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The Reds have acquired utility man Willie Bloomquist from the Royals for cash. The headline from our new buddy Rob Neyer is pretty amusing: “Reds acquire Bloomquist, clinch pennant.” Rob is understandably perplexed as to why Walt Jocketty would trade for a 684-OPS hitting journeyman, who’s not eligible for the post-season or signed for next year.
But Reds fans know that there’s a method to this madness, and it indicates something that’s perhaps more worrisome. First, the Reds have been going without any backup outfielders since Jay Bruce was injured on August 30. Bruce has been “expected back in a couple days” for two weeks, now. Meanwhile, the Gomes/Stubbs/Heisey trio is worn out and providing ever-diminishing returns, and when Heisey hurt his arm, we were stuck with Miguel Cairo in RF. Dusty Baker’s hands have been tied – he’s been unable to pinch hit or double-switch for any of his outfielders, let alone give someone a rest. Wladimir Balentin seemed due for a call-up, but then he got hurt. Yonder Alonso’s outfield defense must have terrified the children of Louisville, because he’s not even been mentioned.
All of which leads us to this: I’m thrilled that Willie Bloomquist is joining the Cincinnati Reds in the middle of a pennant race, even though he’s the very definition of “replacement player.” I’m more than happy to sacrifice Philippe Valiquette or Carlos Fisher to a potential waiver claim (though I assume Edmonds goes back on the 60-man DL, despite being activated over the weekend). With all the bitching we’ve done about the roster situation, I’m not going to complain, especially if all Jocketty gave up was some of Bob Castellini’s cabbage. UPDATED: Tom Groeschen reports on Twitter that Enerio del Rosario was DFA’ed to make room. Nice young arm, but not the key to any future Fountain Square celebrations.
It’s very unlikely that Bloomquist does anything to help the Reds win the division title. Guys with a .297 wOBA rarely do. But even if he just gives each “starting” outfielder a day off, I’ll be happy. Just don’t use him Wednesday against Joe Saunders. He’s 0 for 11, career.
The real worry, as I alluded to above, is what this says about Jay Bruce. Mark Sheldon’s article says that Bruce will be back tomorrow, but that he “won’t completely heal 100 percent until the winter.” That doesn’t sound good at all.
Why have we not gotten any physical status updates on Bruce, Nix or Edmonds?
What can Bloomqist do that Valiaka can’t?
Valiaka seems athletic enough and can play 2B/SS/3B so I assume he could also spot fill in the OF with a few days of practice.
Bloomquist has played EVERY position this season with the exception of pitcher and catcher but he’s played none of them well.
And someone mentioned Balentien. There is also Dorn and/or Sappelt who I think could help with the OF situation but then there are 40 man roster issues
Do the Reds need to make a move with the 40-man roster to get Bloomquist on it?
1. Play outfield. Do you really want Valaika out there “trying it out”?
2. Yes. delRosario is DFA. (see the Update in the post).
So Wladimir Balentin played for Louisville in the playoffs. Why is he not coming to the Reds? At least they could explain this to us. Otherwise I am going to believe they are nuts or incompetent.
And I am getting tired of this maybe in a couple of days garbage about Bruce. As was pointed out above, he doesn’t want to come back until he is 100% and that won’t be until the winter. Does anyone know what end is up?
Groeschen says Edmonds and Nix took BP, and both appeared to be taking full cuts.
Fay & Sheldon just Tweeted that Bruce is in the lineup.
Am I the only person who became nervous when I found out the Reds were bringing a weak hitting reserve named Willie?
post of the day
Let’s hope Bruce is not brought back before he is ready. We’ll need him in the playoffs, and can’t afford to have him hurt further. The Reds are up by 6 games, and Bruce’s presence, although helpful in the regular season, is highly important in the post-season.
As for the signing. Meh. At least we don’t have to play Ciaro in a corner outfield spot.
I wonder if the constant playing time for our OF will cause them to wear down before the playoffs – that would be the biggest benefit of this trade. Im unsure if its true…but I would guess giving our starting 3 a day off will help keep them fresh for the playoffs.
Hello Ryan Freel v.2
It would be so nice if Alanso could play an outfield position…Im not that knowledgeable about MLB player development, but how difficult is the switch from 1B to LF/RF? I’ve always felt that if Adam Dunn can do it, anybody should. Maybe not this year, but what about 2 years from now?
or…we could just trade him for an ace and have the scariest rotation in baseball. I guess I should stop looking to next year and enjoy our 6 game lead in the central.
I remember in about 1980, Lee Mazzilli was mad because he was being moved from centerfield to leftfield. “Left field is for idiots,” he was quoted, much to the chagrin of Jim Rice, the strongest man in the world at the time. That neither Juan Francisco nor Yonder Alonso can play the Idiot’s Position is a bit scary. Don’t they have 3 free hours a day in the minor leagues to work on it? And I agree, with Mike–can’t Valaika pretty well fake it? Soft J could play anything.
I also remember Don Zimmer as Red Sox manager saying he was tempted to flip-flop Tom Burgmeier and Dave Campbell in left field and pitcher for a few hitters, under the theory that they both showed in batting practice that they were decent outfielders. He says he didn’t because he was afraid they could only catch flies behind their backs.
Oh Reds…. you always reel me in with things, then go and do stupid stuff like this and make me smash my head into a wall.
First, you choose to trade either a player or cash for Willie Bloomquist instead of just calling up one of Dorn/Frazier/Balentien, and then you choose to keep DRH over an absolute groundball machine in Enerio Del Rosario.
Did Danny Dorn commit a major felony or something?
Big Ed….
That is what cracks me up. Yonder Alonso started 30 games in left field this year in the minors. Yet apparently he can’t do so in the major leagues during the same season (but we can keep running Gomes out there….). Alonso is no great defender, the guy just doesn’t have the foot speed to get it done, but Gomes is terrible himself. It just doesn’t make sense that Alonso isn’t an option to play in left if they are going to allow Gomes to play out there.
I would think that the fact that they’ll play Gomes out there, yet won’t play Yonder must tell you something about how bad Yonder really is in the OF.
I love the picture. What is he eating — a calzone? I say ditch the sombreros and post a picture of each day’s hero eating the calzone.
@mike: I am more than happy to put Chapman in the 9th inning, but I really don’t want a non OF learning OF on the fly at this point.
I’m wondering what Balentien said…I mean, he must have really gotten someone angry.
If Alonso could play LF, I feel like he’d be out there. I still think we need to flip him for a young shortstop.
Bloomquist is much worse than Freel and I’m not a Freel fan. At least Freel got on base. He had no idea what he was doing on the bases or in the field, but he could get on base. Bloomquist can’t.
As for Del Rosario…I think he’s peaked…he throws a very straight ball…
Hopefully Bloomquist is little more than insurance at this point. If he plays in more than a half dozen games I’d be concerned.
Are there financial/option/contract reasons why we didn’t bring Balentien up? Is it possible he is not fully recovered from his injury?
If Jay Bruce is 100% healthy, as he claims, then I don’t mind playing him. Otherwise, I’d exercise great caution before he’d see the field.
Optimistic reports on Nix and Edmonds are good news.
I’ve been pretty critical of the Dickerson-for-Edmonds trade, and overall still wish we hadn’t made that move. BUT, I have to admit, I sort of like the idea of sending Edmonds up for a key pinch hitting situation in the playoffs. Maybe it’s all those years he was a Reds killer…
Walt Jocketty is forcing me to re-evaluate my opinion that he’s not a horrible general manager.
Steve, we must have watched a different player in Del Rosario. Dude gets nasty movement on his fastball.
Typically guys with nasty movement don’t give up 13 hits in 8 2/3 innings. In the minors, he was hittable, 364 hits in 399 lifetime innings. He did keep the ball down (as you mentioned), but, for example, as a pitcher with lots of movement, he’s had great control and only had 19 wild pitches in five years. Also, he doesn’t miss many bats, another common denominator for pitchers with lots of movement. He K’s 3 in his 8 2/3 big league innings, in AAA, his K rate is under 5 for two consecutive years….Bill James and company say that under 5 in the majors is a recipe for disaster and Del Rosario wasn’t doing more in the minors.
I look at the minors in this way….on average, two players reach the majors each year who will have a Hall of Fame impact. Not two per team, two for all of baseball. There’s probably 5-10 guys that will be all-stars at least one year in their careers. There’s the A guys. There’s probably another 30 (one per team) that will probably carve out a solid big league career (as in a regular starter for a few years). Those are the B guys. Every team may get a few C guys that make it and contribute something for a short period of time. I don’t think Del Rosario is higher than a low C.
Balentin has an oblique strain. He was activated from the DL to play DH for Louisville’s last few playoff games, but word is that he’s not well enough to play the field. He hit .154 (2 for 13) in those games, suggesting he’s not 100%.
@Dave Lowenthal: I think I would normally agree at this point in playoff race. The problem I have is we are already playing someone every day who has no clue in the OF. Gomes.
Gomes is arguably the worst defensive LF in Reds history
He makes Dunn’s LF defense look like George Foster
Gomes is last in all-time Reds defensive WAR at -20 (baseball-reference)
He is last this year in fielding WAR (fangraphs), which means even the worst defensive LF I’ve ever seen him has passed him. That would be Carlos Lee
If we are willing to throw Gomes out there every day then we should also be willing to throw you and me out there.
the last two weeks with lack of OF on the 40-man roster, playing with only 3 OF and the 40-man roster crunch really made me question the Dickerson trade
Even if Dickerson has hit terribly with the Brew Crew
Maybe I’m just glad to have an extra outfielder on the team, but I dont see this as an overly bad transaction. Would I have preferred to bring up Balentien or Dorn? – probably. Am I upset about DFAing del Rosario? – not overly. I think Walt wanted someone with versitility and major league experience – but thats just a guess. I look at it as an improvement over the past two weeks, so in that respect, I’m ok with it.
Also – I’ve never seen Alonso in the outfield, but from what I heard, he makes Gomes look above average.
eastcoast….
No one makes Gomes look above average. Alonso is probably just as bad as Gomes is out there, but if the Reds are willing to live with Gomes out there, they should be willing to live with Alonso out there too.
this is exactly my feeling
how is Francisco in the OF compared to Gomes/Alonso?
still, there are 3 OF in AAA who could help which is also troublesome. Even BEFORE Bruce went down, when Nix hadn’t been DL’d yet but couldn’t run I felt like we should have been looking at one of the 3 in AAA. In particular because all 3 can also play defense.
This is a bit of a tangent but I’ve liked how Alonso has looked at the plate. I think he should be dealt in the off season maybe for a SS or LF because is blocked by Votto and should be blocked by Votto for the next 6-8 years
Man I hope that turns out to be the case. When do the Reds need to try and sign Votto to a long term deal? I say that should be priority One This off season.
Priority one, two and three.
Is he required to take a pitch or move on defense out there? Is he allowed to swing for the fences from LF
He does have a good strong arm…did you notice that his BABIP is .500?
@Doug Gray:
Doug 2 words: Adam Dunn
What a suprise your trumpeting for Dorn.
I am suprised about DelRosario. Bloomquist for DelRosario is much much worse than the initial negative coments when Stewart and Roenicke were traded.
That’s pretty selective, Mark. You may recall that Edwin Encarnacion was also a part of that deal. We were wrong about him, and wrong about Rolen, but the reaction to that trade can hardly be compared to this one. And obviously, context matters: BQ is a small roll of duct tape for a leaky boat. Rolen was (it appeared at the time), a new grand piano for the Titanic’s lounge.
awesome!
Bruce is in the lineup tonight. A late change, replacing Heisey!
@mike: oh, one more thing. I was hoping Edmonds would retire. That would have free’d up a spot for one of the guys in AAA
Does anyone think Bloomquist will be better than Danny Dorn or Todd Frazier? I don’t know the answer, but I know I’d have rather taken my chances with those guys. There’s at least some chance one of them will hit.
I agree with Chris, though…I’m worried about Jay Bruce.
@Doug Gray: But Gomes isn’t coming out. Not on a regular basis. A reserve that could only play LF (and terribly) doesn’t do much for them. Alonso doesn’t let them rest Stubbs or Heisey.
Bloomquist can, at least notionally, play all three OF positions. That lets them mix-and-match again: Heisey and WB can play all 3, while Gomes is rooted in place in LF, and Stubbs plays CF when he plays.
Now they have four outfield combinations, instead of one (assuming Bruce isn’t really healthy).
Gomes-Stubbs-Heisey
Gomes-Stubbs-BQ
Gomes-Heisey-BQ (Or flip CH & BQ)
BQ-Stubbs-Heisey
@Mark in cc.: I think Gomes is worse than Dunn in LF
defensive metrics back that up as well
OK, if I was reading this right Votto is arbitration eligible after next season, and free agent eligible in 2014…Does that mean Votto is signed thru 2014?…So maybe signing Vott isn’t priority on this Winter ?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/vottojo01.shtml
Votto is “under control” of the Reds through the 2013 season. From 2011-13, if the Reds don’t reach a contractual deal with him, they would go to arbitration, where Votto would be awarded many millions of dollars per year.
The Reds missed their best chance to sign a long term deal by waiting until now. A year or two ago, Votto might have agreed to sign a contract that covered a few years of free agency (like 2014 and 2015) in exchange for the Reds paying him well above the minimum salary in 2009 and 2010.
That gives the player earlier wealth and greater security (for example, suppose he has a career-debilitating injury this month). In exchange, the team gets a discount over the term of the deal. See the deal that Evan Longoria signed as an example.
But now, Votto knows he is going to finally get paid through arbitration in 2011, so part of the incentive is reduced, although a long term contract still offers the added security.
The Reds will still want to sign Votto, but they’ll end up paying close to market value to do it.
Some things to consider when debating Alonso in left field:
1. Everyone who has watched him says he is very slow.
2. I have no idea what kind of arm he has but as a first baseman, it wouldnt surprise me if it is weak.
3. In the middle of a pennant race, do you want to put someone in the outfield that has only played there a couple dozen times?
I thought if someone were to go on the 60-day DL, they can make someone who wouldn’t be eligible, eligible. Did I miss something?
You have to be in the organization (anywhere) on September 1.
@Furniture City Red: 100% agreed
I offer him the sky for the next 5 years minimum
Of course one minor problem is that if he wins the MVP and the Reds make it in the playoffs and he does well we might have to over-pay. But I think it’s worth it in the long run. Right now the guy only makes $500,00 and he’s worth about $20-25 million. Do you think the Reds could get him for about $12 million/year for 5 years?
@Dave Lowenthal: or Balentien, for that matter?
@mike:
If he isn’t free agency eligible until 2014, why would you overpay in the next 4 seasons to buy out one year of free agency?
Well, you might buy out more than one year of free agency, likely two or three.
Say Votto would earn the following amounts without a long term deal:
2011 (Arbitration 1): $10 million
2012 (Arbitration 2): $11 million
2013 (Arbitration 3): $12 million
2014 Free Agency: $20 million
2015 Free Agency: $20 million
2016 Free Agency: $20 million
Over those six years, Votto would earn $93 million. But he would only play for the Red for the first three years, then go play for the Dodgers starting in 2014.
Suppose instead, the Reds offered him a six-year deal for $80 million. Votto’s incentive to sign that is security. Under the arbitration/free agency deal approach, if he got hurt or his production slumped during 2011-13, it might jeopardize the big free agency contract. If he signs the deal, he has the security of the guaranteed $80 million.
@Steve:
There’s no reason to sign a long-term deal before he’s even arbitration eligible.
Sure there is. They could buy out his first few years of free agency by offering more salary in the short term. See Evan Longoria and the Rays.
@Steve:
Longoria’s contract is awful for him. I mean, the point of signing an extension as a player is to get yourself money guaranteed through your arbitration years, but he signed up for salaries well below what he would have gotten in arbitration. I wouldn’t assume any other player would be eager to do the same.
I agree that contract looks pretty sweet for the Rays now and I’m sure Longoria wouldn’t sign it now if offered. Even the option years are a steal for the Rays.
But at the time, it doubled his pre-arbitration salary (he earns nearly $1m this year instead of half that) and provided him the security. Plus there was always the chance that he might not turn into the major league player that he has. Remember it was a very early deal – I think he had only been in the majors a couple of months.
The Reds have missed that window with Votto — which will turn out to be a penny-wise but pound-foolish decision.
@Brien Jackson: true…just give him a raise and try to sign him long term next year? I see someone else posted a nice list of years with suggested values. That list I think spells out how to think about it.
the only thing is you have to weigh insulting Votto next year and the year after and arbitration could be ugly so he needs to get a HUGE raise over the next 3 years either way.
I don’t pay any attention to $$$ the key here is to make Votto happy for the next 3 years enough so that he’d sign for the next 6.
@Doug Gray: I agree 100%! The kicker is that a better player was lost for the Springer call up. Sutton surely could have played a couple of games during this stretch.
I don’t like the deal, much like I didn’t like the Edmonds deal or the Springer deal. I don’t like the idea of giving up young guys for replacement level, aging players, that just aren’t very good.
The real kicker to me on this is that I’ve been reading about Bloomquist all year and I kept thinking thank goodness he’s not on the Reds.
I guess nobody ever saw Alex Johnson play for the Reds