Ode to the Reds

Poetry from Charlie Scrabbles on Reds Reporter:

When I'm old and gray and I'm telling my grandchildren stories about baseball before the human players were allowed to wear Halo suits and swing bats made of adamantium, I won't tell them about the three game sweep or the playoff no-hitter or the 4-error embarrassment in game 2. I won't tell them any of that. My memories will be the sweet ones, because those are the indelible ones. We won the division for the first time in 15 years. This was the season we finally woke up after sleeping for so long. Rub your eyes and stretch, Reds fans. It's morning.


The end of a baseball season is always disappointing for all but one team. And it seems more sudden and abrupt in baseball perhaps because if you're a diehard fan you're watching your team virtually every day, it's part of your routine and life and then BOOM! it's over.

The Philly series was brutal, but the Reds are loaded with young talent including a sure MVP winner, a pitcher who can bring it 105 MPH, two outfielders who are 5 skill players and a plethora of young arms.

We'll be back.

Originally posted by no1marauder
Poetry from Charlie Scrabbles on Reds Reporter:

When I'm old and gray and I'm telling my grandchildren stories about baseball before the human players were allowed to wear Halo suits and swing bats made of adamantium, I won't tell them about the three game sweep or the playoff no-hitter or the 4-error embarrassment in game 2. I won't tel ...[text shortened]... are 5 skill players and a plethora of young arms.

We'll be back.

You are not alone in your pain! My Rangers are sure to bite the dust tomorrow! At least Reds did not choke!I prefere a sweep rather than a throat holding while you squeeze whimper of a peformance!

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
You are not alone in your pain! My Rangers are sure to bite the dust tomorrow! At least Reds did not choke!I prefere a sweep rather than a throat holding while you squeeze whimper of a peformance!

The interesting thing about the Ranger-Rays series....no home team has won a game yet. The Rays are home team today. Cliff Lee is no cream puff either. Texas has a decent chance.

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
You are not alone in your pain! My Rangers are sure to bite the dust tomorrow! At least Reds did not choke!I prefere a sweep rather than a throat holding while you squeeze whimper of a peformance!

Dude, that's a fair weather fan. They have to win one game with Cliff Lee on the hill on full rest.

CLIFF LEE

The guy who beat the Yankees twice in last year's WS.

Oh, ye of little faith.

Originally posted by no1marauder
Poetry from Charlie Scrabbles on Reds Reporter:

When I'm old and gray and I'm telling my grandchildren stories about baseball before the human players were allowed to wear Halo suits and swing bats made of adamantium, I won't tell them about the three game sweep or the playoff no-hitter or the 4-error embarrassment in game 2. I won't tel are 5 skill players and a plethora of young arms.

We'll be back.

Of course, they will have to take on St. Louis to do it. St. Louis owned the Reds this year, only, they could not seem to beat anyone else. The bottom line is that the Central division is the weakest in the NL, so a don't count on a wild card, winning the division is the ONLY way back.

As for the pitching, I am interested to see what they do with Chapman. Personally, I would groom him as a closer since I don't think Coco will last much longer. Additionally, someone who throws that hard I think should be a closer so as to preserve his arm. And lastly, I think being a closer would help win more games simply because he would be in more games. If he gets good enough, once they have a lead into the 9th inning the game would be over.

As for position players, I worry about Scott Rolan. He simply has not been himself since his injury and he is up in years. Since the All Star break he only hit a hand full of home runs. The scarriest part is how much they have relied on him this year and there is virtually no back up. Also Cabrarra was hurt and getting up in years. This is the life of a small market team. They depend on the aged and very young and hope they both preform. For these reasons, I tend to think that St. Louis has an edge in winning the division next year.

Originally posted by whodey
Of course, they will have to take on St. Louis to do it. St. Louis owned the Reds this year, only, they could not seem to beat anyone else. The bottom line is that the Central division is the weakest in the NL, so a don't count on a wild card, winning the division is the ONLY way back.

As for the pitching, I am interested to see what they do with Chapman ...[text shortened]... r these reasons, I tend to think that St. Louis has an edge in winning the division next year.

So St. Louis is favored over us in 2011 before any changes occur?

Wonder how they possibly finished 5 games behind us this year since they are so obviously superior.

Originally posted by whodey
Of course, they will have to take on St. Louis to do it. St. Louis owned the Reds this year, only, they could not seem to beat anyone else. The bottom line is that the Central division is the weakest in the NL, so a don't count on a wild card, winning the division is the ONLY way back.

As for the pitching, I am interested to see what they do with Chapman r these reasons, I tend to think that St. Louis has an edge in winning the division next year.

if you're going to have any hopes of retaining your fan privileges for next year, you're going to need to look at the bright side like all fans do -- people like Votto, Bruce, and Stubbs are young players who are still on the upside of their careers - should be enough to offset any of Rolen's decline -- and the pitching staff has four starters who are 24 or under, so they're just starting to blossom.

as for Cordero -- he did blow 8 saves last year -- so that shouldn't be too difficult to replace. And Cabrera's .263 batting average with 4 HRs and only 28 walks shouldn't be hard to replace either.

Originally posted by Melanerpes
if you're going to have any hopes of retaining your fan privileges for next year, you're going to need to look at the bright side like all fans do -- people like Votto, Bruce, and Stubbs are young players who are still on the upside of their careers - should be enough to offset any of Rolen's decline -- and the pitching staff has four starters who are 24 ...[text shortened]... 's .263 batting average with 4 HRs and only 28 walks shouldn't be hard to replace either.

Cordero may have blown 8 saves, but we won 4 of those anyway. Which means in games where we gave the ball to Coco in a save situation, we won 44 of 48 or .917 Winning Percentage.

I'm not sure that will be that easy to replace. Cordero is signed through next year at a fairly large salary for a closer so I suspect he'll still be our closer in 2011. We have some other possibilities (though I don't think Chapman is one of them; he was signed to start and would be unhappy otherwise) like Masset, Ondrusek, Smith and perhaps Homer Bailey but we'll probably have to at least start using them in some save situations to see what they can do before anointing them as a sure fire replacement for a guy who's been one of the better closers in MLB for the last 5 years or so (though Cordero certainly had a somewhat down year in 2010 stat wise).

Originally posted by sh76
Dude, that's a fair weather fan. They have to win one game with Cliff Lee on the hill on full rest.

CLIFF LEE

The guy who beat the Yankees twice in last year's WS.

Oh, ye of little faith.

I admit to being a fair weathr fan more than not, but dismal Rangers teams for decades have innoculated us against optimism. I am glad I was wrong and glad Cliff Lee pitched a masterpiece. Should be a good series indeed. Normally I'd be rooting for the Yankees, but not this time! I'm glad you were right andI was wrong!

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
I admit to being a fair weathr fan more than not, but dismal Rangers teams for decades have innoculated us against optimism. I am glad I was wrong and glad Cliff Lee pitched a masterpiece. Should be a good series indeed. Normally I'd be rooting for the Yankees, but not this time! I'm glad you were right andI was wrong!

The shame of it all. You don't deserve to root for the Rangers!! Are you a NATIVE Texan??

Now, stick to the script please. You continue to preach gloom and doom, and the Rangers continue to win. Don't screw it up now and pull a #1 on us. 😛😉

Originally posted by shortcircuit
The shame of it all. You don't deserve to root for the Rangers!! Are you a NATIVE Texan??

Now, stick to the script please. You continue to preach gloom and doom, and the Rangers continue to win. Don't screw it up now and pull a #1 on us. 😛😉

You have to admit that gloom gets colored by past disappointment. Look at the Mavs in 06, up 2-0 then got swept the next four. Look at my poor Cowboys. Texas has taken it in the nose the last few sports outings dating to NCG in January! My only misgiving is that the Rangers don't get to start with their ace and the Evil Empire does. However, if it goes seven games Ciff Lee would pitch game seven at home. Advantage Rangers. Should be a wonderful series indeed! At any rate, instead of chiding e, aren't you glad I was wrong? I know I am!

Originally posted by no1marauder
So St. Louis is favored over us in 2011 before any changes occur?

Wonder how they possibly finished 5 games behind us this year since they are so obviously superior.

As I said, I see players tailing off on the Reds. Rolan simply is not the same player as he was at the beginning of the year. Coco has made appearances interesting pretty much every time he goes out. Cabrerra I think started off good but also tailed off in the end. Then you have the likes of rising stars like Votto. How long can they afford him if they insist on such low payrolls?

Originally posted by whodey
As I said, I see players tailing off on the Reds. Rolan simply is not the same player as he was at the beginning of the year. Coco has made appearances interesting pretty much every time he goes out. Cabrerra I think started off good but also tailed off in the end. Then you have the likes of rising stars like Votto. How long can they afford him if they insist on such low payrolls?

You're light on facts as usual. Cabrera hit .306 in the second half though he did miss most of August. It's unlikely the Reds will pick up his $4 million option anyway which means they'll either stay in house with Janish (a fine fielder who hit much better this year) or one of their Triple A guys who can play SS (Valaika made it to the bigs and played well; Cozart had a good year at Louisville as the main SS and even Todd Frazier is a possibility) or trade (Hanley Ramirez is my choice). Rolen's power tailed off quite a bit in the second half but they have a dynamic hitter in Francisco who should make the big club and spell him more this year.

Jocketty has increased the payroll every year; it was up to $76 in 2010. The Reds will save major cash when they turn down Harang's option ($11 million) and will probably not exercise options on Cabrera and Hernandez which will save them another $5 million. There are a few minor players like Lincoln who earned significant salaries like year who'll be gone as well. So the Reds will have about $20 million to play with in 2011 even if they keep overall payroll steady.

So you can keep being negative and denigrating the team's achievements and future if you want, but I see almost all positives. I think the Cardinals will be chasing us for the next five years or so.