2013 Cincinnati Reds Thread

[Villain]

Meh. It's solid, not crazy about a few of those guys though.

You're only saying that because one of them isn't Jason Heyward.

[Rudi]

Signed Jack Hannahan.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Say goodbye to Drew Stubbs & Didi Gregorius, say hello to Choo, Jason Donald, & Jack Hannahan.

Changes in RED

C Hanigan
1B Votto
2B Phillips
3B Frazier (with Ludwick back, he's staying at 3B)
SS Cozart
RF Bruce
CF Choo
LF Ludwick

C Mesoraco
OF Paul
OF Heisey
UTIL Donald
UTIL Hannahan

Emmanuel Burris (FA - SF Giants '12), Henry Rodriguez, Scott Rolen (FA) could challenge for UTIL spots. Rolen has expressed interest in a possible return for 2013.

Cueto
Latos
Arroyo
Bailey
Chapman
----------
Leake
LeCure
Arredondo
Ondrusek
Marshall
Masset
Broxton
Hoover
Simon
Redmond
Cingrani

That's four extra pitchers. Cingrani will probably start in AAA. So really three. Redmond has two options. I believe Ondrusek does as well. So one more would have to go, and it's not an easy call.

[Warner2BruceTD]

JIM BOWDEN @JimBowdenESPNxm
Walt Jocketty told us Chapman was told to come to ST as a starter but might start the year in pen then start like ATL/Medlen last yr SXM

[Villain]

JIM BOWDEN @JimBowdenESPNxm
Walt Jocketty told us Chapman was told to come to ST as a starter but might start the year in pen then start like ATL/Medlen last yr SXM

That's the smarter way to watch innings.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Reds fans:

OMG WE'RE TRADING ALL THE PROSPECTS!!!!!

Marshall
Latos
Choo
Hoover

or

Sappelt - bum
Wood - would be our 7th starter
Alonso - Joey
Grandal - jury out on this one, suspended 50 games
Boxberger - bum, setup man at best, dime a dozen
Gregorius - all glove, no hit, blocked
Francisco - probably a backup realistically

Only one I would want back would possibly be Grandal, but we don't know yet. Everybody knew Grandal/Mesoraco was a coin flip, they might lose that one, oh well. The rest is either trash (Sappelt) or would never crack the Reds lineup (Alonso, Wood, etc).

Stop falling in love with minor leaguers.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Interesting bit from Mark Sheldon

As I drove to and fro on Tuesday night, I had the rare opportunity to listen to the Reds Hot Stove show on WLW while in the car. One of the audience questions for Marty and Thom was whether the Reds needed to add a lefty reliever since Sean Marshall is the only one currently in the bullpen. As you know, the club is hoping LHP Aroldis Chapman can transition to the rotation.

GM Walt Jocketty also told reporters after the Jack Hannahan signing last week he might look for a lefty reliever.

During the radio show, special guest and Reds reliever Sam LeCure brought up a good point. Even with only Marshall, the bullpen has plenty of guys, right-handed guys, that did a good job of getting lefties out. In fact after a quick look at the stats, I found that all the right-handers did better against lefties than righties last season.

Here are some opposing batting averages for Reds relievers:

Arredondo: .277 vs. RH, .165 vs LH

LeCure: .232 vs. RH, .208 vs. LH

Hoover: .196 vs. RH, .120 vs. LH

Ondrusek: .285 vs. RH, .190 vs. LH

Simon: .283 vs. RH, .267 vs. LH

Masset (2011): .267 vs. RH, .284 vs. LH

There isn’t a wealth of left-handed relievers on the free agent market. According to MLBTraderumors.com, this is the complete list:

Pedro Feliciano
Mike Gonzalez
Tom Gorzelanny
J.P. Howell
Rich Hill
Will Ohman
Manny Parra
Rafael Perez
J.C. Romero
Daniel Schlereth
Hisanori Takahashi

If a lefty (aka LOOGY) can be had for cheap or even on a Minor League deal, cool. But matchups vs. lefty hitters aren’t an area the Reds have to feel shorthanded heading into next season.

[Rudi]

Also in that interview Sam Lecure said he sees Chapman being similar to Randy Johnson in 2-3 years.

He also said when that happens theres no way the Reds will be able to afford him.

[Warner2BruceTD]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/qa-ryan-hanigan-underrated-red/

This is fascinating.

Future manager, without a doubt.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Jocketty did some really creative things for contracts this season.

-Ludwick gets $15M guaranteed over two years, but only $1M this season. $4.5M is in the form of a buyout on a mutual option Year 3. So he gets $9.5M next season.

-Hanrahan, similar deal. Only gets $1M this year. Has a $2M buyout on his mutual option as part of his guaranteed money.

-Votto takes a big paycut this year to $12M. He made $17 on his old deal last season. Next year he makes $14M, before then climbing to the $20M's after that. So basically, Votto will be woefully underpaid from 24-31, paid market value from about 32-34, and then depending on inflation, be overpaid from 35-39. Unlike the Pujols deal, he isn't under contract into his 40's, the deal ends at 39 (there is a team option for his age 40 season with a $7M buyout).

-Phillips takes a paycut to $10M.

So the Reds are paying Votto, Phillips, Ludwick, & Hanrahan a combined $24M this season. These moves keep the "real" payroll down in the $80M range, which allowed the Choo acquisition to happen and open things up for Latos & Bailey extensions. Almost all of the contracts are backloaded for when the new FSN deal kicks in, at which point the Reds max payroll is expected to shoot up past $100M and into the $110, $120 range.

[Goober]

Even with that I would imagine the Reds payroll will be over 90 million this year, no? Choo should be making 8-10 million on his own, Bailey close to five. Lots of others eligible for arbitration. Getting rid of Arroyo after this year, will help offset some more increases in 2014 though. But I would imagine the Reds will also need to begin considering another set of extensions for Bruce and Cueto.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Should have read $90.

Bruce is signed till 2018, Cueto through 2015. Arroyo & Choo would be the major ones that come off next year. Reds couldn't sign Choo even if they wanted to.

The whispers now are what to do with Cueto, with a lot of people talking about letting him walk, banking on some combo of Stephenson/Corcino/Cingrani being in the majors by then, and paying Chapman instead. I say why even think about that yet, nobody knows what Chapman even is at this point and counting on prospects is always dicey. So I say let Cueto & Chapman pitch the next two seasons and then see where the other guys are before you start tossing more money at either of them. Why chose one or the other now?

[Slateman]

This thread is so last year, bra

[Rudi]

Reds signed Miguel Olivo.

A whopping 2 minutes after this was announced, someone asked John Fay if Mesoraco is on the trading block.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Reds sign Manny Parra, designate Todd Redmond for assignment.

Doubt Parra makes the team unless a bunch of people get hurt. So he takes Redmond's quad-A swingman role. But he's left handed, and Redmond was righty, so he's a potential LH RP if disaster strikes.

Worst case scenario is Parra spends longer than somebodies DL stint on the roster at any point (or has to start a game). Best case scenario is he never pitches a single inning for the MLB team.