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Bestbuck36

Kyle Young/Cade Stover man crush. Stomp!
  • I can't believe there aren't any threads regarding the Reds on here!? I know things haven't been all that great lately but we've had a pretty good off season... they actually spent money!!! Getting Eric Milton was a coup and resigning Paul Wilson was huge. To top that off they signed Randa to shore up the defense, his hitting isn't that great but Austin Kearns is in the winter league playing third base right now and the depth looks very good coming into the season. We know Griffey won't stay healthy but he should get more time off this season so who knows maybe he'll make it to the all-star break!:wink2:

    Potentially the lineup could look like this:

    1B Sean Casey
    2B Diangelo Jimenez
    SS Phillipe Lopez
    3B Austin Kearns
    RF Wily Mo Pena
    CF Griffey Jr.
    LF Adam Dunn
    C Jason Larue

    The pitching should be improved and the depth is definitely there this season-before injuries. I know most Buckeye fans are also Tribe fans but the Reds might make some noise this season playing in the toughest division in baseball!
     
    I'm a diehard Reds fan, but I don't see too much to be excited about. Getting Milton and keeping Wilson helps, but it's not nearly enough, especially in the Central. They could've spent 5 times what they did on pitching, and it still wouldn't be enough to put their rotation in the top half of the division. The Central is that strong.

    It will be a first-order miracle if Griffey plays 100 games this year. It just doesn't seem to happen anymore.

    Austin Kearns - RF, 3B, or DL? Griffey's the only thing that takes the spotlight off the fact that he's always getting hurt, too.

    Shortstop - the Reds have been trying for twenty years to find a shortstop better than Barry Larkin. They still haven't done it, but they canned him anyway.

    Jason LaRue - he stinks.

    I'm gonna root like crazy, and listen to Marty on the radio every day though. I think playing .500+ baseball would be a welcome result for this season, and a third-place finish in the division would be fantastic, but probably not realistic.
     
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    Bestbuck36 said:
    I can't believe there aren't any threads regarding the Reds on here!? I know things haven't been all that great lately but we've had a pretty good off season... they actually spent money!!! Getting Eric Milton was a coup and resigning Paul Wilson was huge. To top that off they signed Randa to shore up the defense, his hitting isn't that great but Austin Kearns is in the winter league playing third base right now and the depth looks very good coming into the season. We know Griffey won't stay healthy but he should get more time off this season so who knows maybe he'll make it to the all-star break!:wink2:

    Potentially the lineup could look like this:

    1B Sean Casey
    2B Diangelo Jimenez
    SS Phillipe Lopez
    3B Austin Kearns
    RF Wily Mo Pena
    CF Griffey Jr.
    LF Adam Dunn
    C Jason Larue

    The pitching should be improved and the depth is definitely there this season-before injuries. I know most Buckeye fans are also Tribe fans but the Reds might make some noise this season playing in the toughest division in baseball!
    Here is how I see the lineup

    1b: Casey, spelled by Dunn
    2nd: Jimenez : spelled by Freel
    SS: Lopez-Machado equal playing time
    3rd: Joe Randa spelled by Freel
    LF: Kearns/Pena
    Cf: Griffey/Pena/Freel
    RF: Dunn/Pena
    C: Larue spelled by Valentin

    Rotation:
    Eric Milton
    Paul Wilson
    Ramon Ortiz
    2 of a number of other options
     
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    Machado just recently injured his knee so he might not be an option this year at short. <O:p

    Aaron Harang should be really good this year if continues pitching the way he finished last season.<O:p

    <O:p

    Also in addition to the two starters they picked up three veteran bullpen pitchers.<O:p

    LHP Kent Mercker
    <O:pRHP David Weathers</O:p
    <O:pRHP Ben Weber </O:p
    <O:pWith those three I think our bullpen will be much better then we were the second half of last year.</O:p
    <O:p
    <O:pI think we need to find somewhere to put Ryan Freel because is our best bet at the leadoff postion.</O:p
     
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    I am a huge Reds fan as well. I think they have done a good job for a change in the off-season. The Central is very though but it's baseball and everyone has an equal chance. In General, offense should be a little better or maybe much better if all stay healthy. Defense should be slightly improved, not that it was bad anyway, (by the way, Jason LaRue is an excellent defensive catcher),. Pitching should be much better if everyone pans out, always a question mark, but at least the front office is trying. Hopefully we'll here "This one belongs to the Reds!" a lot of times all season long.
     
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    From what I've seen of LaRue, he's excellent defensively when he's concentrating. He has an good arm and throws out basestealers, but he seems to give up too many passed balls. It would be nice if he were a better hitter, but when he's not giving up passed balls, his defense makes up for his lack of hitting.

    ...And osubartender23, you should flip Dunn and Kearns in your projected defensive lineup. Dunn plays LF, and Kearns plays RF.

    I'm not too optimistic about the on-field results, but I am happier with the proactive approach this offseason by the front office.
     
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    Any effort by the front office at this point is a change in a positive way. I think Hudson is going to finally stay up in the bigs this season and be a real boost to the starting rotation. I always have my fingers crossed with injuries they just don't seem to do a good job in the offseason conditioning department, completely ridiculous. I have a really good feeling about this years Reds. The players seem very upbeat and that can only help. The Cards are still the class of the Central but Houston lost some offense and maybe Clemens. The Cubs aren't very stable right now, who knows what they will look like by season though. I think we could really sneak into a wild card position if injuries don't kill us. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic though.
     
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    Joe Randa could be an absolute steal. The guy quietly hits right around .300 every year and can give you 15-20 HRs and 75-85 RBIs (if he can stay healthy). Plus he has never played in a park as hitter-friendly as The Great American Smallpark. And he and Mike Sweeney have been the only consistent performers in KC to stick around, while all the other talent (Damon, Dye, Deltran) bolted. I think he will be a nice addition.

    Ryan Freel will still probably get at least 300 ABs (if not more) this year in a utility role or playing everyday once someone (Griff) gets hurt. He is fun to watch and can use his speed to change an inning.

    I like osubartender's lineup with one small change (in addition to flip-flopping Kearns and Dunn like jlb mentioned)... scratch Pena as the backup LF...I am pretty sure he only plays CF or RF. Freel will probably be the backup LF.

    According to ESPN, Machoado is having major visa/passport problems trying to get back into the US to get his knee examined. The president of Venezuela has made everyone get a new passport so O'Brien said they are just waiting on Anderson to get his new one. Apparently Anderson is extremely frustrated with his homeland right now...
     
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    The Reds signed SS/3b Rich Aurillia to a minor league deal today. If he could make the team as a utility infielder, I think he could push Lopez for playing time at SS with Machado having injury/visa problems. He also would be good insurance if Randa struggles too.
     
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    The hits just keep on coming. I could see this years team ending up like the 2000 team. Remember last year the Reds were in first place for much of the first two months and then injuries and pitching fell apart. I think they have addressed both of those problems well this offseason. I am actually looking forward to the season for a change.
     
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    BuckeyeNation27 said:
    Jason LaRue - he stinks.
    youre crazy. his bat might slump for 80% of the season....but there arent too many defensive catchers i would want over him.

    JL isn't close to being one the best defensive catchers in MLB. Stats show he is actually below average.

    - led the league in Passed Balls with 15
    - 5th in Errors with 8 while only starting 106 games
    - second worst among Catchers that started at least 100 games with a .989 Fielding Percentage (86th overall for Catchers)

    He does have success in limiting SBs, allowing only 38 last year. However, that's the only thing he has going for him and the Reds could use an upgrade at the position.
     
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