Graham Ashcraft pitched into the 9th inning and was charged with a single unearned run as he and Alexis Diaz worked together to shut down the Marlins in a Cincinnati Reds 2-1 win on Tuesday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (42-61) | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Miami Marlins (47-57) | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Ashcraft (5-2) L: Garrett (2-5) SV: Diaz (4) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Cincinnati got the offense rolling in the 1st inning when Nick Senzel doubled, Kyle Farmer was hit by a pitch, and Joey Votto walked with one out to load the bases. Aristides Aquino, just activated from the injured list, came through with a 2-run single to put the Reds ahead. The only other hit that the Reds would get on the night was a 4th inning single by Mark Kolozsvary. The two runs was enough to escape with a win by the thinnest of margins.
The Pitching
Graham Ashcraft looked at what Hunter Greene did on Monday and decided he would try to match him and for all intents and purposes he did just that. He got some help from Aristides Aquino in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Nick Fortes tried to score on a single and Aquino dropped a laser 101 MPH throw from right field to the plate that easily beat him to end the inning.
Miami didn’t get on the board until the 6th inning after Charles Leblanc singled and moved to third on an error by Kyle Farmer before he scored on a sacrifice fly. The run would go down as unearned.
In the 7th inning with the Reds holding onto a 2-1 lead it was a JJ Bleday single that got things started for Miami. He was pinch run for by Billy Hamilton. After a fly out to Nick Senzel, the throw back to the infield short hopped Jonathan India and bounced away from him, allowing Billy Hamilton to grab second base. Hamilton then stole third base to put the tying run 90 feet away, but Ashcraft induced a ground out to end the inning and hold the lead. The big righty then retired the Marlins in order in the bottom of the 8th inning.
With 96 pitches for Ashcraft, David Bell sent him back out to the mound for the 9th inning. Miguel Rojas would fly out to begin the inning but Jesus Aguilar ripped a double into left field to follow, placing the tying run in scoring position. That would be the final pitch of the day for Ashcraft as David Bell went to the mound and called on Alexis Diaz out of the bullpen. Miami pinch ran for Aguilar, and Luke Williams advanced to third base when Lewin Diaz flew out to center. The Marlins called on another pinch hitter as Jacob Stallings came on for Billy Hamilton to face Diaz, and the Reds rookie reliever struck him out to end the game and pick up his 4th save of the year.
Notes Worth Noting
If you need to catch up on all of the trades from today and read all about the four prospects that the Cincinnati Reds aquired, we’ve got you covered over at RedsMinorLeagues.com with 1500+ words covering the background and scouting reports on each guy.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs. Miami Marlins
Wednesday August 3rd, 6:40pm ET
Mike Minor (1-7, 6.31 ERA) vs Sandy Alcantara (9-4, 1.99 ERA)
Bit of a nail-biter, but we pulled it out. Winning is definitely more funner. Much more funner.
Some interesting stats from tonight’s win over the Florida Fishes! Reds pitchers (2) gave up NO WALKS! Yes, none nada, nyet! Amazing! Speaking of amazing, another outstanding pitching performance by Ashcraft! Nice job by Diaz as well. Finally, the Reds won with only 3 hits! Let’s go for the sweep tomorrow!
Lmbo. It’s Minor. Unless Bell pulls him before the 3rd time through the lineup, its 2/3.
and 15 strikeouts
Wonder who the Reds 5th pitcher will be?
In Walked Dunn.
One more thing before this old Reds fan calls it a day! If the Dirty Birds hold on and beat the Cubbies the Reds will finally be in 3rd place in the NL Central Division! This after the horrible 3-22 start!
They are now playing .408 ball for the year. Like you said, after a 3-22 start nice to see them leave the .300 level club.
Reds are unbeaten since trading Castillo and Mahle!
Ashcraft, Diaz, and Aquino tonight. It was enough. It’s amazing how your entire bullpen looks better when your starter pitches DEEP in the game.
When “the bullpen” means Alexis Diaz, it’s going to be a very good bullpen.
For sure.
When do we trade these 3 arms?
The clock is ticking.
You can never be too rich, too thin or have too many shortstops.
Says ownership
@Rcsodak, Says anyone. Give me 8 shortstops on defense any day of the week. Every team would do that if they had 8 quality shortstops. The reason they don’t is because shortstop level athletes who can hit are rare commodities, so they compromise with a slow power hitter on the corners, etc… But make no mistake, they would love to have 5 tool players at every spot (which is what elite shortstops are).
2026
Its a shame our momentum will be ruined by Minor’s typical shellacking tomorrow. Also, who is our 5th starter?
With all the trades, I just hope the Reds have who they want and don’t have to go out and make trades again to get players they need to simply field a team.
For, just from this team right now, with who they lost in the trades, after next season, they are going to need players at 1st, 3rd, and the corner OF’s. And, that’s assuming that Senzel is still in CF and Farmer is at SS. And, that doesn’t include SP and RP.
Where my question would be, “Who do they have for this?” For, if they don’t go out and trade, or sign a FA, I believe they are going to have to do some defensive realignment with all the players they traded for. For, all of these SS, it just won’t work.
Look for more time/inning eaters (wasters) like Pham & Minor
Others have noted that the excess SSs can be moved around the diamond except for P, C and 1b.
Greene. Lodolo and Ashcraft are clearly the first 3 starters from here onward. Lots of chat about if they’ll hit innings limits in a few weeks.
Just looking at the Bats roster, it seems Dunn, Duggar and Williamson will be getting looks soon, and certainly in the spring. Only Dunn is on the 40-man.
Who knows what happens to Minor, or if the pickup another veteran SP over the winter. I’d prefer getting Cueto back, accepting the risk of injury, but his work this year may price him out of their budget.
$10M for a 1-7 6.30 ERA ‘innings eater’ is a pretty stiff price to pay.
I’m not expecting much more out of Dunn.
The Three Young Turks are going to have to shoulder the load.
And they might only have two runs, three hits and two errors to work with.
Ashcroft’s model of no walks is one way to help make that work.
Dunn is borderline pretty good IF he can stay healthy. Of course that’s a big IF, but if they can straighten that out, or convert him to relief he can be useful. Certainly better than most of the end-of-the-roster pitchers they’ve had the past decade or so.
I can take Greene, Lodolo, and Ashcraft as the first 3 starters, AS LONG AS they keep improving. That’s something that impressed me about Mahle. To me, he seemed to get better each year from 2018-2021, from what I could tell. I hope these three can do the same.
Possibly Steer at 3B and either McGarry or Encarncion-Strand at 1B. Get another quality c then Stephenson at 1B
They will make trades, they will sign free agents, and some players will change positions. As many, many others have pointed out, shortstops typically have the athletic ability to play multiple positions.
3B? We have 3M for that.
Don’t look now, but this Reds team is about to get to 3rd place.
Aquino is like the Michael Myers of baseball. Nothing can stop him from returning. Hit .130 with 85% Ks….no problem…lol. Seriously though, I couldn’t believe nobody picked him as a defensive replacement when we put him on waivers earlier. Thats alot of guys failing at their job imo. He’s got tools alright!
Like to see Schrock play alot too. Why not? Not everyone can go 5-5 off a solid vet like Marcus Stroman
I think I read Shrock broke a Kneecap Friday night.
Max Schrock is reportedly injured (knee) and out for 3-4 weeks.
I saw Bell’s original statement that Schrock was “out” for 3-4 weeks revised to the knee would be “immobilized” for 3 to 4 weeks which sounds like the total time out would be longer.
All these short stops are athletic, young and they can play various positions. I think the future with the young pitching and all these athletes is good. The next year or two might be a little down but after that things should be very bright for awhile. However, I do think they will have to find another manager to get the most out of all this young talent. Bell needs to be pushed up into the front office.
Harrison Bader traded to the Yankees. FA in 2023 and lifetime .947 ops in Gabp. I think he’s better then Senzel imo. Could be a Pham/Drury type flip
Great call.
He can grow his hair back then.
Will ownership sell? Where is Bob Castellini?
Are the Reds going to be committed to compete in 2023 or are fans going to have to wait until 2024?
I think Bob Castellini has checked out. Not sure if he has much interest in the Reds these days. The Big question is what happens once Bob goes to the big cabbage patch in the sky?
This ownership group has been reluctant to turn to outside investors in the past. I’m sure Little Phil would love to cash in by selling his father’s shares.
I agree. The team has been positioned for a change in ownership. Phil C. may well just be waiting for his dad to leave this life to do the deed.
The return from the recent trades weighs heavily toward the lower minors, south of AA. All these new “shortstops” are added to a position that was already a position of strength in the Reds upper minors (Barrero at AAA, EDLC, and McClain at AA). Some of these guys are not going to have the offensive tools to transition from shortstop.
Before the team can become a playoff contender, they are going to have to flip some prospect capital for established players or sign free agents to fill some gaps. I don’t see the current ownership being around for that.
I think it is clear they are not intending to compete in 23. It seemed to be obvious when they traded individuals only signed through 2023 and their two largest contracts come of the books in 23 as well. If you thought the Reds were going for anything other than a rebuild in 2023 you haven’t been paying attention.
2023 should be a learning year. Get some younger guys some time on the MLB roster. Figure out what they have, what they don’t have, and address accordingly through free agency or trade for 2024. Depending on the strength of the division you could make the playoffs in 24.
It will be interesting to watch minor league lineups over the remainder of this season. Perhaps we’ll see a couple of SS taking on new positions. I’d be curious to see if EdlC can handle CF and remind old timers of Mickey Mantle, a switch hitting CF who had a decent run.
Bad News. Bin Scully has passed away
CIN will likely have 8 SP’s as part of their 40MR on Opening Day next year. Here are the current and likely 7:
Greene
Ashcraft
Lodolo
Overton
Williamson
Stoudt
Dunn
It’s possible Dunn moves to the pen. Guessing CIN will give him some starts in Aug/Sep to see how he fares as an SP. He has options. I would imagine that Williamson, Stoudt and Dunn make up 3/5 of the AAA LOU Opening Day rotation.
That likely leaves one more SP to obtain over the winter. Enter Castellini and the glued-shut checkbook.
The Bull will have a challenge on salary, but also chemistry. How do you add another SP with a group of SP’s when the oldest guy is Overton (age 28 turning 29).
Without the age gap concern, it’s easy. Sign Johnny Cueto and let him help groom the young corp. That’s what the Big Red Machine would have done. Cueto’s turning 37 though. What more reason to spice things up though?!?
Cueto would bid time for Williamson. It would also make for a good story as Votto and Cueto go out together. They both essentially started their careers in CIN in 2008 (cup of coffee for Votto in 2007).
CIN has quite a few SP’s that they will need to add to the 40MR in Dec 2023 so someone like Cueto makes even more sense. It also adds to the possibility that Dunn shifts to the pen.
In any event, CIN has a young rotation to grow around. If I ever hear a nepotyst with the name Castellini even mentioning the notion of trading one of the young SP’s they are building around because of their arbitration years, I will blow a gasket. All of these guys have many years of control. The years of contention however, are likely tied to their arbitration years.
Thoughts?
i think you will be blowing a gasket next year then Michael. i think all three of our young stud pitchers and Stevenosn and India will be traded soon. It seems like ownership is committed to getting as cheap and young as possible. the crowds have basically been the same this year as last ( about 17.5k/game) . the tv contracts are set, so there is no incentive to really improve from their end. Phill said it best, where else are you going to go?
if the reds trade India, Stevenson, Greene, Lodolo and Ashcraft I know where I’ll go – to the Padres, Twins and Seattle. A trio of teams with former red players with owners who are trying to win.
lol None of those guys are on the trade block any time soon. Sure, most or all will eventually be traded, because that’s baseball economy these days. But not for several years.
He’s just trolling you guys for a reaction. You fell for it.
Maybe the Reds give minor league deals to Dugger(27),Lively(30)and Zeuch(27)to challenge for the 2 available spots with the Reds and they can fill in at Louisville if they don’t make the Reds. Wynne(29) has pitched decently this year and needs to be added to the 40 man roster if they want to keep him. He will be exposed to the rule 5 draft if not added in December. Personally, I don’t think they’ll add him. I think these will be the cheap options of pitchers within our organization. Spiers is a dark horse. Abbott and Phillips may also get late looks in ST, but probably need at least another year and will challenge in ST ‘24. Hoping the pitching draftees can join Dayton and Daytona sometime soon and that some promotions are given. No use having McGuire, Nicolino and Zimmer with their high ERAs taking innings from pitchers that can make better use of time in Louisville. Would rather see Spiers join the starting rotation with Wynne, Dugger, Dunn, Williamson and Zeuch(pitched well today). Since the minors play 6 games a week with a day off every Monday, go with a 6 man rotation to try and control innings pitched if necessary. Nutof, Garcia and Stockton should also be promoted and get some experience at AAA. There are others at Dayton and Daytona that I think should also get promotions and use the last 2 months of this season to evaluate them at a higher level to challenge them. The better prospects should try to play at 2 levels every year. Dayton- Boyle, Roa Cachutt, Benoit and Gayman Daytona- Rivera, Cooper(inj currently), Aguiar, Benschoter, Holt and Boatman imo should move up. Recently acquired Moore to Dayton also.
I’d have Overton, Dunn, Williamson, Abbott, and Phillips fight it out in spring for the final 2 spots. If I was a betting man Overton and Dunn win, and the younger 3 are in AAA developing waiting for their shot.
That said if they bring Cueto back, I’d be very happy, I just don’t see them doing that. I think if they spend it will be on the pen, and the OF, or at least that’s what I’d do.
I am supposed to be happy about these trades but I really am not. I especially feel bad for Joey. he deserves more in 2023 than what he is going to get. could they have waited one more year to go all Tampa Bay Rays on us, geez? with Castillo, Graham, Mahle, Greene and Lidolo as your starting 5 you would think you could make the playoffs. At least give Joey one more moment of glory.
I guess now we have to see if these prospects develop. I don’t trust position player prospects anymore as this is just such a pitching dominated league. they could turn out to be like Stephenson and India or Aquino and Friedl and Fairchild. we just won’t know until they get to Cincinnati. minor league offensive stats mean nothing to me anymore.
Waiting to sell in 2015 is what got us here in the 1st place. Hanging on to guys for too long and squiring 4A guys. They at least did it right this time.
Now we hope they develop and then add (this is the worrisome part).
Having the AS game was great for tge city but IMO hurt the rebuild by trading players to late.
Brad is right. Running a baseball team on sentimentality to make an aging Joey Votto feel late career glory is a terrible idea. Take emotion out of it and build a winner. If you want to feel bad for people, feel bad for young guys who will not get a chance to win if you don’t start the rebuild soon enough.
Joey Votto has been paid well over 200 million dollars in his career to play baseball. So, no, I don’t feel “sorry” for Joey Votto.
As fans, we tend to project our own feelings onto the players, but really, who knows how they really feel?
If Votto was so intent about being on a winning team, he could have waived his “no trade” clause in his contract to be traded to a “winner”.
That doesn’t mean I embrace the way Castellini has run the franchise, because he and his Front Office have made a plethora of mistakes that have betrayed the fans and all his rhetoric when he took over as Management Partner in 2008.
The trading action by the Reds at this Trading Deadline at least gives us some hope that they MIGHT be competitive in the next couple of years.
I wonder who’ll be the next starter up, Dunn is the only healthy pitcher in 40-man roster but his numbers are awful, perhaps they’ll select Williamson instead. They should also select one position player from Barrero, Friedl or Lopez.
I agree about Dunn. I believe we have 2 open roster spots after Stephenson moved to the 60 day IL and Romine added to 40 man roster. I think Williamson added next week instead of in December is an option or maybe giving Dugger or Zeuch a shot and add one of them to start on 8/9. That’s the next day we need a 5th starter because of off day on 8/4. I’m thinking Romine will replace Kolozsvary soon and when Garcia is ready in a week or so, Papierski will also get sent down. We have 6 IFs and 4 OFs currently, so my first guess would be Friedl, then Lopez. Both hit LH and having another LH bat off the bench balances the roster better. DBell loves his matchups. Haha
It’s going to be Barrero, wow!
I have zero interest in seeing Dugger. That doesn’t mean he won’t be put in the rotation.
There is also the possibility that Sanmartin will start; he was a starter before, and could be again down the stretch, as Greene and then Lodolo get innings-limited.
Williamson is having control problems. He’s been walking batters at a crazy rate, 12 in his last 12 innings.
I tell you a guy I would snap up if he gets pushed out in SD is Trent Grisham. Crazy power and bat speed if he puts it together. Hit a laser HR left-center in Petco the other night and you don’t see oppo HRs there that often. He’s only 25
If Mazara can play CF, maybe Grisham moves to the bench. Don’t see the Padres letting him go. He also has options, so maybe sent down to AAA to get steady ABs.
Why did reds keep Solano? Seems they could have got something between Drury and Pham.
Maybe they didn’t get a reasonable offer.
Read on the 23rd that their asking price on Castillo and Solano were both very high (MLB trade rumors citing Bobby Nightengale). I guess they demanded too much for him.
I find it odd they didn’t trade him, but I also guess they couldn’t find the right partner or prospect in return for a rental. So we get the benefit of his bat and such for 2 months. Then he’s likely gone.
The more the young guys play,the more I like it.Time to sort and it’s not about winning.Can only speak for myself but just am tired of losing.We celebrate 3rd place in the worst division in baseball.Krall set the plan to get younger and more athletic.Solano ,Moose,Farmer,Joey and Minor will not get any better and at over 50 mil well we just have to move on
Diaz instead of Strickland in the 9th to close it out. What a concept! Larkin and now Brantley have said, this is the way it should be and I agree. Finally, I said a month ago, the lineup should be India then Senzel. Even Brantley mentioned this last night as well. Utilize who is hot plus speed. Takes Bell forever to see the obvious.
probably because he didn’t have to use Diaz earlier in the game…thank goodness.
Bell uses Diaz to face the tough part of the oppositions order. If that occurs in the 9th fine but if it’s the 7th or 8th I have no issue with how Bell uses him.
The thing is, Strickland can’t get the “easy guys” out. So when that happens in the 9th, the Reds have, at best, only 1 more chance to come back.
Let him pitch the 7th, then they will have 3 more chances to score.
Bell has one good reliever. Diaz can’t pitch in every inning in every game. It’s not Bell’s fault the rest of the bullpen sucks. You guys should read up on leverage index before you start criticizing Bell’s bullpen usage.
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/advanced-stats/leverage-index
It’s not as simple as you are making it out to be. Bell saves Diaz for high leverage situations. He sometimes uses Strickland in the 9th because the 9th inning can have lower leverage situations then say the 7th or 8th inning. He also tends to save Diaz for the heart of the order. It depends on the situation.
Looks like I missed a good one last night. After spending the day focused on the trade deadline, my wife insisted on going out. How fair is that? Hope Barrero plays a lot over the last two months.
He’ll play plenty … in Louisville.
He is being called up for tonight’s game in Miami.
Let’s hope Krall straightened out Bell’s priorities. He said they wanted to see the younger guys. So, let’s see the younger guys. They likely aren’t winning much anyway so who cares. Play for the future. Maybe DFA Moustakas just to get the whale off the roster.
He has no business in the majors.Can’t hit shoddy defense,I’ll take Farmer all day every day until one of the new guys is ready
Last year when he hit 300+ he was considered an elite SS prospect. This year following his injury, he has regressed. Farmer has maxed out what he’s capable of, which is below average performance. He has his days. He’s certainly a gamer. But his errors are up, his range is down, He’s given his best, but the Reds need more to compete in the future. Is it Barrero? Maybe, maybe not. But there’s no shortage of SS candidates in the Reds system. If not Barrero then someone else. But that someone else isn’t Farmer.
burt, you keep showing you don’t know baseball, or haven’t watched Barrero much at all. Shoddy defense is not him at all. He is spectacular at short. I’ve seen him make plays that make your jaw drop. I don’t see how you can watch Farmer and Barrero and think Farmer is better on defense. Even when Farmer wasn’t making errors last year it was clear he had no range and had no business there. This year, he’s making errors to (last night letting a ball go right through his legs is a nice example).
This is his weekly bash-Barrero post…He’ll be back next week and say the same thing. It might be the only thing he posts about.
My biggest question going forward is if they end up spending money to keep all or some of their quality players like India, Stephenson, Lodolo, Greene, etc.
If they don’t do that and they don’t spend any money to supplement the team going forward, then I’m just not sure I can get behind what they are doing. To me, doing it the “Rays way” is more of an excuse and marketing ploy for the Castillinis to not spend money on the team.
Exactly. And on top of that, we’re being asked to hang in there until 2024. Not sure I’ll have many cares to give by then.
You are spot on Jeff. How many times are we suppose to give the Castellini’s the benefit of the doubt? But by all means let’s spend another season in the pumpkin patch and wait for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.
+1000
Barrero should be up here and playing.Krall has laid out a plan which is obvious to me that he wants to get younger more athletic players that can do multiple things to help the Reds win.We can talk all day about Barrero and Aquino and their strikeouts.Talk about them not deserving a chance as we can with Fairchild or Friedl or Fraley.When do we talk about the things they can do like run and field and throw?No issues last night with Solano and India punching out 7 out of 8 times?Aquino last night fanned 3 times yet he was our only offense and our only defense as he drove in both runs and threw a runner out at the plate.We have 50 mil tied up in Moose,Joey,Farmer,Solano and Minor but outside of Joey I am not interested in watching any of them play.
jose barrero should be playing SS with Farmer switching to 3rd base.
makes sense
Well put, RG.
But Bell’s obsession with Farmer won’t yield to allow something sensible like this to take place. Moving Farmer to third and platooning him against lefties makes the most sense.
The Reds ‘traded’ their best hitter and one of their stronger ones.
What we saw last night might be what we see a lot of over the next X years.
Few hits, few runs and in the case of Farmer, continued mediocre defense.
If you’ve got three rookie pitchers and a low scoring team your defense has to be seamless.
I’m okay with Aquino for that reason if he occasionally produces some hits / runs.
I don’t care about the HRs.
But the Reds need to seriously tighten up the IF defense and that means Barrero.
Bell is far too stubborn to make even fundamentally obvious changes unless they are forced upon him by circumstance.
Barrero starting tonight.
What kind of sauce do want with that crow?
I anticipate that Solano and Reynolds are going to be exposed to waivers over the next week or so. Yes, there are no longer “waiver trades” but if someone claims them, they are gone thus saving the Reds salary and opening roster spots. If they are not claimed, they may be released. If they are subsequently signed after being released, the Reds will recover the remaining pro-rated MLB minimum portion of their salary.
Such is the state of the Reds that the 2 roster spots are probably worth more than the 2 players who will be free agents at the season’s end.
Jim Walker, I hope you’re right. You frequently are, though I wish your Rose-Votto comparison had come to fruition. Waiving Moose would be fun as well.
I did not include Kyle Farmer in this speculation because he has value beyond this season from being under team control through the 2024 season.
Farmer and Solano are essentially the same players except Farmer is younger and cheaper than Solano in addition to the team control.
I wouldn’t wave Farmer. He deserves better than that. But Moose? Absolutely. The Reds gave him his long wished for “security” and he didn’t take advantage of it – out of shape, etc. So, eat the salary and move on.
I am not sure what value you speak of. He is a platoon player at best and a below average defender. Listen to the Jim Day podcast and Farmer will tell you if he is traded he is probably a platoon player or utility infielder. This value is not worth $5m American dollars to the Cincinnati Reds.
@DX>Farmer is among the top hitters versus LH pitching in all of baseball. I saw a graphic recently and believe it was top 5. He can play literally anywhere on defense which can save a roster spot for a specialty player.
No doubt he is worth more to a contender than to a team in the Reds situation; but, I suspect if the Reds choose to do so, they can leverage him for a decent return in the off season.
If WAR is used as a primary measure of worth and salary determinant, Farmer is likely worth the $5m per season. I’d think the Reds would hope to sign him for an AAV of slightly than $5m over a 2-3 year term with a little bit of a sweetening option buyout at the back end.
If there was interest in Solano, I suspect he would have been traded. While I follow the logic (perhaps the Reds can save ~$1M if he were claimed), there doesn’t appear to be demand for this to work out as you are suggesting.
As for Reynolds … he’s on a major league minimum. If you cut him and replace him with another player on a minimum salary you’ve just changed who is receiving the money. Since he is out of options, you are paying him and his replacement if he’s not claimed.
Who would replace them? Schrock is injured. I don’t think Friedl or Lopez are better, and at AAA they can play every day which helps them develop if they have more upside.
With Barrero up and Farmer and Solano still on the team, Reynolds is beyond redundant. Give that roster spot to Fairchild and get him involved in the OF rotation. Reynolds will accept the outright and still be available in case of an injury.
I think the Reds guessed wrong on Solano’s market value; but, I suspect he would be snapped up after release for ~$230K MLB minimum. It is not about the money for the Reds in this case, it is about the roster spot(s).
Jim, my preference with Fairchild, Friedl and Lopez is to let them develop in the minors. I anticipate we’re going to see a lot of Fraley, Senzel and Aquino in the outfield. On the infield we’re going to see a lot of Barrero, Farmer, India and Votto. I just don’t see any of our other AAA position players displacing those seven. I also think there’s value in keeping stronger bench players on the roster. We shed a lot of talent in the last few days. As of today, Solano, Reynolds, and Almora are providing value in their bench roles that is beyond what any of the above names has been able to do. The limited playing time hasn’t depressed their output.
Doug, looking at the Reds top 30 minor leaguers, to me looks like some funny figures and other things. One jumped out at me, Edwin Arroyo listed as
B/T S/S. Where does this come from?
Apparently Arroyo is ambidextrous, no kidding.
If you look at his picture on the mlb.com prospect site, you’ll notice he’s in a fielding position with a glove on his left hand so he’ll throw with his right hand. The write-up says he’s also pitched left-handed as an amateur. Here’s a link if you would like to check it out:
https://www.mlb.com/prospects/reds/edwin-arroyo-695490
Nice game!! AA with a big hit and a great throw. Ashcraft with another good start and Diaz with a save.
Incredible throw. Reminds me of Roberto Clemente and Vlad Guerrero.
With Minor facing Alcantra tonight it will take a miracle to sweep the fish .
Did Chuckie and Dugger just get called up? I see there status is changed at the LOU level.
They are on the taxi squad
They are in Miami on the “Taxi Squad”.
A good prospective to keep in mind while waiting for the 2024 World Series
https://www.yahoo.com/news/blackburn-banking-prospects-reds-know-160009794.html
My comment below was supposed to land here in reply to the interesting article you posted.
I really don’t understand constantly comparing this year to the 2015 rebuild. If the Reds waited until next year to trade away Mahle, Castillo, and others then it would be a good comparison. The 2015 model is a great example of how not to rebuild, they weren’t fully committed and then when they finally traded away players it was at the lowest value for whatever AAA talent they could get. This time they traded at peak value for higher quality prospects, who may be higher risk, but have higher ceilings. Guys like Perazza were the headliners back then – a contact hitter with little power whose game was centered around speed, who had been traded multiple times already. He was never going to be more than an average SS with the bat. The guys they are getting now have all star potential. Of course some of them will never make it, but if they end up with two All Stars out of these trades combined with the talent they already have the Reds are in good shape.
Bill, The Reds had a competitive team as recently as last season. They could have added to that team, but they chose to tear it all down once again.
It’s a false dichotomy to say it was a choice between this re-build or the 2015 rebuild. The Reds could have added to the talent they had here already, including probably the pitching staff they have had in my lifetime.
Why anyone would think this organization will act differently in the future just baffles me.
@V4L
The emergence of Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft > Miley and Gray…by MILES
Drury > Suarez. Batting .235
Winker – mostly injured and couldn’t hit lefties. Batting .225
Castellanos who I was a big fan of – Batting .258 with 8 HRs.
Tucker B. – Batting .202
Don’t forget we also aren’t getting the 2021 Votto that was pretty good.
You think you win with those guys and numbers? Come on man!
I want them to aim higher than a .500 team and the 8th seed.
Judging from the daily comments here, I don’t ever recall a time when the fanbase was this down on the franchise. Phil C.’s opening day comments were stunningly bad–out of touch with the fanbase and would have been a fire-able offense for the COO of most organizations. We had a very brief window of competition between rebuild cycles and only managed to taste the briefest of playoff excitement. Yes, most prospects don’t work out, but based on the talent on this team the Reds made the right decision to rebuild.
The article cites the Red’s “penny-pinching” ownership and there’s some truth to that. COVID couldn’t have come at a worse time for a Reds team with a record payroll and operating on a break-even basis. I’m certain, cost-cutting to recoup the losses has played a role in the shortened competitive window. But the Angels sit in one of the top 2 media markets in America with two generational talents on their team. Their free agent acquisitions haven’t delivered–as of today, they are just 2 games better than the Reds. The reality is that neither spending money nor hoarding prospects are risk-free propositions–this article whiffed on the latter aspect.
From my perspective, the most important thing to watch with the Reds moving forward is can they stick with their strategy. They should look to the Cardinals and Brewers for examples of teams that build a foundation with their farm and opportunistically through trades and free agency.
My biggest concern is the current ownership seems to be opportunistic only when it comes to cutting costs and putting more money in their own pockets.
The Forbes annual reports on the Reds tell a different story.
BK, can you clarify because the annual Forbes reports show the Reds making a profit nearly every year for the last 15 years.
Yes, happy to. The annual Forbes reports on MLB show OPERATING PROFIT which excludes significant expenses such as interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Interest and Taxes are actual net cash outflows. Using the Braves public annual report and Forbes data on debt, I can estimate the Reds pay ~$8.5M annually in interest. Taxes likely take a bigger chunk. All reduce a company’s NET INCOME which is its actual bottom-line.
Analysts typically use Operating Income when comparing companies within an industry as a company’s structure (i.e., how much long-term debt and variations in what may be locality driven tax situation) can skew a company’s bottom line. Operating income is a more useful tool for comparing the how the actual operations of a company compare with one another. Once the excluded expenses are considered, the Forbes annual reports very much support that the Reds operate on a break-even basis.
Doug, thanks for calling out Jason Williams at the Enquirer who wants Reds fans to give the Castellinis more credit. Really, the nerve.
I’ll be sure to avoid his articles moving forward.
Doug, thanks for calling out Jason Williams at the Enquirer who wants Reds fans to give the Castellinis more credit. Really, the nerve.
I’ll be sure to avoid his articles moving forward.