For the Reds to contend I think they have to have Gomes in left field. Buy out Hernandez and try to resign. As for short Janish plays great defense and will start. Defense like that is critical at GABP.

 

Buy out Hernandez & try to re-sign?

 

The team has an $8.5 million option. You either pick it up & he's a Red for another year, or you decline it & he becomes a free agent. I'm sure the Reds will decline it, although they may make an effort to bring him back to Cincinnati (for say, $5 million).

They have to pay $1 million to let him go, then offer to resign.

 

I think...

The Reds may have one interesting option for Cordero. Could the Reds pitch Tampa Bay on some interest in him, given their bullpen issues, and the Reds pay enough of his salary for Tampa Bay to send something back of any value in a deal?

 

And Tampa has plenty of that in a loaded farm system that could shore up Reds' questions in at least a couple of positions.

 

One player is shortstop Reid Brignac, who hit .278/.327/.417 at age 23 at Triple-A Durham last season, is well-regarded defensively and hit .278 with some pop in 90 at-bats with the Rays when they were missing both Bartlett and Iwamura with injuries. Brignac turns 24 in January and, if he pans out, could be the Reds' shortstop for the next 5-6 years.

 

The other is Matt Joyce, a lefty-hitting outfielder that was a part-time starter for Detroit in 2007, hitting .252 with 12 homers and 33 RBI in 242 at-bats. He was the biggest part of the deal for Edwin Jackson and started the year in CF when B.J. Upton was on the DL. He got off to a slow start and the Rays, for some reason, went with Gabe Gross over him in RF. Joyce spent most of the season in Durham, hitting .273 with 35 doubles, 16 HR and 66 RBI in little over 400 at-bats. He also stole 14 bases.

 

He's well-regarded defensively, has some pop (which could easily develop more since he doesn't turn 25 until April) and he's not a black hole on the offense ... he's a guy that can take a walk and keep the offense going.

 

Brignac would get the shortstop job, with Janish as a utility guy. Joyce and Gomes would make a nice platoon in LF ... don't get too excited about Gomes, guys. He's never shown himself to be anything better than a platoon guy.

 

That also gives the Reds some nice OF defense and credible backups in CF (Dickerson behind Stubbs) and R (Balentein behind Bruce).

 

It also gives the Reds two credible young players that could be more than just one- or two-year contributors.

The Reds may have one interesting option for Cordero. Could the Reds pitch Tampa Bay on some interest in him, given their bullpen issues, and the Reds pay enough of his salary for Tampa Bay to send something back of any value in a deal?

 

And Tampa has plenty of that in a loaded farm system that could shore up Reds' questions in at least a couple of positions.

 

One player is shortstop Reid Brignac, who hit .278/.327/.417 at age 23 at Triple-A Durham last season, is well-regarded defensively and hit .278 with some pop in 90 at-bats with the Rays when they were missing both Bartlett and Iwamura with injuries. Brignac turns 24 in January and, if he pans out, could be the Reds' shortstop for the next 5-6 years.

 

The other is Matt Joyce, a lefty-hitting outfielder that was a part-time starter for Detroit in 2007, hitting .252 with 12 homers and 33 RBI in 242 at-bats. He was the biggest part of the deal for Edwin Jackson and started the year in CF when B.J. Upton was on the DL. He got off to a slow start and the Rays, for some reason, went with Gabe Gross over him in RF. Joyce spent most of the season in Durham, hitting .273 with 35 doubles, 16 HR and 66 RBI in little over 400 at-bats. He also stole 14 bases.

 

He's well-regarded defensively, has some pop (which could easily develop more since he doesn't turn 25 until April) and he's not a black hole on the offense ... he's a guy that can take a walk and keep the offense going.

 

Brignac would get the shortstop job, with Janish as a utility guy. Joyce and Gomes would make a nice platoon in LF ... don't get too excited about Gomes, guys. He's never shown himself to be anything better than a platoon guy.

 

That also gives the Reds some nice OF defense and credible backups in CF (Dickerson behind Stubbs) and R (Balentein behind Bruce).

 

It also gives the Reds two credible young players that could be more than just one- or two-year contributors.

 

 

 

Sounds good to me. Now just pitch your idea to Jocketty. :lol:

Sounds good to me. Now just pitch your idea to Jocketty. :lol:

 

 

I think Jocketty would be fine with it.......The problem would be finding someone in the Rays front office stupid enough to do it.

I'm sure Jocketty has a list of teams and prospects ready to discuss Cordero with ... I can't imagine it's a very long one, though.

I think Jocketty would be fine with it.......The problem would be finding someone in the Rays front office stupid enough to do it.

Well, someone traded Edwin Jackson for Joyce, then chose to bury Joyce in the minors all year. :lol:

 

I'm not saying that Tampa should do it, but they don't seem too inclined to keep Howell and Wheeler in the #1 and #2 roles. If they could get Cordero cheap, it would be well worth exploring. At this moment, Brignac and Joyce don't seem to have major roles in their plans.

 

It's all about taking excess at some positions and filling a hole. Some questioned the Garza-Bartlett-Young deal with Minnesota two years ago, but that was exactly the same kind of deal ... filling holes with excess talent.

Well, someone traded Edwin Jackson for Joyce, then chose to bury Joyce in the minors all year. :lol:

 

I'm not saying that Tampa should do it, but they don't seem too inclined to keep Howell and Wheeler in the #1 and #2 roles. If they could get Cordero cheap, it would be well worth exploring. At this moment, Brignac and Joyce don't seem to have major roles in their plans.

 

It's all about taking excess at some positions and filling a hole. Some questioned the Garza-Bartlett-Young deal with Minnesota two years ago, but that was exactly the same kind of deal ... filling holes with excess talent.

 

You said if the Rays give back something of value. I think Joyce and Brignac is more than they would be willing to give up for a guy that is making a ton of money next season. Also, can the Reds afford to pay enough of his salary to make him attractive at all for Tampa? I would think that the Reds would have to eat about $12-15 million of his salary the next two years for Tampa to even consider him. Their total payroll was only $63 million last year, I can't see them paying even $6 million a year for a closer.

You said if the Rays give back something of value. I think Joyce and Brignac is more than they would be willing to give up for a guy that is making a ton of money next season. Also, can the Reds afford to pay enough of his salary to make him attractive at all for Tampa? I would think that the Reds would have to eat about $12-15 million of his salary the next two years for Tampa to even consider him. Their total payroll was only $63 million last year, I can't see them paying even $6 million a year for a closer.

The Reds owe Cordero a minimum of $25 million over the next two years ... $12M per in 2010 and 2011 and a $1M buyout for 2012.

 

That's the key to the deal for the Reds ... how much money would it take to get the Rays to agree? I would say a minumum of $14M. That still allows them $11M over two seasons to upgrade at another spot or two.

 

Would the Rays give up Brignac and Joyce, guys that don't figure into their plans that much, for two years of what should be reliable closer work at $5M-5.5M per? Maybe, maybe not. But it wouldn't be an indefensible move if they did.

Here's a pretty good breakdown of where the Reds stand. Basically, it's going to be an uneventful offseason for the Reds, unless we're going to trade Harang or Cordero.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/offseason-outlook-cincinnati-reds.html

 

C - Ryan Hanigan - $400K

C - Corky Miller - $450K+

1B - Joey Votto - $438K

2B - Brandon Phillips - $6.75MM

SS - Paul Janish - $400K

3B - Scott Rolen - $11MM

IF - Drew Sutton - $400K

LF - Jonny Gomes - $600K+

CF - Drew Stubbs - $400K

RF - Jay Bruce - $418K

OF - Willy Taveras - $4MM

OF - Laynce Nix - $600K+

OF - Chris Dickerson - $400K

 

SP - Aaron Harang - $12.5MM

SP - Bronson Arroyo - $11MM

SP - Johnny Cueto - $418K

SP - Homer Bailey - $401K

SP - Justin Lehr - $400K

 

Other candidates: Matt Maloney, Micah Owings

 

RP - Francisco Cordero - $12MM

RP - Arthur Rhodes - $2MM

RP - Nick Masset - $418K+

RP - Mike Lincoln - $2.5MM

RP - Jared Burton - $420K+

RP - Micah Owings - $420K+

RP - Danny Herrera - $400K

 

Other commitments: Ramon Hernandez - $1MM buyout

 

Non-tender candidates: Corky Miller, Bill Bray, Laynce Nix

 

The Reds have about $70MM committed before arbitration raises to Miller, Gomes, Nix, Masset, Burton, and Owings. We'll allocate another $5MM for those raises, puting the team in the $75MM range. The Reds were at $73.6MM heading into the season, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. Given the lack of payroll space, it's no surprise GM Walt Jocketty told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon his interest in free agents will be minimal this offseason.

 

The Reds should have a strong defensive infield in 2010, especially if they decide Janish's glovework makes up for his poor hitting.

 

Between Stubbs and Dickerson, the Reds should have a workable internal solution for center field that does not involve giving 400+ plate appearances to Taveras. Replacing Taveras and getting more out of Bruce and Rolen seems to be the easiest route to an improved offense in 2010.

 

Jocketty has spoken of his desire to add a "quality RBI man" despite the lack of payroll space. Non-tendering Gomes would make little sense, as he could be that RBI man for a few million bucks (Gomes slugged .541 this year).

 

Jocketty could also free up cash by trading Harang or Arroyo. A team like the Mets might be interested in assuming one of those contracts if the demand for players is minimal. But it's hard to see how that would improve the Reds, who are not in a position to subtract a starter now that Edinson Volquez is unlikely to contribute in 2010 (Tommy John surgery). The best rotation addition for the buck is probably free agent pitching coach Dave Duncan, but his inclination is to stay in St. Louis.

 

One pitcher Jocketty could afford to trade is Cordero, given Masset's success in 2009. The Reds' closer has two years and $25MM remaining. The problem is that the Reds would have to assume half his contract to make Cordero mildly appealing.

 

Jocketty overspent on Taveras and Lincoln a year ago, committing $10.25MM to the pair. Add that to the $11MM the Reds GM took on for Rolen next year, and it's clear the Reds don't have much flexibility this winter. Improvements will have to come from within.

^ Yeah I don't see to much happening.

Mike Lincoln is slapping us across the face. Reds better do something if they want people to watch past July.

Wow. Not a lot of big time players on that roster. Looks like another sub .500 season:irked:

Wow. Not a lot of big time players on that roster. Looks like another sub .500 season:irked:

 

This year will be a mirror image of next year, IMO. I don't see the Red's doing much at all again, even for the next couple years unless they make some drastic changes to pull themselves out of this constant 18 years of mediocrity.

I say they Reds pay Hernandez his 1 million and then resign him for much less than the 8 he made this year. He is coming off an injury so he should come much cheaper, as for shortstop I say it will be between Cozart and janish. Cozart could be a big upgrade offensively. Gomes will start in left field, stubbs in center and bruce in right. Look for willy taveras to either be traded or released. If he is on the roster Dusty will feel the need to run him out there ever so often. Francisco , Frazier and Heisey will all start in AAA. If an injury occurs they will be right up. If the reds are out of the race in July then it will be a firesale with Harang, Arroyo, and Cordero. Lets hope we are in the race and become buyers in July.