The Cincinnati Reds have designated reliever Brad Brach for assignment and activated infielder Kyle Farmer from the paternity list.
Brad Brach just returned from the injured list a week ago. Things hadn’t gone well for him prior to landing on the injured list, and they didn’t go any better for him once he returned.
From May 21st, when he made his Reds debut, through July 4th, Brad Brach was quite good for the Cincinnati bullpen. He pitched in 20 games in that stretch and threw exactly 20.0 innings. His ERA in that time frame was just 2.23 as he allowed 13 hits, 1 home runs, walked 9, and he struck out 24.
Things went south from there very quickly. Over his next 13 games he pitched in 9.0 innings, allowed 13 earned runs (and was charged with 3 more unearned runs), allowed 13 hits, walked 8 batters, and he struck out just 8 batters. The 35-year-old righty hit the injured list after the final appearance in that stretch on August 7th. When he returned last week he pitched in two games – giving up a run in an inning of work on the 5th of September and then in what would turn out to be his last outing, he gave up 2 earned (and 1 unearned) without recording an out in Chicago.
Even with his strong start, the Reds let him pitch poorly for so long that he’s currently sitting with a 6.30 ERA in 30.0 innings on the year. His final 15 appearances saw him post an ERA of 14.40. Incredible stubbornness from a team in a playoff race.
As for Kyle Farmer, he is back and his family is just a tiny bit larger than it was when he left. Jim Day provided an update over the weekend that his wife and the baby were both healthy and doing fine – which is, of course, the absolute best of news.
The Reds will be glad to have Farmer back. While there is certainly some heated debate among many as to whether Farmer should be the starting shortstop or not, with Jose Barrero only available off of the bench on Sunday after a collision with outfielder Tyler Naquin on Saturday, it showed just how limited the team is on shortstops without him as the team had basically no choice but to play Eugenio Suárez there against the Cardinals.
It’s time to DFA Cabrera as well, and bring up Dauri Moreta. Cabrera adds nothing to this team.
Amen
Maybe coming sooner than later..
Amen.
+100
*1000
Cabrera must go ASAP, with Lopez, Freeman, or Friedl added.
Garrett must go, with Moreta added.
Want to win -> put your best team out there.
No more time to wait to cut Cabrera to have a chance to get into the playoffs with the best roster.
+100000
Glad to see it. Now the question becomes one of Barrero’s playing time. He’s not a bench piece.
Not to be negative, but I think anyone regular on RLN knows the answer to that,,unfortunately.
I know. And hence the reason the Reds haven’t closed out the WC slot. Little league lineup decisions – everyone plays, particularly the old and the infirm.
He’s hit like one so far though. SSS and I hope he sees the field more than he has of course.
It has been more than a month since Farmer has hit any better than a bench piece and he has an extended history which indicates that is his level.
An argument could be made that 2021 Farmer is better then 2021 Barrero. KF doesn’t make errors and he doesn’t run over CFers. We would’ve got swept in Wrigley if it wasn’t for KF. He singlehandedly won that game with a key rbi and that over the shoulder catch.
I’m a Barrero fan and I’d put KF in LF vs lefties. We couldn’t be any worse against them so what is there to lose?
I think that Farmer is one of the players who needs to be watched to be entirely appreciated. The stats mean something, certainly, but not everything. I hope that Barrero gets playing time, and I hope he hits better than he has in his SSS. But Farmer at shortstop is no kind of disaster for the Reds.
@IRM> I still don’t get why folks see that collision play as Barrero running into Naquin as opposed to Naquin sliding into and undercutting Barrero.
Barrero came literally within inches of making the play while Naquin was probably 10 feet away from having a play. It was a baseball play that turned out badly. However, if someone wants to decide who hit whom, it seems to me Naquin had the later and best chance to redirect his slide while Barrero was off balance and extended from reaching for the ball.
I broke a leg in a game in a situation just like that playing shortstop. The shortstop is running with his eyes on the ball and back to the outfielder. The outfielder has the play completely in front of him and completely in his view. It is the outfielder’s job to call him off LOUDLY so something bad will not happen. My bet is that JB didn’t know where TN was at all. The outfielder never called me off and my season was done.
Jim exactly. Barrero was closest to making the play, and Naquin (also trying to make a play) slid under Barrero. Yet I’ve seen a few comments essentially blaming Barrero for taking out Naquin. It’s almost like they want to prove so badly that Barrero shouldn’t be on the field that they’ll attribute any negative action they can attach to him to try and make some point. It’s ridiculous that it’s even been brought up. Collisions happen, it’s just two guys trying their hardest to make a play.
@Hotto… +100
Lol saying Barrero ran over Naquin and it was Barreros fault is lazy and ignorant. The whole play is in front of Naquin.
Bell’s treatment of Barrero is what turned me firmly against him. Before, I thought Bell was just “meh”. No strong opinion either way.
But this season he has driven me bonkers with his refusal to use his best players in the right situations, bullpen included, and his refusal to start Barrero over a lifetime bench player like Farmer (who has done better than expected defensively, but is still dismal offensively) was the event that put me firmly in the anti-Bell camp. Uncomfortable flashbacks to Jerry Narron and Edwin Encarnacion.
And you can’t blame putting the wrong players on the field on Krall or upper management unless they are micro managing(which could be the case). A good part of it is Bell with his handling of the players on hand.
You can blame us for being so certain that Barrero is ready to be the starting SS on a team fighting for a play off spot when we only know his limited stats and only see him play in games. He might prove to be ready, and might become a fixture at the position in years to come, but the certainty expressed by some isn’t supported by anything besides his minor league numbers and hatred of Bell.
@gmr
What about the argument that Barrero at Ss and Farmer at 3b gives you your best defensive alignment and its hard to say Barrero is unproven when Suarez and Moose have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in 2021 both are below league replacement
Play your best 8 and maybe farmer and barrero are both- certainly against lefties
I would start barrero at SS 5 days a week and start Farmer 5 days a week. 2 at SS 2 at 3b and one at 1b
Agree Old School. Not putting them out there for a week or 10 days when the others have failed miserably has no excuse. How long or how many times do you have to see something fail before you make a change. There were other options. Were they guaranteed to work? No. But you have to try something else. It is the 6th month of the season and they are still hoping it will work. You also had Schrock for 3B who is batting over .300 versus .170 and .210. You also had Schrock for LF long before they finally broke down and started playing him there after Winker went down. And then there was Lopez who could have at least put the ball in play most ABs.
I’ve said in other comments that, based on what I know, Farmer at third and Barrero at short–if he is able to consistently produce better that Suarez or Moose–makes sense. That “based on what I know” modifying phrase is critical, though. We’re just looking at this season, and have a very limited picture of Barrero. We don’t have to be concerned with his development. We don’t have to be concerned with effects on the rest of the team of altering playing time.
Barrero at SS# and Farmer at 3B the rest of the way!
There’s a lot of logic in that. Playing Barrero at SS and Farmer at 3rd Base.
And I have really no idea why they signed Asdrubal Cabrera. Oh, yeah. Because he hits Lefthanded pitching.
So, how did that work out?
I have no idea how this season ends for the Reds, but honestly, it went better than a lot of people expected.
Despite the injuries and the frankly terrible bullpen. And Bell does deserve a little credit for the results so far. But they may end with a big, sighing flop, too. Which would leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
But going forward, I hope they find a better manager. I personally, have seen enough of David Bell.
I don’t expect Cabrera to be much help, either. But he’s had, what, 14 at bats with the Reds? That is a very small sample size.
I’m all for trying Farmer at 3B, especially against every LH starter. He actually hit lefties at a decent clip. Gotta do something better than Suarez, or Cabrera. I’d still try to get Moose going by having him take a few starts at 3B as well against RH starters. He was doing alright before the injury, and you can tell he still needs to get back into game shape, but I think he can get there.
Playing 3b in 2021 means playing SS 25-40 % of the time with a shift
Suarez moose and Cabrera cant cover that
They are defensive liabilities
Great point Old School. Suarez can cover it a heck of a lot better than the other 2 however. With that said, we have seen the time Suarez was overweight also. He slimmed down this season.
Regardless of the 2021 KF/JB debate, I think we can all agree this team is stronger without Brach.
I wonder how many games dudes that have eventually been DFA’d have cost us this season.
every team could say that
I would dare say that Shogo needs to go. He’s a slap hitter with no power and for someone who should be a contact hitter, he has more Ks than hits
Congratulations to Kyle Farmer and his family. I’ve always liked him as a tough, versatile, dependable and tenacious player. Yes, he is a below average hitter but how many players with his versatility and defensive skill also excel at the plate? Hope to have him on the team a long time and see him a little more at 3B and fill in when needed.
As for Brach, as usual with this manager, his stay was much longer than necessary and ended very badly. Hope he can recover and regain his confidence in a better organization.
Kyle Farmer was not the problem this season. Sure, if we had a SS with a higher OPS, that would have been an obvious help.
The single biggest problem this year was the bullpen. They lost a TON of games for the Reds.
The next biggest problem was obviously 3rd Base. I don’t know if Eugenio is playing hurt with a bad shoulder, but having watched some games, his bat speed seems ‘way down. Eugenio is really a good guy, but that doesn’t make up for his lousy Batting average this year.
I live in Southern Illinois so I can’t watch every game. It seems to me that Suarez does not watch the ball hit his bat. I think he’s thinking home run so much, he’s pulling off the ball. Maybe you guys see it too.
Been saying that since the beginning of the season. You would think over the course of a season it would get corrected. It hasn’t.
All the offensive players are playing very anxious right now – except Barrero. For good reason- a playoff spot – but they all just need to relax and wait for a good pitch to hit. The starting pitchers we are seeing Stink. Make them throw a fastball over the plate and then hit the piss out of it. Too much chasing without controlling the zone. Relax and have fun and results will come. Easier said than done but still someone in that clubhouse needs to be saying it.
This is unrelated in away however anyone know how many games Reds bullpen cost them earlier in season? Not sure we’re to look for that Stat.
I know 2 games at least. Game against Royals when they were up big. Plus I believe a game vs Cardinals as well.
I saw a stat last week that the Reds have lost 10 games while leading in the 8th inning or later. Cut that in half and we would be in firm control of the second wild card spot.
Thanks, and wow. That is just crazy but not surprising.
Jose Barrero should start at SS the rest of the season, period.
Jonathan India should start at 3B the rest of the season, period.
Alejo Lopez should start at 2B the rest of the season, period.
Let’s see what this produces.
The FO needs to find new homes for Suarez and Moustakas in the offseason.
Kyle Farmer has proven to be a decent utility player. That is his best position on this squad.
I would be surprised if Nick Castellanos does not opt out.
The Reds need to start evaluating possible options for next year, this season is gone.
Rant, over.
India to 3B at this point in the season would be bad move IMO. He’s finally settling in at 2B and, provided we make Game #163, he will be on any post-season roster. You don’t mess with that at this point.
Nick is gone regardless of how the post-season plays out. Somebody will overpay for him and that’s fine. He’ll be missed, but he was playing for a chance to get a fat contract and will/should take it.
Agree. India has too much range and is too good a second baseman to move him off second. Lopez has less range and between the two is more suited for 3B although he lacks power. We need some contact hitters in the lineup. It doesn’t matter where they play as long as we get ample power from the other positions( 2B in this case). Also, Lopez and Barreo are unproven at the ML level but have earned a shot.
what are you drinking/smoking?
Was at the game Sunday, 1st row behind the plate and saw this. – Sonny Gray pitch his tail off in vain. No runs again in a big game against good pitching.
Votto AWOL again in a big game. Saw Votto walk to the plate like he was King Tut and proceed to strike out 3 times in a row and the last time argue with ump then pop out to the infield. He gets some hits against weaker pitching but against good pitchers he is a sure out.
You know our best hitter is gone next year, hate to think of putting up with Votto, Geno and Senzel for another year. Send them on their way with best wishes!!!
Can’t with Votto and it will be difficult to move Geno. Maybe even Senzel at this point (unless we give him away).
You can with all, just eat their contracts.
Better than keeping them and them hurting the team, because you know they will be playing and shouldn’t.
Votto provided good offense overall. The only reason I would eat a contract would be for non performance and If I couldn’t move the contract(Geno for 10 million per season). Senzel wouldn’t matter that much financially, but that is the reason you give him more time. Votto is another story(25 million per season). He still has value and the only way to realize it is to keep him because he has a no trade clause in his contract. If you cut him , you still pay the 25 million per season while he plays for someone else.
So all those other guys who didn’t score or drive in runs had nothing to do with that loss, it’s all on Votto? Who obviously can’t hit any more. Except for that part where he’s 15th in the NL in OBP, 6th in OPS, and 5th in slugging. In the entire NL. He was also 0fer on Saturday. And what did he do the game before? O-for… no wait, he walked and homered. And the night before? He homered again. Bum. Cut him loose! This is one of the worst cases of short term memory / confirmation bias I’ve seen in awhile. The dude will get MVP votes this year (along with Winker and Castellanos). Nothing to see here – move along.
I’m in for India at 3B in 22, not this year. That’s mainly because I think McLain is probably the better fielder, Barrero and McLain up the middle for many years to come sounds great! Until McLain is ready, a whole host of guys can play 2B, Senzel, Lopez, or Schrock.
It will be interesting to see if McLain winds up being our SS. There is a lot of flexibility with him in regards to what position he plays. That is likely 2 years away and we have to do something in the interim. Worst case is Farmer can be retained via arbitration and we know he can play a solid SS if Barreo doesn’t work out. We have a lot of candidates for 3B
Geno, Moose, Farmer, Schrock, Senzel and Lopez.
Don’t get the Lopez love this like Van Meter all over again. Does there need to be changes yes, but I don’t get the clamoring for a guy who is a bench piece in the Majors at best. People on here act like he is the 2nd coming of Mike Schmidt.
+100
+ 96.25
+100
JVM atleast hit 12 HRs or whatever in April that year at Louisville. That would excite anyone when a young guy does that at AAA
He has hit everywhere he has been and deserves a chance to see what he can do. You may be right, but how do you come up with he is a bench player when he has never been given a chance. Same a Aquino. We thought he would be better than he has been and when given a chance this season he proved us wrong. You have to be given a reasonable trial before making that determination. It can’t be true for Barreo but not for Lopez. In fact, it is true for every player that has earned a chance whether a pitcher or position player.
Here is what I find maddening about Bell’s lineup manipulation. A lot of people on here are down on Moustakas and lump him in the same category as Suarez. So, would we rather have him in the lineup or Suarez/Cabrera? He COULD HIT LEFTHANDERS until Bell got ahold of him. Excluding 2020 (covid) and 2021 (long time injured), here are his stats AGAINST LEFTIES for the previous 5 years: 2015 – .282 average, .338 OBP; 2016 – .286 average, .318 OBP; 2017 – .270 average, .296 OBP; 2018 – .260 average, .301 OBP; 2019 – .276 average, .343 OBP. Recognizing he is overweight and coming off a long injury, I would still take my chances with him over the others. Never happen with Bell managing, though. I will never understand how he expects to create any offense when 5-9 has 3 guys hitting under .200 + the pitcher!!!
I am an avid reader of redsminorleagues.com left the link give it a read excellent site…….
Alan, that is correct. Lopez has hit at every level along the way through the minors. VanMeter was sort of scuffling along with a nondescript career before catching fire in AAA with the juiced ball. The two aren’t very comparable as far as career trajectory. You’re also correct that he needs to be given a chance to see how he does with consistent playing time before we make a “final” determination on his role. He may end up being a bench player. He may not ever cut it at the ML level. At the end of the day, most guys don’t. But when most of the season we’ve received less than zero at 3B why not give him a shot?
And the same people thjnk Barrero is the second coming of Barry Larkin
I dont think its barerro is the second coming of larkin
Its hes a better player than old cabrera who cant field a ground ball and hasnt righties all year and is 0- fer as a red mostly hitting lefties
Does barrero or Cabrera deserve a 28 man roster spot more?
Both Barreo and Lopez have earned the opportunity for a chance due to their performance at AAA and below. I say give them that chance and go from there. They will either produce or not over a reasonable period of time. That is the time for the Reds to make their decision after that reasonable period. That could and should have been done this season. We could have still contended for a playoff spot. Anyone who thinks Cabrera, Suarez and Moose would hit better than Barreo, Lopez and Schrock are just kidding themselves. That was pretty evident by at least the first part of July. When age or injury hits older players and they under perform, it usually isn’t reversible.
Reds / Bell always seem to give players “one more chance” before they are DFA’d. Probably has costs the several games this year
That’s the way humans treat one another. Or should. Also, there were, evidently, very few relief pitchers available and many teams competing for them. If they’d cut all of the under-performing relief pitchers, they’d have had few left and little prospect of replacing them.
I thought the 3 relievers they picked up at the deadline along with Lorenzen’s return and Santillan’s move to the pen helped a lot. Sadly, the handling of Suarez, Moose, AA, Akiyama , Deshields and Cabrera was a 180 degree turn the other way and led to our woes on offense. The failure to bring up Moreta is puzzling also.
Bells relievers dont get 1 more chance . They get more chances than cats 9 lives
Hembree and doolittle and Osich and Fulmer and Brach and Romano and Perez and De Leon and Hendrix literally got a combined 240
Chances. Hembree and Doolittle combined for 90 chances
That doesnt count Hoffmans 24 chances and Garretts 54 chances
ha ha ha ha ha…GO REDS!
Watching Nats/Fish because of my fbb playoffs.
Miami has righty OF Bryan DelaCruz batting 3rd hitting .338. They got him from Houston for reliever Yimi Garcia. Batting cleanup tonite they have lefty Jesus Sanchez (10 hrs in 170 atbats). They got him last year from Tampa for Trevor Richards.
Neither one of those pitchers is that good. What could we get for Gray or Miley in the offseason? I’d take either one of those guys…..especially DelaCruz. Has to be better vs lefties then what we have.
@Indy
I love Sonny Gray and his competiveness but his team control for 22/23 would net a ton( young athletic defensive CF). The Braves(pache drew waters) and Dbacks have elite Young CF and might want pitching as do the Padres- hassell. Angels have brandon Marsh and Jo Adell who arent playing cf over that Trout guy. Ketel marte and byron buxton might be available
Gray is also getting older and isnt dominating into the 8 th inning. He’s 5 and 2/3 …. Maybe .I would keep Miley just because a frustrating soft tossing lefty veteran at $10 mil is a need.
Can you imagine Miley pitching for the Cards against the Reds???
Reds offense is exhibit A why they need to keep him
Sell high on gray and get a CF
There is an old baseball truism. Better to trade a player too soon than too late.
The Reds have two older pitchers in Miley and Gray. Both are good guys and have performed well this season. How many more years do each have?
The Reds do have some talented young starters knocking at the door. This is actually a strength.
And Castillo may soon be too expensive to keep, even though he has had a disappointing 2021 season, when taken as a whole. If he bounces back next year and has a great season, he WILL be too expensive for the Reds to keep. Homer Bailey redux. Let’s not make that mistake again.
There are a couple of options for 3rd Base. Alejo Lopez and Nick Senzel. Senzel may be healthy next spring, and ready to go. 3rd base was his original position.
How you move Suarez AND Moustakas is perplexing. I can’t see Castellini eating those contracts and regarding this as “sunk costs”. That’s not the way he thinks. But he should.
I agree100% and we do have depth in starting pitching.
Agree David. We need to come up with more offense anyway, but especially if Castellanos leaves. Moving a starter (position of strength although you can never have enough pitching) might be our only solution to help the offense. I still have my doubts as to how good Greene and Lodolo will be at the ML level at this point in time, but we are almost forced to gamble because of the terrible contracts of Suarez and Moose.
Try to also sign Marte as a FA.
India was a God send. I can’t imagine they thought Moose could handle 2B. He and Cabrera are too slow to handle 3B/1B much less 2B. like I mentioned a while back. The owner is in the fruit business. He should know better than anyone not to hold on to aged fruit too long.
You don’t have to talk me into it. Gray and Mahle would net us some very nice returns. It makes room for Greene, Lodolo, and Ashcraft to battle for 2 rotation spots next spring. The saved money could go to extending Castellanos!!!
Makes sense. I might hang onto Mahle though.
Brad Brach has been around a number of years. There was a point in the season when the bullpen was at it’s weakest where Brach came through. He’s not needed now but I wish him well
Agree. There was a spell where he was effective. Same for Garrett in previous seasons, but you have to know when it is time to make changes.
It is always tough for someone to lose their job and in this case maybe close the last chapter in a decade long career. However, in Brach’s case, BBRef estimates he will have made just north of $16M in MLB salaries through the end of 2021. So, there is a healthy dose of sugar to help the medicine go down for him.
The guys I always have empathy for are the ones that are done with maybe a million or 2 in career earnings at age 25-30 and are now faced with “the rest of their lives”.
Yeah, that sounds like a lot of money; but, truth is many of their contemporaries are already well into careers that will earn them that and more over time while these guys are starting all over. Even if they have been frugal with the big sums that came their way while playing baseball, it can be a tough road ahead finding the “rest of their life” often with ground to make up gaining experience and education and with bodies worn and torn to be like those of someone 10-15 years older.
Right, while many may not have earned a million by 31, they have prime years ahead and will virtually all do so by 40. Whereas the guys you note don’t have a college degree often times and can cite having a live arm as the primary marketable skill
SFG takes 5 run lead in the first against padres. aside from our best efforts we may enter Tuesday night as WC2
It’s a race to the bottom. Neither the Reds or the Padres are deserving to be in the playoffs. That will likely be evident if either team reaches the playoffs.
I doubt the Cardinals or Phillies are deserving either. It reminds me of 1964 and the Reds surprising win in 1990. Enjoy the WC2 race.
PIT series is CIN’s chance to get hot now.
Barnhart hitting over .300 v. PIT.
India hitting .346 v. PIT.
Farmer hitting .371 v. PIT (.417 at PIT).
Suarez hitting .385 @ PIT.
Moustakas hitting .462 v. PIT (.364 at PIT).
Aquino hitting .429 v. PIT
Wade MIley has a 2.89 ERA with Barnhart as his catcher.
Need all to produce tomorrow and play the game the right way. Be aggressive on the base paths and not one dimensional!
We can only hope
Everyone assumes Casto is going to opt out but not so fast… no one is going to give him a big fat contract because there will likely be no baseball in 2022. He might as well take the guaranteed money he already has coming to him. If they end up playing a partial season he will have to continue to rake for that 2023 contract and no place better for him to rake than our ballpark…
Agree this is possible. I’ve said here before to keep an eye on Castellanos and other Boras clients as the canaries in the coal mine as to what is Boras’ read on the CBA situation.
However, in NC’s case, the bar of $34M remaining guaranteed after this season ($32M in salary+$2M mutual option buyout for 2024 vs $20M salary for 2024) seems low given that 2023 would still only be his age 31 season. Now if that $20M in 2024 was a one way player’s option, the situation would be more interesting.
Also worth noting that per Cot’s contracts NC will get paid $4M in deferred salary from 2020-21 in January of 2022. That money will come to him regardless of the labor situation. Additionally, Castellanos career salary earnings at the end of 2021 show as $50.5M (per BBRef). So, he can probably afford to roll the dice.
Personally, I think the Reds lacking organizational support for the team during 2021 may have done a world of damage with NC in terms of his interest in staying with the Reds at any price.
First, I will be shocked if there is a strike/lock out in 2022.
Second, Nick signed the contract with a player’s option knowing for well the labor agreement ended this year. It was already factored in.
Why did he want the opt out clause?
1. If he had a great year he could opt out and make a lot more money.
2. If he had a bad year he had a guaranteed contract for 2022.
Scenario # 1 has occurred and he stands to benefit from it substantially.
Why did the Cubs and other clear their books of virtually all commitments beyond 2021? MLB recast the entire minor league structure in the last 2 years.
What we know of the initial formal proposal they have made to the players’ association suggests they are intent on fundamentally changing the revenue allocation and salary structure/ contract/ player control system at the MLB level next.
If the two sides come to an agreement that avoids any impediment to the off season and start of the 2023 season, it will require a minor miracle at the least.
The Cubs cleared payroll because they have one the cheapest owners in Sports who is still whining about the cost of renovating his ballpark.
The owners will buckle like they always do. Because not matter how many concessions they make, they still will be making more money faster than it can be printed.
Jim, If there is no 2022 baseball season, I will be more than happy to say you told me so and buy your favorite beverage in 2023.
The CBA ends Dec 1 and I don’t see any sense of urgency on either side in the middle of winter to nudge the needle closer to the middle ground.
I see a cancelled spring training and a delay to the season. Beyond that I dont know but watching the Reds handling of Shogo Akiyama, I ‘ve wondered if they know they wont be paying his full $8 million salray next season due to a labor-related shortened season and Reds also wont be paying the full sticker price on Moose/Suarez/Votto either and so Reds ownership is more than happy to play a shortened season in 2022 knowing the clock is still running on some bad contracts.
If the season is shortened even by 30%, the Reds get to write off 30% of the payroll and they don’t make any money anyway in April/May on attendance Memorial Day anyway.
I don’t get all the Garrett hate in a few of the comments. He was bad to start the year.
But I think Bell has managed him effectively and gotten him in spots to succeed. Going back to June 9: 3.63 ERA / 2.67 FIP. 34 games, 22 IP (being a LOOGY type even with the 3 batter rule), 33 K, 14 BB (high). Only 1 HR given up in that time. Only 5 out of 18 inherited runners have scored.
I can’t speak for others – and I don’t hate AG – but his talk in spring training about being the closer followed by his atrocious start to the year and subsquent complete loss of trust by his manager all during a time when the team desperately needed quality arms and costing the team multiple games……I’d say he’s earned some bad press.
I agree – he certainly set the bar too high for himself, and crashed. But, in a “what have you done for me lately” type of mindset, he’s been fine in the way he’s been used since the second week of June.
“Fine”, as long as he is used in no meaningful spots……which has really hurt the Reds bullpen, who was counting on him to be a late inning/clutch guy. If he had an option left, he wouldn’t be on the team, and I think having him occupy a spot is actually hurting this team…..although it could end up being a good decision if he bounces back next year.
A lot of talent, with trouble finding the plate. He has a habit putting guys on base early in his appearances. Garrett was a big talker, with little to back it up-a big blowhard
That is my take also. I haven’t gotten over that incident against the Cubs.