When Nolan Ryan was in his mid twenties he had control problems as well. None of the Reds young pitchers are in there prime. Prime being in the 28-32 year range. Thats my opinion. I'm not saying any of these guys will be Nolan Ryan either. The pitchers are still very young.

You guys are killing me with this potential stuff. Bailey had that same potential 3 years ago. Does he have good stuff, absolutely. But when you can't consistently throw strikes good hitting teams sit back and wait for the fastball.

 

 

Bailey and Volquez both averaged just under 18 pitches per inning.

Have we all forgotten about Mike Leake?

I'm a big believer that they have the pitching to get to the playoffs every year, but they aren't good enough to win the NLCS. They can't go get a Halladay though IMO so they need two of their young guys to become studs. They could use help in LF and at SS, but I'm fine with just upgrading LF if he hits right handed and can hit 4th or 5th. I have to believe Rolen is better suited hitting 6th next year if they bring in a Werth type player.

The speculation is that Werth will look for about $17M to $18M per year. Jason Bay makes $16.5M per year. They'll be looking for more than that.

 

In other words, he will not be a Red.

While I agree with a lot of what is being said on here about needing an upgrade on Jonny Gomes and someone to replace Cabrera and or Scott Rolen, I think there is still a big need for a leadoff hitter, a guy who can get on base and steal a base at the top of the order. I don't have any suggestions and quite frankly don't even know who might be available to fill this need. If Rolen doesn't pull a huge surprise and walk away from the game over the winter he will need to get even more rest than he did this year. He may be a good mentor for Francisco much the way Edmonds was for Bruce and Stubbs late this season but to date Francisco hasn't shown enough plate discipline to satisfy me. He may need another year at AAA to learn that if he even does at all.

 

Someone who may be in the infield mix next year is Zach Cozart. Given this list of potential free agents at shortstop for 2011 there doesn't appear to be a whole lot to choose from that would be an upgrade over Cabrera. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the way that Janish filled in for OC when he was hurt but I am still not convinced that he can be an everyday ss in the majors. Cozart is an older player (25), out of the University of Mississippi and has started to show some power, (17 Hrs @ Louisville in 2010). He did have 15 errors in 136 games so I don't know about his defensive skills. His BA and OBP make me a little nervous but he did steal 30 bases this year. Just throwing that out there for everybody to think about.

 

Shortstops

Orlando Cabrera CIN *

Craig Counsell MIL

Alex Gonzalez ATL *

Cristian Guzman TEX

J.J. Hardy MIN

Jerry Hairston Jr. SD

Omar Infante ATL *

Cesar Izturis BAL

Derek Jeter NYY

Jhonny Peralta DET *

Edgar Renteria SF *

Jose Reyes NYM *

Jimmy Rollins PHI *

Juan Uribe SF

Ramon Vazquez HOU

Chris Woodward SEA

The speculation is that Werth will look for about $17M to $18M per year. Jason Bay makes $16.5M per year. They'll be looking for more than that.

 

In other words, he will not be a Red.

 

Which is a shame because he would make that lineup scary good...

While I agree with a lot of what is being said on here about needing an upgrade on Jonny Gomes and someone to replace Cabrera and or Scott Rolen, I think there is still a big need for a leadoff hitter, a guy who can get on base and steal a base at the top of the order. I don't have any suggestions and quite frankly don't even know who might be available to fill this need. If Rolen doesn't pull a huge surprise and walk away from the game over the winter he will need to get even more rest than he did this year. He may be a good mentor for Francisco much the way Edmonds was for Bruce and Stubbs late this season but to date Francisco hasn't shown enough plate discipline to satisfy me. He may need another year at AAA to learn that if he even does at all.

 

Someone who may be in the infield mix next year is Zach Cozart. Given this list of potential free agents at shortstop for 2011 there doesn't appear to be a whole lot to choose from that would be an upgrade over Cabrera. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the way that Janish filled in for OC when he was hurt but I am still not convinced that he can be an everyday ss in the majors. Cozart is an older player (25), out of the University of Mississippi and has started to show some power, (17 Hrs @ Louisville in 2010). He did have 15 errors in 136 games so I don't know about his defensive skills. His BA and OBP make me a little nervous but he did steal 30 bases this year. Just throwing that out there for everybody to think about.

 

Shortstops

Orlando Cabrera CIN *

Craig Counsell MIL

Alex Gonzalez ATL *

Cristian Guzman TEX

J.J. Hardy MIN

Jerry Hairston Jr. SD

Omar Infante ATL *

Cesar Izturis BAL

Derek Jeter NYY

Jhonny Peralta DET *

Edgar Renteria SF *

Jose Reyes NYM *

Jimmy Rollins PHI *

Juan Uribe SF

Ramon Vazquez HOU

Chris Woodward SEA

 

Stubbs will be the leadoff guy next year.

Pat Burrell? Please tell me you're kidding. Please.

 

 

Burrell is not an upgrade over Jonny Gomes, neither offensively nor defensively.

 

Actually, he is an upgrade in both. Jonny Gomes ranks 2nd worst, only behind Carlos Quentin of the White Sox in runs below average on defense, of all major leaguers.

Have we all forgotten about Mike Leake?

 

No, but IMO Leake is not as good as the others being mentioned. He did a great job filling in but do you realize opposing hitters batted over .290 against him? He become progressively more hittable as the season wore on. Did the hitters start figuring him out? He doesn't have overwhelming stuff. I see Leake starting next year in AAA and being an excellent back up plan if one of the top 5 starters gets hurt or if one of them just isn't getting it done. If this year's Reds team proved anything, it proved how valuable roster depth is over 162 games.

Homer Bailey is 24.

 

If MLB teams decided on keeping/ditching their starting pitchers at age 24 Volquez wouldn't be in the bigs.

Look it won't be hard to improve on Johnny Gomes. If you get a productive player in LF then I would go with Janish at SS. He is a great defensive player who won't be required to hit a bunch if the LF position is field.

Jose Reyes would look great at the top of that order.

Actually, he is an upgrade in both. Jonny Gomes ranks 2nd worst, only behind Carlos Quentin of the White Sox in runs below average on defense, of all major leaguers.

 

There's no real upgrade there. Neither player is a plus defensively so lets not pretend you're talking about bringing in a Gold Glove winner. The last 2 seasons Gomes has hit 38 HRs and has 137 RBIs in 885 plate appearance. He has hit .266 with a .497 Slg% and an OB% of .331, his OB+Slg was .828. Burrell's numbers for that same period: 34 HRs and 238 RBIs in 913 plate appearances. He has hit .236 with a .415 Slg% and an OB% of .331, his OB+Slg was .746. He'll definately ask for more money and he's 4 years older than Gomes--where is the upgrade?

There's no real upgrade there. Neither player is a plus defensively so lets not pretend you're talking about bringing in a Gold Glove winner. The last 2 seasons Gomes has hit 38 HRs and has 137 RBIs in 885 plate appearance. He has hit .266 with a .497 Slg% and an OB% of .331, his OB+Slg was .828. Burrell's numbers for that same period: 34 HRs and 238 RBIs in 913 plate appearances. He has hit .236 with a .415 Slg% and an OB% of .331, his OB+Slg was .746. He'll definately ask for more money and he's 4 years older than Gomes--where is the upgrade?

 

:thumb: Exactly...