Mark Sheldon has a holiday-themed interview with Devin Mesoraco. The young catcher’s wish for Reds fans? Winning the division.
I think for us, it would be to get back to where we belong at the top of our division. That would be the biggest thing. In the playoffs, anything can happen. It comes down more to a who-is-hot type of thing. For us, to get back on top in the division would be pretty important.
Jerry Crasnick at ESPN has a feature article about Bronson Arroyo and the pitcher’s wait during free agency. Bronson draws an analogy to attending a party.
“There’s no point in me really thinking about where my perfect place is, because I don’t know who’s interested,” Arroyo said. “It’s like going to a party and the whole premise is to find a wife. There are 10 girls there, and three of them are smoking hot, but they don’t even look in your direction twice, so there’s no point in going after them. Then maybe somebody else comes along who didn’t seem so attractive at first, and you like what she’s saying and you think, ‘Hey, maybe this is the one.’
“That’s the way I see it. I can’t pick and choose teams. They have to choose me, and I realize it could take a long time for them to get where they need to be. I’ve been fine, but if it’s January 15th and I’m still spinning my wheels, I’ll probably change my tune.”
Wonder where agents fit into that metaphor. Bronson confirms that the Reds haven’t made a one-year offer.
Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs discusses Shin-Soo Choo’s platoon split. Thank goodness the Reds don’t have to worry about that any more.
From the looks of things, there’s not much reason to worry. Perhaps Choo’s struggles against lefties suggest he’ll decline sooner than average, but that’s just a shot in the dark. Teams haven’t really exploited these players before. If you wish Choo were the same but more balanced, he’d be better against lefties but worse against righties, so that would even out. If you wish Choo were better against lefties, you’d just be wishing he were better, and everyone wants every player on their team to be better. Choo is what he is, and he’s good, and he happens to just pile up his biggest offensive contributions when there are righties on the mound. Righties throw a lot more innings than lefties do.
Kinda says something about the Reds off season (so far … ) that two of the three articles are about former players. Ennui puppy.
