Now That The Season Is (Mercifully) Over
What moves should the team consider making (aside from new owners) to be competitive next year? Having 25 3rd Basemen/SSs is not the answer. Your opinions?
Posted Oct 5, 2022, 11:53 PM UTC
630
They need 2 outfielders, 2 starters, at least 2 bullpen arms and a catcher. Elly, Encarnacion-strand, Williamson, Stoudt will be midseason callups. They need to significantly improve minor league coaching, and clean house at Louisville. Would be preferable if they did all that with only free agents to not trade away the prospects they've finally accrued. 2 Starters and a Catcher should be highest priority.
11
McLain could very likely be a call up as well.
3
True, I think he is more likely a later season call up, but that's just a conjecture.
2
I really wanted us to sign Luis Castillo, but sadly Seattle locked him up at a bargain price. Maybe we could sign Cueto.
9
Lodolo and Green show great promise, but I agree a solid veteran arm and presence is/was sorely needed.
5
Nothing rash. We’re not going to be good next year, it would probably do more harm than good to try to speed up the process
7
100% agree with this, sadly.
3
I disagree. They need some power bats and those can be had on short-term contracts. The front office can make this team interesting with some creativity, but I don’t think ownership will let them get creative. That they can’t assemble a bullpen on the cheap is stunning to me when there are a ton of decent arms out there. A few bats and a decent pen would get them on a good path to relevance.
1
Sign 20 free agents or wait until 2025
5
Better defense and more contact from hitters. Less baserunning mistakes while we are at it. I wouldn't mind seeing India move to 3B and Senzel at 2B. I don't believe the top talent in the minors will be ready for 23. Need to find out if Barrero can be an everyday player. Farmer good to have for all infield positions. Votto good bye tour, but shouldn't be everyday 1B mostly Joey at DH.
4
Agree on offense. Votto still the pick king at first, though. I'm sure he'll be fine in the field.
4
At this point the Reds should apply for banana ball
4
I would sign a few bullpen arms and at least one veteran outfielder and a vet catcher. Sign a veteran SP as well.
Flip the vets and Kyle Farmer at the deadline like they did this past year for deals like Naquin, Pham, Drury and hope for the best.
It's really all about letting the young guys play until 2024.
3
I would like to see a few veterans come in and help the younger guys. Just looking through potential free agents, I like OF David Peralta and SS Elvis Andrus. I don’t think either will really require huge contracts, and are both solid veteran guys. Elvis has always been a personal favorite of mine and a good clubhouse guy, and has played pretty well since the trade to Chicago. As far as pitching, I agree with most posts here about a veteran starter, I like Cueto but I think his good season pushes his price a little high. I also like the idea of a Ross Stripling or Vince Velasquez redemption attempt. It’s going to be another lost season, so why not try it out, ya know? Both good prospects coming up. Best case scenario we flip them at the deadline, worst case scenario they are small, 1 year contracts to bury. As for the bullpen, I like the idea of bringing back Justin Wilson and bringing in Michael Fulmer. A former rookie of the year who has bounced around a little since then.
Overall C- Stephenson and a veteran (pick your favorite from the scraps, not a lot of great options) 1B- Votto 2B- India SS- Elvis Andrus and Barrero (We can give up on this when the real prospects are ready, if that isn’t right away) 3B- Farmer/Steer (I can also see Farmer getting traded in the off-season) OF- Peralta, Senzel, Fraley, Friedl, Siani (Senzel and Aquino are kind of interchangeable in that spot, neither one have done much recently) DH- Moose until he is hurt and the DH spot becomes a revolving door
SP- Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Cueto, Stripling/Velasquez
Pen- Alexis Diaz, Fulmer, Antone, Sanmartin, Lucas Sims, Wilson, Santillan
This is all off of the top of my head or involving very little research, so it may or may not make any sense at all.
2
I laughed a lot at “Moose until he is hurt”.
1
Unfortunately you can say that for most of the team. We have the durability of a wet napkin.
1
More shortstops required
2
No way, more 3rd basemen if you please.
1
Chain link fence between 1B and 2B.
1
Need to head to the market and get some cheap FAs in the form of 1-2 year deals. Veteran hitters could shape up the lineup. Bullpen is the huge one.
2
Aside from new owners
Then it doesn’t matter. Any talent we get or cultivate will be gone at the next contract anyway. This team will never succeed consistently with this ownership group.
2
As much as most people do not want to hear it, unless they catch lightening in a bottle they will not be competitive next year, they will likely keep most of the young talent that has shown promise up and on the field using next year as a “seasoning” year for many of the young players that may still need transitional development from the minors to the majors. As they do that they will be figuring out who plays where and who may not stay with the team. Hopefully in 2024 will be when the real fun happens when many of the young players mature into true pro players not just rookies looking to stick in the bigs. Once the main core of players is determined then they will need to assess the team and what they need to fill in the gaps to may a run for the WS.
2
The clubhouse definitely could use a solid veteran arm. The outfield feels like plug and play right now. No real standout, so definitely room for improvement. Behind the plate, I like Stephenson, but worry about his durability and his performance coming off the injury. We need guys who can actually hit for average. No more glass cannons at the dish. Infield looks promising, as we should have something in all the prospects on the left side to find a fit.
The mid relief and closers are an issue too. I know it is a rebuild, but they're missing the bricks and mortar here as they really did jack-crap-all to get many (if any) arms in the deals this season.
TLDNR; Too many holes, not enough filler. It's going to be an uphill struggle again in the foreseeable future.
1
Respectfully disagree. His defensive metrics are not good (based on the information I've read) he's been negative defensive runs saved 2 of the last 3 years and watching the Reds on a regular basis it's clear his range has decreased and the # of times he wanders off first trying to field a ground ball in front of the second basemen has gone up. One of the all-time great Reds and hope he's in Cooperstown one day, but next year this team is better if he's not playing defense.
1
First, Cincinnati fans need to start looking at the world of MLB finances, and where Cincinnati resides, realistically.
Second, we sold away all our MLB talent this year, smartly, at their optimal performance level to get maximum return. The talent we had left was a somewhat injured India and and actually injured Votto and Stephenson the last 2 months. Our top 3 young Starters each missed a month of the 2nd half (smartly) to limit innings. 100 losses this year doesn't mean anything, we sucked the same and had the same fate when we lost our 82nd game...and our 88th game...and our 93rd game...ect.
Third, We don't have 25 SS/3B. We have talent. SS are often the best athlete on the field, they can play anywhere (and many will, just watch in the upcoming years.) We have lot more young talent than we had before we sold off current MLB talent from our 2021 83 win team (that also missed the playoffs, and ended the season exactly where this 100 loss team ended...the offseason after 162 games.)
Fourth, if you want the Reds to "spend money" then start appealing to MLB to institute a salary cap/floor. Its the only way the Reds will ever be able to compete with LA, NY or any other larger market team for top veteran talent. Technically the Reds are free to bid on Aaron Judge this winter. We play the same sport as the NYY. But they won't because any max bid the Reds offer the NYY will just go higher. There are many reasons why the NYY can go higher, but it mostly resides in the local TV income they bring in (which isn't part of any Luxury Tax) being at least double what the Reds bring in...every year. Year after year. This isn't a Castellini thing. Carl Lindner was as rich as you could ever want an owner to be but he spent less than Castellini has spent on players.
You see Tampa in the playoffs more often than not, right? They're there because they sell pitchers like their 2020 WS Game 1 starter Blake Snell immediately after that season for more young talent. We've FINALLY started to do this after having a moron run the Redlegs into the ground from 2014 to 2020. When we start winning again (and we will in 2024 or 2025) this will be the reason why.
EDIT: Typos
1
I think everyone knows that several teams can outspend the Reds. But I don’t believe the Reds can’t afford to spend more than they do. Ownership wants us to think they have less money than they really do. I’ve said it a thousand times, but I don’t believe our FO is competent enough to build a winner. They haven’t done it yet and they’ve had an awfully long time.
1
Sign Votto to an extension if you put this sub in charge
-4
Always with the worst takes. Good to see you on brand.
9
You can appreciate the HOF career that Joey has had and still accept that time has caught up with him and he isn’t really the same player anymore. I’m happy that I’ve got to watch his career as a Red. He’s been very good for most of his career and is super easy to root for.
1
Fire Phil.