Since John Fay and the Enquirer have been all the rage today (nice spread on the Reds in the Sunday Enquirer), I thought I would mention this article as well. It deals with what Fay calls Camp Jerry II:
Camp Jerry II will be a lot like Camp Jerry I, i.e., the Reds won’t spend a lot of time chit-chatting when spring training begins. Instead, they’ll get down to the serious manual labor of baseball.
“I’m not a believer in eye wash,” Reds manager Jerry Narron said. “I don’t want to spend 12 hours out there to try to impress someone. I want them to go about their business and get their work in.”
The Reds open camp in Sarasota on Saturday, when pitchers and catchers report. The first workout will either be Feb. 18 in the afternoon or Feb. 19 in the morning. Position players report Feb. 21. The first full-squad workout is Feb. 23.
Narron is an old-school baseball guy. The camp he runs borrows heavily from the system Baltimore manager Paul Richards came up with in the 1950s.
“It’s time-tested,” Narron said. “I thought it worked well last year. I think that’s one of the reasons we got off to a good start.”
I think there is ample evidence that Narron is a pretty poor in-game manager, but I can’t argue with the methods mentioned in the article. Seems like a sound way to get the team ready for the season.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the article is the list of questions facing the Reds as Spring Training opens:
Who’s going to be the fifth starter? Veteran right-hander Kirk Saarloos is the favorite. But Matt Belisle, Elizardo Ramirez, Bobby Livingston and (dare we say it?) Homer Bailey also will get a look.
It should have been Brandon Claussen (once he recovered), but the Reds just gave him away. I’d say the leader in the clubhouse is Saarloos, since he’s a Krivsky acquisition. Elizardo may be a close second at this point.
Who’s going to be the closer? The plan is to use a committee, with David Weathers and Mike Stanton getting the bulk of the chances.
Ugh. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
Will Ken Griffey make the switch from center field to right? Griffey is open to the idea. Whether it happens will be determined shortly after the games begin March 3.
I hope so. I think it helps the team’s defense to move Griffey to a corner.
What about Josh Hamilton? The Rule 5 pickup will get every chance to make the club. “We have to see if he plays well enough to stick,” Narron said.
I hope he does, and I remain in favor of picking up Hamilton. Low risk, high reward; exactly the type of risks the Reds need to be taking.
Who’s the 25th man? “Do we want to go with an infielder, an outfielder or a catcher?” Narron said.
Does it matter? Though, I must admit, I really hope they don’t waste a roster spot with a third catcher, as they did all last season.
Is anyone else getting excited? We’re getting ready to get the ball rolling on the 2007 season, and I can’t wait.