All this started when Ryan Madson got hurt. I mean, it's not Madson's fault. But without a "closer" on the roster, one had to be found amongst the possible bullpen candidates. From that group, the most likely choice was the guy who was planned to be the set-up. That was Sean Marshall. But there's been a snag.
Sean Marshall has been pulled twice in favor of a different pitcher in a jam in the 9th inning. Now, to be fair, Marshall has converted 7 of 8 save tries. So, he does the job when he needs to. But I keep going back to the times he was pulled. On May 9th in Milwaukee, with the Reds up 2-0, he gave up a homer to Braun, got 2 outs, then gave up 2 singles and was lifted for Ondrusek, who gave up a walk then got a fly out to end the game. And today with the Reds leading the Yanks 6-3, he gave up a double, a run-scoring single, a strikeout, and 2 more singles that scored another run. On came Arredondo, who got a fielder's choice and a ground out to end the game. So in both situations, it didn't ultimately hurt the team. But clearly Dusty has Marshall on a very short leash.
He as much as said in his post-game comments today that he wants to put Chapman into the closer role. But I have to question the entire idea. If Chapman becomes the closer, you've now taken arguably your most effective pitcher and put him into a situation in which he can only come in during the 9th inning when the team is winning, but not by more than 3 runs. But if you don't want to pin Chapman into that role, then who? Ondrusek, who until recently had not had much trouble, could be the answer. Or perhaps it's Arredondo, who's strikeouts are second only to Chapman's out of the bullpen. Maybe the answer could be rookie JJ Hoover, whose ERA is a paltry 0.96, second again to Chapman. Or heck, why not Sam LeCure or Alfredo Simon, who have been just as dependable out of the bullpen? Or they could just go back to Marshall, and just hope that this was a bump in the road.
But here's what I'm thinking. Why choose? Sure, brand a "closer" if you want. But why limit yourself to the one guy who can come in during the 9th? Sean Marshall is left-handed. Dusty is always talking about "playing the match-ups". Well if Chapman has gone two or three days in a row, but there's a spot in a game in the 7th where it might be good to bring in a lefty. Why hesitate to bring in Marshall, especially when you think one of your righties might get shelled? And if it's a save situation, but Arredondo has had success against the batters coming up, why not send him in over your "closer"?
I know a lot of people put emphasis on stats like saves. But if the team wins, who cares who gets credit for making sure the other team doesn't take the lead in the 9th? I'd imagine you could walk through just about any clubhouse on any level and take a poll, and a majority of the answers would be "If we win, I'm happy". And honestly, isn't that what we all want?
Twitter bio of the day: @jluckhaupt
Today, we go to Joel Luckhaupt. He's another guy you might not have ever seen or heard of before, but if it wasn't for him, your baseball game-viewing might be a lot quieter. That's because Joel is the statistician for the Reds. When Chris Welsh tells you the last time a Reds pitcher struck out 10 batters, Joel found that. When George Grande reminds you of how many home runs Sean Casey had at this point in his career compared to Joey Votto, Joel was all over that.
In addition to stats for the Reds games, Joel also co-wrote the book 'Wire to Wire' chronicling the sensational journey to a World Series victory for the 1990 Reds. On Twitter, Joel always comes at things a bit differently than everyone else, and likes to slide a little snark into his observations, just the way I like it. So if you like to know the stats behind the games, and you like to get it with a little bite, then give Joel a follow.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Worst. Trade. Ever.
Many consider the Frank Robinson trade to be the most lopsided, ignorant trade in Reds history. However, in recent years, some have begun to say that trading Josh Hamilton may have been just as bad or worse.
People on Twitter often point to several issues that suggest it was a worse trade. Here are a few.
People on Twitter often point to several issues that suggest it was a worse trade. Here are a few.
- They suggest that because Edinson Volquez didn't work out here, it was a bad deal. Volquez, in his time in a Reds uniform, went 30-18 with a 4.17 ERA in 4 years. I think the problem that people had with Volquez was that he was never as good as he was in his first season. He had steadily declined as time went on. Was this because NL batters were figuring him out? Was he getting worse? Did the Tommy John surgery mess up his mechanics? Was the pressure getting to him and the behavioral issues he had in Texas crept back up on him? There's really no way to know if any or all of these questions were factors. He's had a 2-2 record in 8 starts for San Diego this season, although 6 of those 8 starts have come in spacious Petco Park. A decent start to the season. So the jury is still out.
- They see the continued lack of a power-hitting left fielder as an indicator of a bad trade. Josh Hamilton played 9 games in left in 2006, while Adam Dunn was still here. Would anyone care to fathom a guess at how many different guys from 2006-2012 have stood in left field? Anyone? Okay. Including Dunn and Hamilton, a total of 25 different men has patrolled the grass behind shortstop and third. Besides Dunn, Gomes in 2010 was the only one to play more than 100 games at left. So, the lack of a solid left-fielder would be a reasonable concern. But one has to wonder, has Dusty given any of them, other than Gomes, a decent chance at doing the job on an everyday basis?
- Obviously, the biggest point they make is that Josh Hamilton has been a 5-tool, All-Star, MVP since going to Texas. With the short porch in right, many suggest he would have had just as much, if not more, success if he had stayed in Cincinnati. I can't disagree with this. But Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs and Joey Votto were on the way up. And Griffey and Dunn were still there. The front office thought they had all the power they needed, and they thought it was time to finally go get some pitching. Hamilton was their biggest bargaining chip. But then the Big Donkey got sent to the desert. The Kid's injury-riddled time in the Queen City got him shipped to the south side of Chicago to DH. Bruce and Stubbs had some trouble, as rookies often do, when they showed up.
So, add all these things up, and I can understand the outrage some people have with the fact that Hamilton was traded away. And I can understand that. But I have to suggest that it had to be this way. Trades are the nature of the beast. More often than not, it works out for one team better than another. I'd imagine the Indians might like to have Brandon Phillips back. But at the time, the trade seemed like it made sense for everyone. And for small-market teams like the Reds, and at the time the Rangers, it's difficult to hang on to a lot of superstars for a long period of time. Hamilton is a free agent at the end of this season. The past two seasons, he's made $12 million. I'm gonna guess he's gonna get Votto/Pujols/A-Rod money from some team very soon.
And obviously, if the Reds had to pay Mr. Hamilton that much money, some combination of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto probably can't stay here too. So while I think that it was a bad trade in retrospect, there was no way to know that then. But every team is a product of all the trades call-ups, send-downs, retirements, and free agent departures that occur. I like this team right now. And I think they have the potential to do well without Hamilton. And if they get better over the next couple of years, and it's partly because of Mat Latos, we can indirectly thank Josh Hamilton for that.
As for Frank Robinson, talk to me again once Hamilton has been retired for 5 years. Then we'll decide which trade was worse for the Reds. Then again, I'm sure there will be some other current trade to complain about by then.
Twitter bio of the day: @thejoshhamilton
What? you thought I was gonna write an entire entry about Josh Hamilton, then make someone else the bio of the day? Well, had I done it any other day but today or yesterday, I would have had to. Josh just got on Twitter yesterday, but he's got over 52,000 followers already. So hurry up and get over there. All the nostalgic kids are doing it.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Return From Hiatus
It's been a long time. How is everyone? Good. Good to hear. Now, since I've been away for a while, my pal Juice has de-followed my blog. So I'm going to try to reel him back in. Let's see how it goes.
Well, first, an over-view of the Big To-Do. It rained the day of the wedding, so the pictures were indoors. I barely ate all day. My bride was stunning. The food was good. The cake looked sweet as hell (cause I designed it myself). The music was jumpin'. I did a sweet move to go under her dress to get the garter. It was met with much acclaim. My friends started a hashtag on Twitter for our wedding (one friend live-tweeted it). It is physically impossible to have fun dancing with your friends and say hi to everyone at the same time. We got to the hotel and crashed. I felt like I hadn't sat down in hours. The next day was full of laundry and packing. We arrived at CVG at 5:30am Monday morning to hit our 7:00am flight. Down to Miami and onto our cruise ship and away we went. The next 5 days were spent eating, sleeping, and laying on beaches. Oh, and on Wednesday we got to watch E.T. on a huge screen. Back to Miami on Saturday morning. A full day of hanging out in airports. A quick stop-over in Chicago, and we were home by 11:30pm Saturday night. And the rest of the time has been spent getting adjusted to normal married life.
Time out! Just remembered. Tuesday in Nassau, I was offered cocaine. It was simultaneously the strangest and most cordial interaction I had the entire trip. As I walked the streets of Nassau to procure more sunscreen, i encountered a man leaning on a fence in front of a taxi stand near the Nassau Hilton. The exchange went a little something like this. And mind you, I never stopped walking.
Dealer: Hey, how's it going?
Me: Good.
Dealer: Hey, you want some blow?
Me: No thanks, I'm good.
Dealer: Ok. Have a nice day.
And that's it. He was the least pushy person on the entire island. So that was fun.
Sooooo, now that you're all caught up, let's do a quick sports round-up of teams that I care about (even if you don't care about them).
REDS- A month into the season, I suppose this is okay. .500 pretty much is the definition of okay. They definitely need to find a way to score more runs. Losing Madson hurt a lot, but I don't think it is totally crippling. Everything I like about Zack Cozart is pretty much everything I hate about Willie Harris. Cozart figures out a way to get on base, plays defense, and he has the one quality that I value a lot, he hustles. No matter what he does, Cozart hustles. Harris needs to figure out how to hustle somehow, or get shipped out when Cairo comes back. I still think this team has a lot of upside if it can get some run support for these pitchers. The bullpen, even without Madson has been stellar.
BENGALS- The draft has come and gone. A lot of pundits have suggested that the Bengals had the best draft of any team this year, and also possiby the best draft the team has ever had. Let me know when that means something. I'll say it was the best draft ever IF half the rookies play and contribute significantly and this team figures out how to win a playoff game. Theoretical championships based on draft grades are just that; theoretical. That being said, I do believe that they have the potential to do well. As it has been the past few years, I think the receiving corps will be dangerous if they stay healthy. I can't wait to see Shipley back. And if they're firing on all cylinders, I think this defensive front seven could be one of the most dangerous in the AFC, if not the entire NFL.
PREDATORS-I'm not a hockey fanatic. But since we don't have a hometown team, a few years back, I just picked one. When it came to picking a hockey team, I wanted one with a cool mascot. I thought the Sharks were the best, but I have a friend who already rooted for the Sharks and I didn't want to be that guy. Plus the Preds are in Nashville, so there's a legitimate chance I could take some time to go see a game there. Unfortunately, the Preds are down 3-1 in the best of seven series to the Coyotes and game five is heading back to Phoenix. It's still possible to come back, but Pekka Rinne is going to have to do a better job at keeping the Coyotes out of the net.
MAGIC- I'm a long-dormant Magic fan. I stopped caring about the NBA for a while. Plus its hard to root for a team that habitually loses in the first round of the playoffs...if they even make it. And I feel bad now backing Dwight Howard, because I didn't realize he was such a dick. But I've rooted for the Magic ever since I had an Orlando Starter jacket when I was eight. I was a big Shaq and Penny Hardaway fan. Plus it's cool cause they're basically as old as I am. And with their 2-point overtime loss to the Pacers, like the Preds, the Magic are trying to stave off elimination at 3-1. The Magic will also have to contend this game away from home court. And without Dwight because of his injury, I can't see them coming all the way back here. But a guy can hope.
PONIES-I'm not big on gambling, but I did get a chance to see the featured race from the Derby. The build-up for the Big Trot seems like the biggest anticipation followed by the most sadness in sports. At least if its the Super Bowl or the World Series, you get some regular season games first. And when its over, you assume that roughly half the people watching are happy.But for the Derby, you wait an entire year for this one race. If they all run, you get 20 ponies and 20 little men sitting astride each one.
The gun goes off. The gates open. And off they go. In the next 2 minutes, a lot of hopes, dreams, and money hangs in the balance. Sometimes your horse gets out well. Sometimes it falls back. Sometimes your horse closes after the final turn. Sometimes it runs out of gas. Hopefully no one spills their Thousand Dollar Mint Julep and no floppy hats blow away. And then, one horse hits the finish by a nose. And a small group of people are elated, throw their hats in the air, and become a little (or possibly a lot) richer. And a very large group of people is pissed off, throws their hats on the ground and walks away a lot poorer. And then, as if the whole thing had never happened, the anticipation begins to build for next year. It's an amazing phenomenon to watch. Especially when you're not betting.
PIGGIES- A different kind of racing went off today. Much like Opening Day, the Flying Pig Marathon is an institution in Cincinnati. My wife is a hardcore runner. I ran track in high school, but doing more than a lap was not my forte. She's been trying to get me to start running again. She has designs of making me a 5K runner. Maybe it'll work out. Mostly I just don't want to get fat. So I give in and run with her. She had issues with some fluid in her knee about two months ago. The doctor said she had to stop running for several weeks and it really threw off her training schedule. She was set to do the entire marathon, but said she'd need to decide when she got to the split-off point whether she'd do the full or the half. She just told me she finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes in the half marathon. I'm very proud of her. I'm always proud of her no matter how she finishes. The fact that she run that far is crazy to me. Maybe soon I'll be doing 5Ks. Maybe I'll just be jogging around the block. We'll see.
More to come, now that I'm back on my digital horse. Luckily, I don't have to wear silk or hit my computer with a riding crop to get something done.
Twitter bio profile of the day: @mjuszak
That's the link to my friend Marc Juszak. You probably wouldn't recognize Marc if you didn't already know him. But without him, you'd get a lot less sports information a day. Marc is one of the producers in the Local 12 sports department, and with Zach Wells, puts together the Sports Authority on Sundays after the 11pm News. Marc's dedication to his job can be seen every day. I can't recall a day in which I've walked into the Sports department that Marc wasn't writing, editing video, or searching for the biggest, most important local and national sports stories of the day.
Marc is an avid Xavier basketball fan. He'll root for the Reds. But sadly, the rest of his allegiances lie in Pittsburgh. He's the resident station Steelers fan, but is still able to be objective in his assessments of all NFL teams. The mark of a true professional. Marc also roots for the Penguins, and will defend Sidney Crosby to his death, even though Crosby is a dirty Canadian. While Marc admits he hasn't seen many movies that aren't comedies, I've attempted to help him broaden his horizons. But if you wanna know anything and everything about sports, Marc is you man. Definitely a quality follow.
Well, first, an over-view of the Big To-Do. It rained the day of the wedding, so the pictures were indoors. I barely ate all day. My bride was stunning. The food was good. The cake looked sweet as hell (cause I designed it myself). The music was jumpin'. I did a sweet move to go under her dress to get the garter. It was met with much acclaim. My friends started a hashtag on Twitter for our wedding (one friend live-tweeted it). It is physically impossible to have fun dancing with your friends and say hi to everyone at the same time. We got to the hotel and crashed. I felt like I hadn't sat down in hours. The next day was full of laundry and packing. We arrived at CVG at 5:30am Monday morning to hit our 7:00am flight. Down to Miami and onto our cruise ship and away we went. The next 5 days were spent eating, sleeping, and laying on beaches. Oh, and on Wednesday we got to watch E.T. on a huge screen. Back to Miami on Saturday morning. A full day of hanging out in airports. A quick stop-over in Chicago, and we were home by 11:30pm Saturday night. And the rest of the time has been spent getting adjusted to normal married life.
Time out! Just remembered. Tuesday in Nassau, I was offered cocaine. It was simultaneously the strangest and most cordial interaction I had the entire trip. As I walked the streets of Nassau to procure more sunscreen, i encountered a man leaning on a fence in front of a taxi stand near the Nassau Hilton. The exchange went a little something like this. And mind you, I never stopped walking.
Dealer: Hey, how's it going?
Me: Good.
Dealer: Hey, you want some blow?
Me: No thanks, I'm good.
Dealer: Ok. Have a nice day.
And that's it. He was the least pushy person on the entire island. So that was fun.
Sooooo, now that you're all caught up, let's do a quick sports round-up of teams that I care about (even if you don't care about them).
REDS- A month into the season, I suppose this is okay. .500 pretty much is the definition of okay. They definitely need to find a way to score more runs. Losing Madson hurt a lot, but I don't think it is totally crippling. Everything I like about Zack Cozart is pretty much everything I hate about Willie Harris. Cozart figures out a way to get on base, plays defense, and he has the one quality that I value a lot, he hustles. No matter what he does, Cozart hustles. Harris needs to figure out how to hustle somehow, or get shipped out when Cairo comes back. I still think this team has a lot of upside if it can get some run support for these pitchers. The bullpen, even without Madson has been stellar.
BENGALS- The draft has come and gone. A lot of pundits have suggested that the Bengals had the best draft of any team this year, and also possiby the best draft the team has ever had. Let me know when that means something. I'll say it was the best draft ever IF half the rookies play and contribute significantly and this team figures out how to win a playoff game. Theoretical championships based on draft grades are just that; theoretical. That being said, I do believe that they have the potential to do well. As it has been the past few years, I think the receiving corps will be dangerous if they stay healthy. I can't wait to see Shipley back. And if they're firing on all cylinders, I think this defensive front seven could be one of the most dangerous in the AFC, if not the entire NFL.
PREDATORS-I'm not a hockey fanatic. But since we don't have a hometown team, a few years back, I just picked one. When it came to picking a hockey team, I wanted one with a cool mascot. I thought the Sharks were the best, but I have a friend who already rooted for the Sharks and I didn't want to be that guy. Plus the Preds are in Nashville, so there's a legitimate chance I could take some time to go see a game there. Unfortunately, the Preds are down 3-1 in the best of seven series to the Coyotes and game five is heading back to Phoenix. It's still possible to come back, but Pekka Rinne is going to have to do a better job at keeping the Coyotes out of the net.
MAGIC- I'm a long-dormant Magic fan. I stopped caring about the NBA for a while. Plus its hard to root for a team that habitually loses in the first round of the playoffs...if they even make it. And I feel bad now backing Dwight Howard, because I didn't realize he was such a dick. But I've rooted for the Magic ever since I had an Orlando Starter jacket when I was eight. I was a big Shaq and Penny Hardaway fan. Plus it's cool cause they're basically as old as I am. And with their 2-point overtime loss to the Pacers, like the Preds, the Magic are trying to stave off elimination at 3-1. The Magic will also have to contend this game away from home court. And without Dwight because of his injury, I can't see them coming all the way back here. But a guy can hope.
PONIES-I'm not big on gambling, but I did get a chance to see the featured race from the Derby. The build-up for the Big Trot seems like the biggest anticipation followed by the most sadness in sports. At least if its the Super Bowl or the World Series, you get some regular season games first. And when its over, you assume that roughly half the people watching are happy.But for the Derby, you wait an entire year for this one race. If they all run, you get 20 ponies and 20 little men sitting astride each one.
The gun goes off. The gates open. And off they go. In the next 2 minutes, a lot of hopes, dreams, and money hangs in the balance. Sometimes your horse gets out well. Sometimes it falls back. Sometimes your horse closes after the final turn. Sometimes it runs out of gas. Hopefully no one spills their Thousand Dollar Mint Julep and no floppy hats blow away. And then, one horse hits the finish by a nose. And a small group of people are elated, throw their hats in the air, and become a little (or possibly a lot) richer. And a very large group of people is pissed off, throws their hats on the ground and walks away a lot poorer. And then, as if the whole thing had never happened, the anticipation begins to build for next year. It's an amazing phenomenon to watch. Especially when you're not betting.
PIGGIES- A different kind of racing went off today. Much like Opening Day, the Flying Pig Marathon is an institution in Cincinnati. My wife is a hardcore runner. I ran track in high school, but doing more than a lap was not my forte. She's been trying to get me to start running again. She has designs of making me a 5K runner. Maybe it'll work out. Mostly I just don't want to get fat. So I give in and run with her. She had issues with some fluid in her knee about two months ago. The doctor said she had to stop running for several weeks and it really threw off her training schedule. She was set to do the entire marathon, but said she'd need to decide when she got to the split-off point whether she'd do the full or the half. She just told me she finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes in the half marathon. I'm very proud of her. I'm always proud of her no matter how she finishes. The fact that she run that far is crazy to me. Maybe soon I'll be doing 5Ks. Maybe I'll just be jogging around the block. We'll see.
More to come, now that I'm back on my digital horse. Luckily, I don't have to wear silk or hit my computer with a riding crop to get something done.
Twitter bio profile of the day: @mjuszak
That's the link to my friend Marc Juszak. You probably wouldn't recognize Marc if you didn't already know him. But without him, you'd get a lot less sports information a day. Marc is one of the producers in the Local 12 sports department, and with Zach Wells, puts together the Sports Authority on Sundays after the 11pm News. Marc's dedication to his job can be seen every day. I can't recall a day in which I've walked into the Sports department that Marc wasn't writing, editing video, or searching for the biggest, most important local and national sports stories of the day.
Marc is an avid Xavier basketball fan. He'll root for the Reds. But sadly, the rest of his allegiances lie in Pittsburgh. He's the resident station Steelers fan, but is still able to be objective in his assessments of all NFL teams. The mark of a true professional. Marc also roots for the Penguins, and will defend Sidney Crosby to his death, even though Crosby is a dirty Canadian. While Marc admits he hasn't seen many movies that aren't comedies, I've attempted to help him broaden his horizons. But if you wanna know anything and everything about sports, Marc is you man. Definitely a quality follow.
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