Well, college football season is approaching its end, the Bengals are done, so what do we have to look forward to, Cincinnati Reds baseball! Hear me out, being a Reds fan means usually throwing in the towel on the season in early to mid June. Thus, the most exciting time for Reds fans is the off-season. During the off-season we can always hope to add a player or two to take us to the next level for the upcoming season. Can the Reds become the Tampa Bay Rays of 2008? Probably not, but with some careful pickups and subtractions they can improve from last year significantly.
Hear are some key factors for the Reds in 2009:
1. We need the old Aaron Harang back. Harang makes all of the other pitchers better. He eats up innings and is consistent. If he were healthy last year I think we probably could have had a 5 game swing in the W column.
2. Young pitchers keep up the momentum. Can Volquez and Cueto pitch well again? Can Homer Bailey become an effective MLB starter? If we can answer yes to these questions then we could be a team to be feared come next year.
3. Can we improve defensively? To say the Reds played poorly on defense last year would be an understatement. They were awful. Moving Encarnacion to left field, and signing a SS will do wonders for this team. Not to mention the addition by subtraction of Dunn and Griffey from the outfield.
4. Speaking of those two, what to do with the freed up money we were paying Griffey and Dunn? I think there is no reason the Reds can't be a similar team to the Cardinals. We have good talent all around the team, but are missing a few pieces. I don't think we should overpay for anyone, because we are more than a few players away from seriously competing, but there is not reason we can't contend for the division or wild card well into September. We just need a SS, maybe another decent starter and possibly a catcher. Get it done Jocketty!
I know I will be listening to the Hot Stove reports on 700 WLW, in many ways (sadly) it often is the most exciting time of the year for Reds fans. Maybe if we make some decent moves, we can start getting excited in September and October instead on only November through March.
3 comments:
Colin, you know Sean Casey did file for free agency. I'm just saying...
The problem with SS is that both Keppinger and Hairston are good with the bat, but not so good with the glove. I think they are both excellent 2nd basement, but with Phillips having won a Gold Glove and being among the best hitters on the Reds, he won't be moving anytime soon.
But at least we're not desperate for pitching as we have been ini past years. I'd like to get a solid bat for the OF, and maybe even dump Encarnacion. He stinks at 3B, and he defines the word inconsistent with his bat.
There aren't really any decent SS on the free agent market - at least none that are a huge upgrade over Keppinger. Same for 3rd base, with the possible exceptions of Joe Crede or maybe Hank Blalock.
Looking at the free agent market overall, I think the Reds may just want to save their money and see what they have in-house - maybe making a trade or two.
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