Winter Meetings - 2013

If the 2014 season started today, here would be the everyday lineup:

1. Hamilton CF
2. Phillips 2B (I guess)
3. Votto 1B
4. Ludwick LF
5. Bruce RF
6. Frazier 3B
7. Mesoraco C
8. Cozart SS
9. Cueto P


Need to hope for a few things:
- Hamilton exceeds expectations, although I am impressed w. his minor league numbers outside of last year
- Frazier mounts a complete turnaround from last year
- Mesoraco and Cozart are simply league average


Do we sign a veteran CF?
Do we move Homer one season before FA?

Cincinnati Reds - 2012

Good luck to the Cincinnati Reds, 2012! Walt Jocketty and Old Man Castellini certainly have committed the resources (players) and money to winning THIS YEAR.

Potential Roster:

Starters
1. Johnny Cueto
2. Mat Latos
3. Bronson Arroyo
4. Homer Bailey
5. Mike Leake
6. Jeff Francis
7. Aroldis Chapman

Pen
1. Madson
2. Marshall
3. Massett
4. Ondrusek
5. Bray
6. Lecure
7. Arredondo

C / INF
1. Mesoraco
2. Hanigan
3. Votto
4. Cairo
5. Phillips
6. Janish
7. Cozart
8. Valdes
9. Rolen
10. Frazier, T.
11. Francisco, J.

OF
1. Ludwick
2. Heisey
3. Stubbs
4. J. Bruce
5. W. Harris
6.
7.

3 days til Pitchers & Catchers!

Click HERE to link to the Depth Chart as MLB.com sees it. Link is also at left...

Questions I believe have to, or will have to, face this season:

* Can the young back-end of the rotation answer the call this season? Bailey, Wood, Leake...2 of the 3 will be called upon after Arroyo, Cueto, Volquez.

* LF. Who will pick up Gomes' slack in the 2nd half when he trails off?

* Bullpen. Who closes? What is Chapman's role?

* 2B. Brandon Phillips...what kind of offensive performance will we see from BP this season? Defense is less of a concern...BP is a first-rate fielder.

* Batting lineup. Need some OBP (!) ahead of Votto. Hanigan, new import Fred Lewis, BP, Stubbs?!

Pitching Preview - Spring Training 2011

Rotation

Bronson Arroyo
Edinson Volquez
Johnny Cueto
Travis Wood*
Homer Bailey
--------------
Mike Leake
Matt Maloney

Pen
Francisco Cordero
Nick Masset
Aroldis Chapman*
Bill Bray*
Logan Ondrusek
Jared Burton
Jose Arredondo
-------------
Sam Lecure
Carlos Fisher
Jordan Smith
DR Herrera*

*left-handed

24 Days til Pitchers and Catchers

Will the Reds have...

...some OBP this season? On-base percentage is what makes modern offenses go, so let's have a look at some roster candidates for the Reds offense this season that Dustbag will have to choose from. Does this roster as constructed have the OBP skills necessary to get the job done?

Let's start with looking at last year's Team Statistics as a comparison point. Bill James' Pythagorean Formula theorizes if you score as many runs as you give up, you can expect to go .500 over the course of the long baseball season.

Here is how the Reds fared:

* In 2009, the Reds finished 11th out of 16 NL teams in runs scored, scoring 673 runs while giving up 723 runs.
* The Reds finished tied for 14th out of 16 teams in the NL last year in On-Base percentage (yikes!).

Here is the Reds Official Depth Chart

Catcher (2 or 3)
Ramon Hernandez
Ryan Hanigan
Wilkin Castillo

Infield (6 or 7)
Joey Votto
Brandon Phillips
Orlando Cabrera
Scott Rolen
Paul Janish
Drew Sutton
Chris Burke
Aaron Miles
Miguel Cairo

Outfield (5 or 6)
Jay Bruce
Drew Stubbs
Chris Dickerson
Jonny Gomes
Laynce Nix
Wladimir Balentien (worthless)
Chris Heisey
Todd Frazier
Josh Anderson (white Corey Patterson)

Potential Opening Day Lineup
1. Drew Stubbs 8 (should be batting lower in order)
2. Orlando Cabrera 6
3. Joey Votto 3
4. Brandon Phillips 4
5. Scott Rolen 5
6. Ramon Hernandez 2
7. Jay Bruce 9
8. Chris Dickerson 7
9. Aaron Harang P

Bench
Hanigan
A. Miles
J. Gomes
L. Nix
D. Sutton

Tomorrow: Reds Pitching preview

Aroldis Chapman...and other nonsense

Well now, it does appear the Redlegs are starting to buy into the stated objective of this blog! PITCHING, power, on-base percentage...YAY.

* The Reds have signed Cuban import Aroldis Chapman to a five-year, $25M deal, payments spread over 10 years. It may work, it may not work...I just like that Castellini is finally TRYING.




*****

Now that Pete Carroll has taken Head Coach job at Seattle Seahawks, who will replace him as coach at USC? The article mentions Mike Riley, Jack Del Rio, Jeff Fisher... What a great job coaching the Trojans.

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And now, other nonsense



*****

Yeksemesh?!






******



About 40 days-ish til Reds Spring Training opens at their new site in Goodyear, Arizona!