The single most absurd idea I've heard all year. Congrats Jim... :banana:

So you're going to solve the bullpen issues & strengthen the bullpen by taking their best pitcher & converting him into a starter?

 

I have been a big advocate of making Chapman a starter for several years now, but I think that time has passed...at least until this offseason (again).

I guess it's a glass half-full, or half-empty type of thing. Because I look at the Reds and say EVEN WITH the struggles they've had this year, and the fact that they've lost their number one starter a couple of different times...they STILL have the second best record in the majors, and are trailing the Cards by just a couple of games. Why mess with that? If I'm the Cards, I'm thinking..."we're playing lights out baseball, getting GREAT starting pitching and the best timely hitting you could imagine...and we're only leading by 2 1/2 games?!?!?!? What the heck's going to happen when we come back down to earth?"

So you're going to solve the bullpen issues & strengthen the bullpen by taking their best pitcher & converting him into a starter?

 

I have been a big advocate of making Chapman a starter for several years now, but I think that time has passed...at least until this offseason (again).

 

I'm saying you gradually stretch him out through the remainder of this season to the point where he can give you 3 and maybe more innings in tight situations later on in the playoffs. If he adjusts well enough this season to where he could spot start, that's great.

 

I don't think you lose anything by taking him out of the 3-inning 9th confines of the current closer role and slowly stretching him out by using him as-needed in whatever spot in later innings. Again, Cingrani has more of a mentality to close than Chapman and can handle that role for 4 or 5 outs or more -- something you aren't getting from the much more highly compensated Chapman.

 

If you truly believe Chapman is "your best pitcher" -- which is debatable, to be sure -- you want him in a role where he can provide the most value over the long term. That's ultimately as a starter. You can begin the process of building him up to that point now, and strengthen a weak bullpen in the process as there's no dropoff by switching to Cingrani in the 9th-inning role.

 

As it stands, the Reds have a ceiling. They probably don't get to the WS, let alone win it, without making a bold move of some sort, if we're being honest. This would be such a move and a plan for the future when Arroyo is gone.

 

For Chapman, it's just not economically sensible for him to continue in this role, at this price, for the long term. Surely every one can admit to that. Closers are a freaking dime a dozen and should be treated as such. It will be OK if Chapman isn't available every day. I promise.

The single most absurd idea I've heard all year. Congrats Jim... :banana:

 

What, did you suggest that too? I haven't been following the Reds threads.

Gotta agree with GT. The Reds starting rotation is rock solid. Not even gonna mess with that.

 

If you truly believe Chapman is "your best pitcher" -- which is debatable, to be sure -- you want him in a role where he can provide the most value over the long term. That's ultimately as a starter. You can begin the process of building him up to that point now, and strengthen a weak bullpen in the process as there's no dropoff by switching to Cingrani in the 9th-inning role.

 

As it stands, the Reds have a ceiling. They probably don't get to the WS, let alone win it, without making a bold move of some sort, if we're being honest. This would be such a move and a plan for the future when Arroyo is gone.

 

For Chapman, it's just not economically sensible for him to continue in this role, at this price, for the long term. Surely every one can admit to that. Closers are a freaking dime a dozen and should be treated as such. It will be OK if Chapman isn't available every day. I promise.

 

You don't think Chapman is the best pitcher in the bullpen?

 

As a whole, I tend to agree with you that Chapman should get an opportunity to start. But those decisions need to be made in the offseason, not at the All Star Break when your team is competing for the best record in major league baseball.

You and plantmanky.

 

Shut the front door Jim Schue! Typical Schue, make statements that others didnt say. Show me where I said Chapman was on overpaid closer. Show me please, Id love to see it.

 

I said I would be a better starter than Chapman, said nothing about his salary or being overpaid as a closer, nothing.

The single most absurd idea I've heard all year. Congrats Jim... :banana:

 

You have heard some of the things you spew off from 3-7 nightly right, lol :sssh:

"Closer solution" infers that there's a closer problem, and I just don't see it.

You have heard some of the things you spew off from 3-7 nightly right, lol :sssh:

 

I spit knowledge daily from 3-7... :taz:

"Closer solution" infers that there's a closer problem, and I just don't see it.

 

Yep. think old sneakers is a bit off on this one.

"Closer solution" infers that there's a closer problem, and I just don't see it.

 

It needs a solution in that there's too high priced a guy in that job. Ultimately, it becomes the "bullpen solution," then in upcoming years it becomes the "starter solution."

 

But it definitely makes more sense to seize on a couple of words than to read the entire suggestion I've laid out in this thread.

 

All I've really heard is people not wanting spill the apple cart and "mess up a good thing." Problem is, that "good thing" is a scenario of coming up short in the postseason again.

 

No one has really come up with a good reason why my scenario isn't one that not only helps out the team this year, but helps out the team going forward. Some have seized on the "starter" part of my initial post a little too much, as though I'm advocating shutting Chapman down for a few months then bringing him back as a full-time starter in August, and that's not the case. Just use him where you'll get more value — in an as-needed role to get through the tough patches of an opposing lineup instead of a 9th-inning, three-outs-only defined "closer" role — and put Cingrani in that spot, where he is best suited, and where the dropoff is negligible. By stretching him out some now, and getting him used to not pitching every day, Chapman is better able to make the transition to starter next year, which should be the ultimate goal for the franchise.

 

Continuing to keep Chapman in a three-outs-at-a-time 9th inning role is a waste of money, since there are plenty of guys out there you can get for a million a year who can do that. If you're not going to ultimately use Chapman as a starter for the long-term, the Reds might as well trade him and get something for him while his value on the market is high.

Shut the front door Jim Schue! Typical Schue, make statements that others didnt say. Show me where I said Chapman was on overpaid closer. Show me please, Id love to see it.

 

I said I would be a better starter than Chapman, said nothing about his salary or being overpaid as a closer, nothing.

 

I paraphrased you. You guys were advocating Chapman remain at closer, seemingly for always. That is not where he can provide the most value for the Reds.

You don't think Chapman is the best pitcher in the bullpen?

 

As a whole, I tend to agree with you that Chapman should get an opportunity to start. But those decisions need to be made in the offseason, not at the All Star Break when your team is competing for the best record in major league baseball.

 

Yes, he is. That doesn't mean he should be in the closer role, as it is currently defined. It wouldn't upset the apple cart that much to gradually stretch him out so that he can be used in different situations during a pennant race. That's not to say he will start later in the year. But if he makes the adjustment well enough, why not? I see no reason whatsoever he can't at least be a 5- and 6-out guy this season.