least the occasional rumour. Oh, and the Jim Parque rumour doesn’t count.
Krivsky seems really good at breaking down the old system. It remains to be seen if he can build anything himself.
At this point, I’d just like to see him make some low-risk, medium-reward plays. At the worst, throw a couple of the low-level starters an offer or two on short-term deals. If it doesn’t work, pitchers can always be traded at the deadline. But, maybe that’s the idea with the bullpen.
I’d just like to see some semblance of a plan I understand, even if I don’t agree with it. Right now, I just don’t see anything.
Reds could finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th with 4th place the most likely.