 –The Reds have talked to the agent for Craig Counsell. He fits the utility-player-who-can-play-short role. Counsell, by the way, is good friends with Thom Brennaman. Things like that can be a factor.
Unfortunately, Paul Keels is close with Jamey Carroll, so what is a GM to do?
The Counsell of last year .280s hitter would be great. The Counsell of the 2 previous, .220s would not. The Reds are snake bit on signings. I pesimistically would expect the .220s Counsel, who will be 40 in August.
Sheldon is reporting the REDS have moved on past Carroll…Since he hadn’t played enough SS, he wasn’t the right fit.
And Walt has stated he wants a LHB UTL/SS…And Councell is the only guy I know of that fits the bill.
MIL is making a push and they seem to have money..Which means they probably get him. (Funny how that money stuff allows you to get what’s needed…Who knew?)
I suppose I would prefer Counsell to Carroll, but if someone disagrees with me, I’m not even going to argue. It’s all very ho-hum.
In the words of Jocketty: “There’s really not much going on with the old Redlegs.”
He sounds like a Cardinal fan.
Drew Sutton is a switch-hitter, and he has some pop. Can he play SS?
I really wish he got some semi-regular starts late in the year, rather than mostly once-a-game pinch-hitting appearances!! Pinch-hitting is harder than getting 4 AB’s a game. I wonder what he’d do.
If I were managing the Reds a) I’d be the least-qualified manager in the history of the game, b) you’d all be calling for my head for some reason, c) I probably would’ve lost the entire clubhouse long ago, BUT… d) I would’ve given Brandon at least 40 starts at SS and Sutton at least 40 starts at 2B late in the season. So we’d know more about both of them than we do now!!
What a waste of meaningless games. I mean, yes, the wins were very nice and do inspire some hope… but could we not have tried a few other things that might actually help us in the future??
Anyway… I remain hopeful about Drew Sutton. I realize he has totally stunk it up in the majors so far. But switch-hitting middle infielders w/ some pop and who will also take a walk are not that easy to come by. I like him. I’d like to see him get more of a chance.
Counsell was very good last year, but… come on… he’s 40. It’s gotta end, and soon.
No criticism of Sutton, but I’m not sure his numbers in the minors warrant euthusiasm or even hope that he would be a stand out player in the bigs. Why not try to pick Hairston back up?
Because he sucks?
@JustTheFacts: Sutton’s minor league numbers (admittedly, in some high-offense leagues) were .280/.378/.442. Not stellar, but enough to warrant an opportunity, I think.
As for Hairston… I don’t see how he’d be better than Carroll or Counsell, to be honest. Which makes him not necessarily better than Rosales or Sutton, either.
I think they’re all relatively similar, so why not go with the ones who are young and cheap and still stand a chance of breaking out, rather than the ones who would cost $1-2 million and are on the downside of their careers?
“As for Hairston… I don’t see how he’d be better than Carroll or Counsell, to be honest. Which makes him not necessarily better than Rosales or Sutton, either.”
You know what’s sad? Decisions about this bench spot may be the highlight of the winter meetings for the Reds.
Free Willy!
Sigh….
Don’t need Counsell; don’t need Carroll.
Definitely don’t need Hairston.
Sutton is more likely to hit than any of these guys and NONE of them can field well at shortstop, including Sutton. However, Sutton is younger and has fresher legs.
Well the Reds aren’t going to get Counsell. He lives in the Milwaukee area, is a Milwaukee area native, and will finish out his career in Milwaukee. The best the Reds can hope for is driving up his price for the Brewers, as they’ve made another offer.
That sounds like a positively JimBowdenian strategy to me….
(Mariano Duncan waiver acquisition reference…)
Per C Trent:
Reds lost Ben Jukick in the rule V and signed Chris Burke to a minor league deal. I don’t think that is all that bad a pickup for depth.
http://cnati.com/cincinnati-reds/mlb-winter-meetings-day-4-00862/
I like the Burke signing. He’s had some time in the show, can play 7 positions, he’s from Louisville, he’s just 30, and provides some insurance at AAA. Maybe he can win a bench job out of spring training and we could be done with this whole utility role nonsense.
The Cards picked up Jukick. Watch him turn out to be Ryan Franklin part 2. Sans the wild goatee.
it’s only a minor league signing, so i don’t really have a problem with it, but over 6 seasons and 1300 ab’s in the big leagues burke has an obp of .315 and and slg of .359.
a poor man’s jerry hairston at best.
What?! Hairston Sucks??? Afraid I’ll have to strongly disagree with you. He was good enough that the Yankees traded for him. They pursued the Reds for that trade. He’s a career .983 at SS.
Hairston is terrible….the Yanks liked to acquire overpaid veterans for their bench. I don’t think he’ll be back with the Yanks this year.
Hairston’s .978 at shorstop with a 4.40 range factor.
Larkin is .962 with a 4.62 range factor.
Concepcion is .971 with a 5.03 range factor.
Hairston has only played 82 games at shortstop in the majors,
Hairston is OK as a versatile backup for teams that can afford $2 million backups (Yankees).
He’s 33 years old now, and he has a career line as a hitter of .259/.328/.373, and a career OPS+ of 85. He’s OPS+ed over 100 twice in 11 season.
He’s OK as a backup, b/c he can play many positions, and b/c he doesn’t totally kill you at the plate.
But he is not good.
The Yankees gave up Chase Weems, a catcher with a career .230/.305/.320 line in rookie ball and A-ball. He will never sniff the majors. He will probably never sniff double-A.
The fact that the Yankees traded for Hairston does NOT mean he’s good. It means he was a little better than whoever the 24th or 25th guy on the Yankees roster was at the time, and that the price to get him was NOTHING (a career minor leaguer, and less than a million bucks).
Hairston was great for us for one year, in 2008 — he had his career year by far — .326/.384/.487. That was a fantastic season.
But you take his career as a whole and he’s just not that good.
At age 34, I’d say no thanks. I’ll take my chances w/ Rosales and/or Sutton.
@Dan:
Or Burke, and that’s why this signing was made. Competition for the bench spot and assured depth at AAA. Good deal all around.
Now if we could just get someone decent to fill a hole who is a starter…..
@preach: True, good point, preach.