Loading ...So what’s going on?
–Bring Barry Back!!! Barry Larkin should be the manager of this team.
–The Reds handed out their team awards; actually, the Cincinnati chapter of the baseball writers voted on them. All were reasonable (Pitcher of the Year, Good Guy Award: Bronson Arroyo; minor leaguer: Chris Heisey) except for one.
Reds MVP? Brandon Phillips. Of course. The baseball writers who didn’t vote for Joey Votto should (a) have their credentials revoked and (b) apologize personally to Votto. What a joke.
–OMGreds recaps Redsfest in their own inimitable fashion. I particularly liked this part:
The Reds Blogging Community
What a great group. Redsfest was a chance for all of us to be in one place and get a chance to meet one another face-to-face. The nice thing about our little community is the support we all have for one another. There’s alot of respect and camaraderie in our little world, we’re all pulling for each other’s success, and of course for the success for the team we all love (and hate sometimes!), The Reds. It was great to meet folks from Red Reporter, Redleg Nation, Better off Red and to Tweet around with all the other Reds blogs and fans out there. Oh and that C Trent guy too.
Indeed. Couldn’t agree more.
–The Reds are showing some interest in Jamey Carroll. No thanks. I’d have been interested a decade ago, but at this point, I would prefer Adam Rosales and Drew Sutton as utility infielders.
–Why?
Cincinnati native and longtime broadcaster Paul Keels has been named the new play by play announcer for the remainder of the Reds schedule. Both broadcasters will team with color analysts Chris Welsh and Jeff Brantley on FOX Sports Ohio’s Reds telecasts beginning next spring.
I think the Reds only have 7 or 8 spots still open in the broadcast booth, so they’re still hiring. I’ve never seen anything like this.
They should’ve stood pat and let Jim Kelch get as much airtime as possible. Kelch is great.
–Doug rounds up the latest from around the minors. Lots of interesting info there.
–Let’s get on the campaign trail for Barry Larkin.
–This is great. RHM has uncovered a, ummm, passionate report about Joey Votto from years ago.
–RHM also has a slideshow from Redsfest. Clearly, she is more motivated than I when it comes to uploading and posting pictures.
–Oh, goodness…with snow on the ground outside, this is exactly what I needed to hear.
–A great “Friend of The Nation,” @AmyPerry04, snapped this picture of me playing poker with Carlos Fisher at Redsfest. I’m wearing the red shirt and the prematurely gray hair.
Hey Chad, you’re more photogenic than C Trent.
Votto absolutely should have been named MVP. I like Phillips and think he’s an exciting and very good all around player. But Votto’s such a superior hitter, it’s not close. They’re punishing him for the 30 games he missed, which is stupid, because even without those 30 games he was by far the team’s most productive hitter.
I agree about Jamey Caroll, we don’t need him. We have younger versions in house.
Thanks. I think.
Any chance Orlando Cabrera falls in our laps? With the recent signings of Adam Everett, Gonzo, and Marco Scutaro, and the perceived interest by several clubs in Bobby Crosby, the SS openings that were out there to begin with are slowly drying up. I know the Twins were interested in bringing him back as a 2B, but that seems to have gone nowhere.
If we’re honestly considering going after Jamey Carroll, why not try to lowball Cabrera instead? The difference in $$ wouldn’t be nearly as much as initially thought by Cabrera’s agent, as there are few teams left with a spot for him.
Cards signed Brad Penny.
Before making Larkin the manager why not at least a year as a coach. Nothing like a little on the job training. If you hire any ex-Red it should be Billy Hatcher or Ron Oester. Larkin always appeared to be a little better suited for broadcasting where you can stay out of the hard decisions.
I don’t know how Jamey Carroll is that big an upgrade over Adam Rosales especially if back-up shortstop is part of a goal. Rosales has played more short latelt than Carroll.
Admittedly, I’m basing this just on my own observations, which is always dangerous, but I really liked the job Drew Sutton did for the Reds. Plays several IF positions, even played a bit in the OF. Showed some pop in his bat in limited opportunities. I’d rather resign him for the IF utility spot than another washed up veteran that Baker can over-use.
I agree with your assessment of Sutton, and believe he can be a solid player, especially utility/bench player, in the majors.
Sutton is on the 40-man roster and has options, so he is already signed with the organization next year. He’d make near the minimum.
I would prefer if Sutton or Rosalas could bat over .220.
For as much as you guys love to talk about OBP and how the Reds pay no attention to it, comments like this make me laugh. Sutton and Rosales couldn’t post a .350 OBP to save their lives. But, yeah, let’s keep the .300 OBP guys cause we know we don’t have enough of those around.
I wouldn’t call Sutton a .300 obp guy based on 76 PA’s with the Reds. He has a .378 career obp in the minors, including .381 in AAA (208 PA) and .382 in AA (1164 PA.)
I don’t know why you would dismiss the 76 PAs. As used, Sutton may be lucky to see 250 PAs and the PAs he does see will be sporadic. So, I think the 76 PA number is probably a good sample size, given what he’ll be asked to do. Keep in mind that he was used in matchups which Dusty “thought” maximized his value.
In any event, we constantly nag about the Reds ignoring OBP and making bad deals… Carroll would be an offensive upgrade over both guys for probably only about a million more to a mil-five more.
In short, I agree with you about Rosales, disagree with you about Sutton.
@David: I’m not “dismissing” his only MLB experience. I just don’t think you can draw meaningful conclusions about how he will bat in 2010 based on such a small sample size. About a month’s worth of full-time at-bats.
We see players performance swing, sometimes dramatically, in one month’s sample of data all the time.
For example, Willy Taveras was batting .262 with a .351obp through the end of April (80 PA.)
Phillips hit .188 w/293obp in April (82PA)
Joey Votto hit .220 in August (128 PA) and .385 in Sept (126 PA).
Actually I don’t have a problem with a veteran utility guy like Carroll, who can play decent defense and get on base. But Carroll turns 36 before the season starts, that’s a little risky. And his career slugging pct. is also .350.
In any case, I’d like to see Sutton on the 25 man roster next year. Definitely prefer him to Rosales.
@pinson343:
I agree with this. I think Sutton might have more to offer, but I wouldn’t mind having Carroll around. While 36 certainly is no spring chicken, for a utility guy that’s not out of line. The downside is if his ‘veteraness’ inspires Dusty to use him 5 days a week.
Gotta love this quote: ,” Jocketty said of Carroll. “He’s gutty and a tough player, a gamer-type of guy that’s hard-nosed.”
Does he have a pretend friend?
That kind of quote usually translates as: ‘Nice guy without a lot of talent.’
Just think if Carroll plays SS, then of course he would bat second, meaning that ‘havoc’ and ‘gutty’ would be one and two in the order…
Now ain’t that inspiring?