Comments on: Edinson Volquez: Awesome

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:01:29 +0000

Who knows, maybe we will get a player back in return, this from John Fay: The player to be named in the Salmon trade won't be known until after Opening Day.

By: billg

billg — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:08:54 +0000

1) Reds fans on radio and blogs –Most want instant gratification, which they define as winning the Series. Anything else is failure. I don’t count them as true fans.

2) Hamilton for Volquez — Always trade a good hitter for a good pitcher. Always trade a might-be-a-long-term-good-hitter for a might-be-a-long-term-good-starter. You need both, but 4 starting pitchers with ERA’s below 3.00 will win you more games than 4 offensive players with BA’s above .300.

By: GregD

GregD — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:05:32 +0000

The EV/Hamilton trade? I don’t recall being upset at the time of the deal. We really have no history in major league baseball to judge what the value of Josh Hamilton should be. He still has all the talent in the world, and he still has a ton more risk than any other player. Epitome of high risk/high reward. The Reds decided to go after a 24 yr old version of Homer Bailey, and I hope the trade pays off for both teams. Although I think it’s also likely that they had no choice but to deal him because of Narron’s departure, and that helped limit what they would otherwise get in return.

By: Dave from Louisville

Dave from Louisville — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:36:50 +0000

Thanks Travis.

GregD are you still upset about the trade?

By: GregD

GregD — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:05:17 +0000

With respect to EV, he’s having a good spring. We don’t *know* that he’s “figured things out” yet as it relates to full season/regular season.

By: Travis G.

Travis G. — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:45:42 +0000

Here’s the item, Dave:

The stock of Cincinnati prospect Homer Bailey seems to have taken a dramatic tumble in the past year. Talent evaluators say the Reds have demonstrated a clear willingness to deal Bailey, while coveting fellow prospect Johnny Cueto. And rival teams have grown increasingly skeptical about whether the young right-hander will make the adjustments necessary to become a successful big league pitcher. “What you hear is that [Bailey] is someone who thinks he’s got it all figured out,” one evaluator said.

Let’s hope he’s humbled by a likely stint this spring in AAA and learns to listen sooner, rather than later. Let’s hope he figures things out sooner than Volquez.

By: Dave from Louisville

Dave from Louisville — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:28:43 +0000

MLBTR had a post linking to Peter Gammons’s blog talking negatively about Bailey’s attitude. I am not an “insider”, is there anyone here that can post what he wrote?

Bailey needs to spend an entire year in AAA, at least. Or until he has some of the control problems figured out

By: GregD

GregD — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:35:15 +0000

I think the Reds had to move Hamilton. Firing the Narron’s put them in a position that Hamilton couldn’t stay on the team. He HAS to have someone with him all the time, and I don’t see him succeeding without that. Even if he has a great, superstar season in Texas, that doesn’t mean it would have worked out that way here.

I really hope most fans aren’t down on Bailey like you hear on talk radio all the time. You have to look no further than Edison Volquez’s career to see that some guys need more minor league time to refine their stuff. Volquez is only 24 years old entering this season, but his first taste of major league action was 2005. He’s had ERA’s of 14.21 and 7.29 with the Rangers.

By: Airguitarducks

Airguitarducks — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:26:03 +0000

he better be worth it
Josh Hamilton is hitting .600 this spring