Fay Addresses Reds Roster Problems
From the Enquirer:
Fay makes a series of comments about the cause of the Reds roster problems being guaranteed contracts.
You’ve got to think that fixing the roster is going to cost the Reds, who are already paying Mike Stanton $3.5 million not to pitch.
Guaranteed contracts make baseball a tough business. Players and needs change. But once you sign them, you have to pay them.
Stanton and Rheal Cormier are Exhibits A and B in the Reds’ case.
A lot of players on the roster who seem expendable make good money. Ryan Freel has become the fifth outfielder, but the Reds are paying him $3 million this year and $4 million next.
His skill set is similar to Norris Hopper’s. Ideally, one of the two extra outfielders would be a home run threat.
Freel’s contract makes him hard to move, meaning the Reds probably would have to pay some of the contract to trade him.
then….
The shortcomings of the roster were never more evident than Friday night. The Reds had the bases loaded, no outs, and left-hander Mitch Stetter was on the mound.
But manager Dusty Baker’s only right-handed bat on the bench was Juan Castro. He sent up left-handed hitters Paul Bako and Scott Hatteberg instead.
Both struck out.
Rally over.
Signing Corey Patterson was a no-risk move - until he made the team and got a big-league contract that pays him $3.5 million.
Now, the Reds are obligated to ride out the slump with Patterson or pay the money to move him.
The contract issue will come into play with the rotation as well. Matt Belisle is coming off the DL and moving into Josh Fogg’s spot in the rotation.
So what becomes of Fogg?
The Reds said Fogg is going to the bullpen, but his stuff isn’t well-suited for that role.
Fogg’s guaranteed only $400,000. But that’s still a pretty large check to write.
And if Fogg moves to the bullpen, someone else has to go. The pitcher who has struggled the most is Todd Coffey, and he has an option - but he makes $925,000. That’s a lot to pay a pitcher to pitch in Triple-A.
The problem is that almost without exception, it was apparent that these were bad decisions made by Wayne Krivsky and Fay never mentions this fact at all.
Let’s look at them…
Mike Stanton: A Krivsky decision to give him a multiyear deal at an advanced age (just like he did with Cormier).
Ryan Freel: Freel’s contract, which I believe was signed after the ‘05 season, could have been justified for one year, possible two at a cheap price. But a three year deal for a player that didn’t spend significant time in the majors until age 28 and has never played more than 143 games is lunacy.
Juan Castro: One of ML baseball’s worst hitters ever and the Reds sign him to a multiyear deal. No one is that good defensively.
Corey Patterson: You have baseball’s #1 prospect who plays the same position and you send him to AAA. You have two players already on the roster (Freel and Hopper) who can put up at least the same numbers offensively and get on base at a more productive rate (though neither is as good defensively). Patterson didn’t come cheap and now you’re stuck with a defensive specialist in CF or a $3M bench player. Makes it seem like they were betting that Junior would be injured at some point, which would give them somewhere to play Jay Bruce.
Josh Fogg: Why? We’ve been asking that since ST. He probably wouldn’t have made the team except for the self destruction in ST of Homer Bailey and the ST injury to Matt Belisle, but either would have been a better choice and someone like Tom Shearn could have held the spot until one of the others was ready. Why go outside and spend the money?
Todd Coffey: I believe that his contract extension was signed after the ‘06 season. It might be a big large, but I can understand why the Reds would have wanted to sew him up multiyear, he had a big year at age 25. He just hasn’t become the pitcher they envisioned. Bad decision in hindsight, but understandable at the time and justifiable.
I believe you can throw in the Alex Gonzalez signing in this pile of bad signings also.
Most of these decisions seem to be because the front office can’t decide whether they’re going to compete this year (i.e. the Guardado signing) or whether they’re going young (Volquez, Cueto). They don’t seem to have confidence in their young players (i.e. keeping Hatteburg and having him split time with Votto) being ready, thus feel the need to keep players around who have either low ceilings or their best days are behind them.
And for this reason, the Reds have wasted a fair amount of money on bad players who won’t contribute much this year, only taking playing time from young players, and won’t be here when this team is finally able to compete.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:01 am
You left out Milton and Griffey.
Griffey’s “ok” when healthy, but his days as being a $15-17MM per year player ended about 5 years ago.
But thanks to Fay for playing the “woe is us” card due to guaranteed contracts. What a crock.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:03 am
It’s frustrating to be a Reds fan. It really is.
How blatantly obvious is it to 99% of fans that Corey Patterson should be hitting 7th or 8th in our lineup? He’s the worst.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:09 am
The problem is that almost without exception, it was apparent that these were bad decisions made by Wayne Krivsky and Fay never mentions this fact at all.
Uh, does Fay imply at any point that these weren’t Krivsky’s decisions? The Reds beat reporter does have to stay on the GM’s good side, or otherwise he’ll get even less information from the guy than he already does.
More thoughtful criticism, please.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:18 am
That’s the problem with the mainstream media, right? They’re more worried about not severing ties than being critical, especially when being critical is warranted.
See, it’s much easier to be a GM when you don’t have to deal with contracts.
That was the last line of the column. I wonder who gave all those contracts that now need to be “dealt with?”
April 20th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Sad thing is, we said these signings were stupid from day one. We, the fans, people who aren’t paid big bucks to set a roster. How can these things be so obvious yet he still makes these mistakes? The lost money from roster cuts should come out of HIS salary.
This is the last year of Wayne’s contract. I bet it is his last year as GM of the Reds.
I think Castro’s cut when Alex comes back. The Reds could really use Gonzalez in the field. Make Kepp a suber sub, but he just doesn’t have the range to play short. Reds have turned the fewest DPs in the Majors.
You know, I wouldn’t mind Mike Piazza if he remains strictly a bench player, but knowing Wayne, he’d sign him to a three year, ten million dollar deal.
I’m sick of the Reds not putting the best team on the field because of roster spots, arbitration clocks, and guaranteed contracts. With a different GM, this team could be highly competitive.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:37 am
That’s the problem with the mainstream media, right? They’re more worried about not severing ties than being critical, especially when being critical is warranted.
It’s more of a feature, not a bug.
Bloggers, or even sports opinion columnists, have more leeway to rake a guy over the coals. John Fay literally could not do his job if the GM wouldn’t answer his calls.
I’m sick of the Reds not putting the best team on the field because of roster spots, arbitration clocks, and guaranteed contracts. With a different GM, this team could be highly competitive.
I think you’ve prescribed a different collective bargaining agreement, not GM.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Sometimes I get the feeling that we (as Reds fans) are a lot like Cubs fans… :oops: A lot of whining about a team that, quite simply, doesn’t win.
After all, we complain about the previous GM, we complain about the managers (all of ‘em), we complain about stars such as Griffey and Dunn, we complain about “bums” like Stanton and Cormier…
I came to the realization that we just aren’t that good. Sure, I had HIGH hopes when the season started…but Patterson, Fogg, etc quickly ruined those. It stinks to have that attitude in mid-April, but perhaps it’ll keep my sanity come June, July, and the dog days of August.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I agree, it is extremely frustrating to be a Reds fan. It seems like Krivsky is the eternal optimist, signing guys who could be good, or used to be good, or might possibly someday be good again. That being said, this team is still reeling from years and years of mismanagement of the draft and farm system, and with Votto, Bruce, etc. they are just starting to come out of it. I’m just losing confidence that Krivsky won’t do something to screw that up, too.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Frank Thomas released by the Jays. Could he be that RH bat off the bench and occasional 1B versus righties?
He might not be willing to accept such a role, but then again, he might not have many better offers.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:59 am
*versus lefties*
April 20th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I agree about the Milton deal, but not about the Griffey deal. It was reasonable at the time, there was no reason to believe he’d be struck with the injuries that he’s had. Sure, it looks bad in retrospect, but I don’t remember anyone complaining at the time.
As for Fay not wanting to get on Krivsky’s “bad side”…then why write the article at all? IMO, a GM would realize that he’d be better off talking to a beat writer to tell his viewpoint than trying to cold shoulder him, which would free him up to write ANYTHING he wanted to.
IMO, it’s more that the beat writers get too close to what they’re covering and don’t see the negatives.
April 20th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I can’t imagine that Frank Thomas can’t find a DH job very soon.
April 20th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Further evidence that the people who own baseball teams are not the smartest humans in the room.
April 20th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I’m on record as saying the Arroyo contract was a bad idea at the time (before last season). I think the Reds might want that $12M back next year, when Cueto, Voltron, and Mr. Homer are all rolling. Bronson’s under contract for two more years.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
It wouldn’t suprise me to see Arroyo moved in the offseason for a RH outfielder. Of course, he’ll have to start pitching better to have that kind of value.
I also think this article indirectly highlights an important issue that the good GM’s get. Bench players can be had inexpensively, so don’t overspend for them. Hopper = Freel in what they bring, but Freel’s got 2 more years and $7 million. Once Hopper gets to the point that he gets expensive, find the next Freel/Hopper. Castro at $1 million? There are plenty of all glove-no stick SS’s that you can player for league minimum. At the time they saigned Castro to the extension, they had Ray Olmedo in the organization. Same guy. Ross and Valentin together making $ millions, and here Bako is had for much less with just as good a defense (though most don’t expect his continued offensive surge.)
April 20th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
The money is already gone so you might as well get rid of the dead weight and actually try to win. Krivsky should be fired for the Patterson signing alone.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
i would love thomas or piazza
but i cant see it happening