Thursday, March 23, 2006
Later, Wily Mo...
Well, the Reds traded Wily Mo Pena, the Dominican man-child outfielder, this week. Well, what did they get for him, you ask? A shitty-music-playing, groupie-fucking, dreadlocked asshole of a pitcher, Bronson Arroyo. That's it. One pitcher for one of the most interesting outfield prospects that's come along in a while. Do you mean to tell me that this is the best Krivisky could do?
Arroyo is a league-average pitcher. Well, okay, that makes him automatically the second or third best pitcher on staff. But, Arroyo is a flyball pitcher. The last flyball pitcher the Reds signed? That's right, my pal Eric Milton.
Something that's gone largely unheard in the wake of this fiasco is the first base situation. Before the trade, Adam Dunn was going to move to first following the Sean Casey trade. A positive move, one they should have made a couple years ago in fact -- it allowed them to put Pena, Kearns and Dunn on the field at once. The outfield defense would have been atrocious -- Kearns was hurt too much early in his career and hasn't developed as a defender, Griffey has lost a ton of range and was overrated to begin with, and Wily Mo, well, he's Wily Mo -- barely concious -- but getting rid of the out machine that was Sean Casey would have more than made up for it.
Now what do we have? The Reds mysteriously signed Scott Hatteberg, the A's former 1B'r, as a backup. Now, given Narron's veteran fetish, you knew that wasn't going to last. Dunn will be back in left, and Hatteberg starting on opening day, just watch. Hatteberg can't hit. His OPS+ last year was 79. That means his OPS was 79% that of an average player. That's any player, and Hatteberg is a first baseman -- the position where you shove your shitty defenders who can stroke the ball (see Thomas, Frank, Thome, Jim, etc.). That's why Dunn was going to move there. Hatteberg is obviously not going to hit well, and he'll have to be benched. So who's next? Rich Aurilla was told to get a first baseman's glove, that's who's next. Are the Reds trying to give me a fucking stroke?
The correct move would be to put Chris Denorfia, the sole prospect in the Reds' organization who is even remotely close to the majors, in left and leave Dunn at first. That won't happen of course. If they're concerned with Dunn at first, there has to be a minor league free agent or a Rule 5 guy they could have picked up who can hit better than Hatteberg or Aurilla. This lack of imagination is why the Reds will likely be condemmed to mediocrity for the the forseeable future.
(Oh, and as if you needed any further proof this is a bad move, Ryan is in favor of it.)
Arroyo is a league-average pitcher. Well, okay, that makes him automatically the second or third best pitcher on staff. But, Arroyo is a flyball pitcher. The last flyball pitcher the Reds signed? That's right, my pal Eric Milton.
Something that's gone largely unheard in the wake of this fiasco is the first base situation. Before the trade, Adam Dunn was going to move to first following the Sean Casey trade. A positive move, one they should have made a couple years ago in fact -- it allowed them to put Pena, Kearns and Dunn on the field at once. The outfield defense would have been atrocious -- Kearns was hurt too much early in his career and hasn't developed as a defender, Griffey has lost a ton of range and was overrated to begin with, and Wily Mo, well, he's Wily Mo -- barely concious -- but getting rid of the out machine that was Sean Casey would have more than made up for it.
Now what do we have? The Reds mysteriously signed Scott Hatteberg, the A's former 1B'r, as a backup. Now, given Narron's veteran fetish, you knew that wasn't going to last. Dunn will be back in left, and Hatteberg starting on opening day, just watch. Hatteberg can't hit. His OPS+ last year was 79. That means his OPS was 79% that of an average player. That's any player, and Hatteberg is a first baseman -- the position where you shove your shitty defenders who can stroke the ball (see Thomas, Frank, Thome, Jim, etc.). That's why Dunn was going to move there. Hatteberg is obviously not going to hit well, and he'll have to be benched. So who's next? Rich Aurilla was told to get a first baseman's glove, that's who's next. Are the Reds trying to give me a fucking stroke?
The correct move would be to put Chris Denorfia, the sole prospect in the Reds' organization who is even remotely close to the majors, in left and leave Dunn at first. That won't happen of course. If they're concerned with Dunn at first, there has to be a minor league free agent or a Rule 5 guy they could have picked up who can hit better than Hatteberg or Aurilla. This lack of imagination is why the Reds will likely be condemmed to mediocrity for the the forseeable future.
(Oh, and as if you needed any further proof this is a bad move, Ryan is in favor of it.)
Labels: baseball
