I think the question should be does the Taveras signing make us better, given the other available options? I still say no, I would rather have Hopper and Dickerson take the ABs in centerfield. Neither is anything like a sure thing, but given Taveras’s numbers I think they have a chance to put up roughly comparable offensive values at a lower cost.

What really worries me is all this talk that he “improves our defense” and gives us speed at the “top of the batting order” when the numbers don’t even remotely support either statement. Jockerty said the same thing about Hernandez’s defense and the numbers and the Orioles fans both suggest that is a joke. Maybe he has to say that, but it really seems to me like we are building a roster around replacement level veterans and cliches as opposed to some objective analysis of what these players are worth. If we are not going to contend this season (and none of these signings make me feel like we are) why get Hernandez, Rhoads and Taveras etc. as opposed to seeing if Dickerson, Hopper and Hanigan etc. can play?

You’re right.

Reyes career obp IS .336, but each of the past 3 years was .354, .354, .358. PLUS he had 72 extra base hits in 688 at-bats. PLUS he’s stolen 258 bases over the past 4 years at a 79% success rate. I would love Reyes on this team.

Rollins career obp IS .333, but each of the past 2 years was .344, .349. PLUS he had 58 extra base hits in 556 at-bats. (the year before he had 88 and in 2006 he had 79.) PLUS he’s stolen 165 bases over the past 4 years at a 90% success rate. I would love Rollins on this team.

Taveras career obp IS .331, but last year it was .308. PLUS he had a .296 SLG percent. SLG! He had 18 extra base hits in 479 at-bats, half of those in Coors field. He has 80 extra base hits in his 4-year career. He has stolen 168 bases over the past 4 years at a 82% success rate. (68 of those last year at 91%; the other 100 over 3 years at a 78% clip.)

Xavier Nady might be OK, he doesn’t have the potential upside of Swisher, who looked on the verge of busting out with Oakland.

I think I agree with this. I’ve always been a fan of Swisher.

Of course, his skill set is precisely the type that the mouth-breathers on WLW will be screaming about in complaint. He won’t be a popular man in Cincinnati.

Xavier Nady might be OK, he doesn’t have the potential upside of Swisher, who looked on the verge of busting out with Oakland.

I don’t like the Taveras signing, but I understand it. The Reds went into Dollar General to get a free agent that had some actual MLB experience that could either play center or have some power, as the fear with having so many farm hands working the outfield is that one or two of them might regress to rookie ball. They couldn’t afford the latter, so they went with the former.

Maybe Jocketty will get lucky, he did seem to make some budget signings like Eckstein, Womack and Grudzielanek with the Cardinals that panned out pretty good. (I can see the cracks your saying on Womack, but he had a pretty good year for the Cards, then moved back to normal when he left St Louis.)

Hint: it isn’t good.

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/fan_forum/rosie_reds.jsp

Other than that, what Jimmy James and Preach said.

The Reds will play and need to win games in parks where outfielders need to cover the gaps. This has been a weakness with the statues in left and right and fill-in CFers
for the last two seasons. The Reds go on the road and play in larger parks and can’t cover the ground.