I was joined this week by Doug Gray (of RedsMinorLeagues.com), and the conversation quickly veered to one important question: Should we already consider the Cincinnati Reds’ rebuilding process a failure?
Music for this episode provided by Freekbass, a big Reds fan and a friend of Redleg Nation.
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Not sure failure is the word. But looking at the players the White Sox, Braves, yankees and Phillies have acquired, the reds just aren’t close. This will be a season of reckoning and could be tough to watch and not just cause how anemic the Reds will be. We will also have to watch rebuilds that were done well start to prosper and players like Torres, Gohara, and Nimmo do well while we watch Herrera as a 24 year old in high A.
At this point I wouldn’t call the Red’s rebuild a failure since each teams rebuild takes a different route. As has been pointed out previously by many, I am concerned about shortstop and centerfield since the future there is not clear, except perhaps centerfield in 2 to 3 years. When Senzel comes up he should go to third base and Suarez should move to shortstop with Peraza as a fill-in as needed in the infield and outfield. The young pitchers are making progress but I think there’s a need in the offseason to acquire a proven pitcher to anchor the starting staff. Some changes by the manager in the last week or so are encouraging.
I agree, hoping Scooter stays hot so he can be traded before the deadline. Call up Senzel to play second base. Trade Billy because he really should only be a situational player because he cannot hit his weight. Trade Iglasius because it does not make sense to have a good closer on a crappy team. Fire Dick Williams, bring in a great pitching coach and be willing to pay him.
Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Lots of possible starters. But proven pitchers on whom you can rely????
Reds are currently showing a -0.9 team pitching WAR, that is certainly a problem. In last by a large margin.
The Reds finished last in WAR in 2017, with a 3.6.
Appears to be a lot of sorting out to do with the pitching at this point.
Unless the Reds build a “Green Monster” in right field similar to the one in Boston, they need to do a better job of developing pitchers.
They need to draft, trade and/or sign pitchers that have good command of the strike zone and don’t pitch scared.
Pitching is everything.
This version of the Reds is so pathetic that the high draft picks they claim over the next 5 years is bound to produce some bounty…isn’t it?
Failure is such a harsh word… and nebulous too…. what if what we’re rebuilding is another dumpster fire… you wouldn’t call this a failure then, now would you?