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Maybe Scott Rolen isn’t done. Maybe, like Jack Nicklaus back in 86, who stared at an Atlanta newspaper opinion piece taped to his refrigerator declaring him “Gone. Done. Finished. Clubs are too rusty” —and came roaring out of the pines and the past to win the Masters one more time—well, maybe Rolen too has something left in his bat. Maybe he gives us one more summer of hits and veteran savvy to go along with all that leadership that has marked him as the de facto captain of the dugout.
But …
… maybe it’s not just one scout who thinks he’s done. Maybe he’s just the only scout to say so in print. Yeah, Scott Rolen is smart. Yeah, he’s a pro. So was Pete. But even Pete got old.
Nobody outruns time. Junior couldn’t do it. The body always betrays the mind. This is old news. Nobody knows that more than Rolen, who hasn’t been physically right in a long time—long before he put on Cincinnati red. He hasn’t hit since July of 2010. Old baseball players who suddenly begin playing dramatically better usually end up answering questions in front of Congress or grand juries at some point. That’s not Scott Rolen. Thankfully, he’s got too much pride, too much professionalism to have played that game.
So, where does that leave us? With an aging star who clearly and understandably wants to leave on his own terms. Do the Reds wait and hope Scott does the right thing? Do the Reds leave Rolen’s fate in the hands of a manager who wears magnetic bracelets and compression sleeves, looking for all the world as if he, too, thinks he’s ready to hit the on deck circle at any moment? Something just tells me that Johnny Lee Baker is not the guy who’s going to tell Scott Rolen it’s time to get off the stage.
Yet, as unfeeling as it sounds, get off the stage he must, if the Reds are to contend into September and beyond. Rolen said on Friday he was going on the disabled list. He said he was in pain and not healthy. He said he was not helping the team. My first take on this news was that this was simply Scott Rolen, a prideful man in full, trying to find a graceful way out of the woods. This was not the shoulder acting up again, but a way of going gently into that good night. Then, I read the following, courtesy of Tom Groeschen at the Enquirer:
“I don’t see this as a real longterm thing,” Rolen said. “It’s not a surgical procedure or anything that we’re going down that road again. It’s just I’ve had a tough time and I’m in a bad spot right now. It’s inflamed and it’s fatigued and it needs to settle down. It needs to be rested.”
The fan in me is hopeful that Scott will know when it’s time to say “enough.” The cynic in me reads the above and thinks: not so much.
The problem with the Reds’ offense is not that they don’t have Carlos Beltran in LF or a healthy Rolen at third. The problem is that they get zero offensive production out of both positions. Zero. Zip. Nada. Add the continuing struggles of one Mr. Drew Stubbs into the mix, and the Reds have to generate All Star production at most of the remaining five spots almost every day, or accept that they will continue to be what they are: a team that leaves too many runs in the batting rack. Again, nothing new here.
So, why won’t the organization do something about it sooner rather than later? Why does it often seem like the team is the last to recognize a problem and deal with it? This is more than just the ideology of the manager. The front office also bears significant, if not most of the responsibility here. In my opinion, this is an organization that from the top down tends to think of itself as one family. They put people first. Maybe to an extreme. It’s part of the reason they took so long in recognizing that Johnny Gomes, perhaps the most popular player in the dugout, was not the answer in LF last year. It will almost certainly play a part in the final chapter of Scott Rolen’s baseball career. In fact, it may well be the achilles heel of the Cincinnati Reds. Like a large ship that needs time to reverse direction, will the Reds take too long in making critical course corrections, specifically people decisions about not only Rolen, but the futures of Chapman and Dusty Baker?
Because there isn’t a rain delay long enough to give Bob Castellini and Walt Jocketty time to fiddle while the 2012 season burns.
I like your post and enjoyed it.
At the end of the day, Frazier has completely outperformed Rolen in every aspect except for defense. It is time to say good bye and I know we all will wish him well.
I would like to see him become a coach.
Personally, I don’t get the ‘I’m in pain’ thing with Rolen. The guy got more rest than all the regulars put together. I think he was taking a dive. Whatever. That said, I don’t think cutting him at this time is in the best interests of the club (Ludwick on the other hand….).
That said, Todd Frazier will have more say in Rolen’s future than Dusty or Walt.
I enjoyed reading that as much as anything I’ve read on this blog. Very well written (I’m an English teacher).
Anyway, I think the production in LF can be easily fixed: DFA Ludwick and play Heisey 95% of the time. I don’t care who they use as their 4th outfielder, he should rarely see the field. It’s difficult for any athlete to find a rhythm and feel comfortable when the manager/coach is jacking with things every game. I know that’s the way baseball often works (for the Reds, at least), but we’ll never know what Heisey can really do until he gets an every day/long term chance.
Frazier is a capable 3B. I can’t see how anyone could say otherwise at this point based on what he has done with the opportunities he has been given this year. I’d take Frazier over all but maybe ten (factor in age and I’d make it seven or eight) 3B in the league.
It is clearly time for Scotty to call it a career and ride off into the sunset with the thanks and appreciation he deserves.
How often do players “know” when it is time to walk away. Look at the great Willie Mays and how bad it got for him at the end with the Mets. I would be shocked if Rolen walks away at any point during this season. I think he will continue to try and get going throughout this season and then come the offseason will evaluate and if the numbers show no improvement he will walk away, but the Reds will allow HIM, not them to make that call.
This is the downside when you accuire an aging player. We saw what he was able to do for this franchise in 2010 and yes I believe he was a big reason we won that year, but now the body is just…well a 37 year old body that has taken a beating and is damaged. It would be nice to think Dusty would talk with Scott and reduce his playing time, but take this to the bank, that won’t happen. As soon as Rolen comes back off the DL he will return to being the everyday 3rd basemen hitting in the middle of the order.
Same question can be asked of aging managers. Do they know the right time to walk away, when the game has passed them by. Dusty Baker is nowhere near being an “old” manager physically. But his philosophy is certainly ancient.
One of the compounding factors with Rolen is that both the manager (who loves every veteran) and GM (who traded for and has previous experience with) have explanations for a blind eye in this case.
I”m thoroughly supportive of the Francisco-for-Hoover trade, but it’s pretty amazing from the standpoint of the organization’s perspective. Were they so (over)confident in Rolen’s health and ability they could trade away the heir apparent?
I think a fair way to end this, all parties agreeing to it of course, is for Rolen to go on the 60-day, which is usually a season-ender. But after 60 days, if the Reds are hobbling, reactivate the guy and let him play out the season, hopefully getting a dinger or two.
Rolen hasn’t been with the Reds long enough to merit some of the plaudits that long-termers do, but he’s been a gamer and a popular guy. Only in St. Lousy and Feeladelphia do they not care for him.
We have our own thoughts about them.
@Steve Mancuso: I think the rationale for trading Juanderful Juan was his attitude and his obvious inability to cope with staying in shape.
I think the Braves were in a schnooker too but they may have pulled the trigger on Hoover a tad too soon.
I think you get a pitcher anytime you can when there are reserve players on the for-sale shelf.
Finding a 3B was probably something the Reds expected to do in the winter 2012, maybe with fingers crossed.
The gamble was worth it, all in all. It just hasn’t paid off.
Baker hasn’t helped matters but he really was handcuffed until Frazier was officially brought on board.
THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THIS QUOTE THAT MY BUDDY POSTED:
Dusty Baker on Chris Heisey / Ryan Ludwick:
“I know everybody wants to play the guy who’s hot but what happens when the guy who’s hot gets cold and the guy who’s cold never gets lukewarm because he ain’t playing?”
THIS IS WHY WE CRITICIZE BAKER!
For one thing, the idea of playing the guy who is “hot” is inane. You teach the best players on your roster how to hit and they will usually get hits.
Instead of wishing somebody can get two hits, you hire a #%^&!@ hitting coach who can bring out the best of the talent.
That would mean getting a REAL hitting instructor instead of somebody whose idea of batting is to swing at the first thing that appears to be a fastball.
What a moronic philosophy.
This guy hit .273 in his first season, didn’t really get “hot” until a couple of years later.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rosepe01.shtml
What, that didn’t make sense you?
The Reds broadcast team was not real kind to Juan the other night in the Reds/Braves game. Juan came in to PH I believe and they just went on and on about lack of this, lack of that and such.
It’s never as easy as you want it to be. The Reds are, and will always be, a small market team. If the idea gets around that the organization will jettison veteran players who are injured or slumping, it could well effect their ability to attract free agents or acquire players in general.
Perceptions are funny things, and once established, aren’t easily changed. Not that this should be THE deciding factor in their course of action, but there are valid business and baseball reasons for the Reds orginization to handle the Rolen situation verrrry carefully.
Exactly “HOW” are the Reds a small market team? They are no longer small market, they are not large but this idea that the Reds are restricted due to size is laughable.
The Reds have certainly stepped up a weight class in spending lately, but the jury is still WAY out on how that’ll all wind up.
But assuming we’re shopping for free agent left fielders next winter, we’ll still be choosing from the ones who didn’t get signed by the big boys. I don’t see that changing. And the perception that the organization treats its players shabbily could cause the next level FAs to mark us off the list as well.
Again, not saying this is the determining factor in deciding how to handle Rolen, just that it shouldn’t be discounted as a factor.
Yes, until the Reds go out and continuously beat the Yankees, Red Sox, Philies, and Cardinals in bidding wars for players, the Reds will be in the middle of the small and large markets.
The strategy to use homegrown talent should and will always be the goal of the Reds, we can’t afford the other alternative.
@RC: Yes. A valid point I should have included in my analysis. Thanks for pointing that out. I would be great to know what towns in major league baseball are considered plumb places to land and which are widely recognized by players as being pure purgatory–and of course, where the Reds and the city of Cincinnati fit into that equation.
@RC: I don’t think they should jettison vets, but maybe being practical about signing them would be better.
I think they’re wasting a lot of farmie talent this way.
Loyalty to veterans is a way of life in MLB, which is why the older players keep getting hired.
How did signing Harris and Valdez improve the Reds? At no point this season has either contributed anything positive.
And the best we can do in callups is T-Bone Costanzo, who will be lucky to hit .280 in AAA.
I weary of this attachment to the arbitration clock that seems to manipulate rosters now.
Oh my Richard, you certainly wrote an insightful and thought-provoking article. The Cincinnati tristate area and the Cincinnati Reds as an extension of that area have always promoted a family friendly, and family oriented environment. This is different from the larger markets with sufficient monetary resources to jettison members of their ‘family’ will and simply buy replacements. This is the hold the Cincinnati Reds have held on my attention for the past 50+ years. Scott Rolen has become a member of that family and as such he deserves the respect and consideration reserved for family. The recent contracts for Bruce, Votto, Phillips, Arroyo and Cueto reenforce that feeling of family for the Cincinnati Reds. The contracts for Votto and Phillips will see them go past their prime and will see their skills deteriorate, but they were deemed the type of players to build a team around and expand that concept of family. None of those players present themselves as self-serving. All of them present themselves as committed to their craft and committed to their team. They fit nicely with the Cincinnati area and the Cincinnati Reds. I believe there will be more such mutual commitments coming in the near future. I hope Rolen can end his career with the dignity, consideration and respect that he deserves. I also hope that his relationship with the Cincinnati reds continues after his time as a player ends.
In a not all that different situation, Kerry Wood is supposed to announce his retirement today.
@shadow32: Thanks. Of course, the comments are far more interesting than anything I post. Which is part of what makes this place so special, IMO.
@rfay00: I think a lot of this “market size” stuff has been so skewed over the years as to make it irrelevant. Nobody who discusses it truly knows what it means.
The White Sox are a small-market franchise in a big market, if you count their fans, who really number about 970,000 total.
Is Denver a small market?
It’s all about advertising pull and that connects to numbers that people gather on demographics studies. Tampa has a flock of senior citizens, as does Phoenix.
Those people don’t buy cell phones, Pepsi Free or Subway sandwiches, and they don’t shop at Pier 1 Imports. They have a 6-year-old Buick that runs fine.
Reds can afford good players if they develop creative contracts. But sooner or later, that investment in a farm system has to yield more than just a shortstop and a potentially great catcher.
We can’t keep scraping the waiver barrel for guys like Harris and Valdez. We’re better off with Valaika on the bench, who at least (probably) likes the same kind of music Joey Votto does.
You think Joey blasts old Barenaked Ladies when he’s in the mood for some Candadian rock? Don’t get me wrong, I apprecite BNL, but it’s hilarious to think of their music being played in a big league locker room.
@Matt WI: Aw, man, I love those guys. I’d blast it in the locker room if I could.
On the other hand, “If I Had A Million Dollars” would lose some of its impact played in a room where pretty much everyone has a million dollars.
Maybe the organization had decided by the end of spring training that Frazier would be the next 3B after Rolen, making Francisco relatively expendable. Maybe Jocketty felt like Francisco was never going to make it as an everyday major leaguer.
So far, Baker has started Frazier every game at 3B since Rolen went on the DL.
@RC: Good call. I had the “Stunt” album on just yesterday in random flip of the Ipod.
@Steve Mancuso: I think the ongoing belief is that Cairo is a better pinch hitter.
All said, I think Frazier will be decent at 3B — if he doesn’t get Jacoby-itis.
all-time baseball 3B by WAR
WAR Name
113.4 Alex Rodriguez (on his way to HOF)
110.6 Mike Schmidt (HOF)
107.2 Eddie Mathews (HOF)
94.8 Wade Boggs (HOF)
94.6 Brooks Robinson (HOF)
91.6 George Brett (HOF)
88.6 Chipper Jones (on his way to HOF)
79.3 Ron Santo (HOF)
78.4 Harmon Killebrew (HOF)
75.3 Paul Molitor (HOF)
73.6 Scott Rolen
71.8 Graig Nettles (6-time all-star)
The best thing to happen would be for Frazier to win the job outright by playing well while Rolen is on the DL. I can’t imagine even Dusty will have Rolen starting every day when he comes back. Maybe they will let Rolen start 2-3 games a week. It’s time to give Frazier a shot. I think Rolen will even have to come to terms with that. Even if Frazier isn’t the longterm answer, he’s about the only answer now.
Reds have 5 guys in the starting lineup with an OBP below .300. Yikes.