Wishing for Walt Jocketty
Total speculation: Just because Jocketty won't be the Reds GM doesnt have to mean he won't be here. How about Reds President Walt Jocketty? He could deal with big-picture issues, while allowing W.Krivsky to evaluate talent, something he was trained to do, is comfortable with and, with a few notable exceptions, has been good at here, unless you think Phillips, Hamilton, Burton, Keppinger were bad decisions. Jocketty would come in over Wayne and deal with things like a bigger presence in the Dominican, a better relationship between the front office in Cincinnati and the scouting people in the field etc. His expertise on acquiring useful veterans at decent prices would be invaluable. Just a thought. Otherwise, what I see is Kriv, Griff and Mackanin, not nearly enough new pitching and 78 wins.
Thoughts?
BTW, J. Torre wouldnt be a good fit here, even if he were interested. His strength is dealing with the egos and personalities of veteran players, not pumping up kids.
posted by Paul Daugherty at 8:57 AM
17 Comments:
at 9:35 AM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 10:40 AM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 11:40 AM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 12:01 PM 
Phill said...
-
-
at 3:41 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 3:43 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 4:52 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 10:21 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 10:22 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 10:40 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 9:01 AM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 10:46 AM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 9:41 PM 
bweav said...
-
-
at 12:46 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 4:10 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 7:45 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 12:54 PM 
Anonymous said...
-
-
Post a Comment*My money says that the Reds go the route of least expensive with the greatest chance at a 500 season. The logic will be that 500 looks OK in the Central, so why bust out the big bucks when the town will throw a party for average.
Beyond that, I'm cynical about talking Reds when the playoffs are ongoing. My last memory of them was some player after the last game being excited about hitting his vacation time.
Yeah, sure...he's human, too. But, what I heard was this team saying that they didn't give a rat's rosy Red rump.
One of these years I will not be so pessimistic about the Reds. 2009 with Maloney, Cueto and Bailey to go with Jay Bruce could be exciting. But if we have another year of Gonzo at SS and Ross at Catcher then we're still not trying to win. And it's hard to have enthusiasm for the status quo.
One of the reasons why Jocketty was let go was his inability to make much of a foothold in latin america. I'm not sure why he'd be successful doing that here.
Wait Gonzalez at SS is a bad thing?
He is the best guy defensively on the team that can play shortstop. He hit for above average this season. He could hit for power as well. He doesn't seem to have good plate discipline but frankly when he's hot he's nasty at the plate and truly completes a nasty middle infield combo with BP.
Keppinger can play SS but a short stop he is not. There were a lot of plays that Keppinger couldn't get to that you know A-Gon could've gotten. Keppinger had a scorching hot August, let's not throw a starting job at him yet, let alone a starting job at SS.
Just so it's clear I'm not trying to dog on Keppinger it's just this is the way I see it.
Then again none of the defense matters unless Krivsky can find some pitchers who can keep the other team in the ballpark.
Who really cares? we have the 15th ranked CFB team in the country...baseball seems a solar system away...
Phil,
If you look at the stats Keppinger is better defensively at SS than Gonzalez, Gonzo committed an error approximately once every six games, 16 total. Keppinger had a better zone rating and range factor at SS this season than Gonzo. I think Keppinger's strength--and Hopper's as well--is that both takes pitches on a team none for free swinging. They would be less valuable on a team that was more patient at the plate.
Krivsky's greatest flaw is the PR component to the job. He needs to go to PR school, just not the slick Willie one that Bowden graduated from. Castellini recognizes you cant make chicken salad out of chicken .....unless you buy a new chicken farm....or pithcing staff anyway.
Krivsky has demonstrated a very keen ability to identify young talent ... He has failed at trying to piecemeal a pitching staff with mediocre free agent/waiver acquisitions....but who hasn't?There are two choices...wait till 2009/2010 for the young arms to develop or risk your legacy on a blockbuster trade involving the young talent. Standing pat isnt popular but I challenge the bloggers to find another time in Reds history with such a stockpile of prodigious under-28 talent- Hamilton/ Votto/Bruce/ Bailey/ Cueto/ Burton/Phillips/ Bray and yes....Adam Dunn.
Hey PDaug, why not think large >> JoeT instead of Mack >> can you imagine Joe leaving NY/NY for a one-horse town like Cincy? Just a bad joke.
Have a tough time imagining your man, TonyL, would be interested either. Drunken driving doesn't play well here.
I think Mack did good given the hand he was dealt.
Off topic, but isn't the manager more important?
Paul,
If Joe Torre gets whacked by King George, my money is on Joe making a run at the Reds job. His wife Alice is from the west side and still has her parents & 13 siblings living in Cincy. In fact, Joe & Alice moved to Cincinnat and lived here during the period between when Joe got fired in St. Louis mid-season and then hired by the Yankees.
At this point in his life, family becomes even more important...
I can see it now, Joe becomes manager and then Posada, Pettite, A-Rod, Riviera, Jeter all line up at Castellini's door wanting to play here for Joe...Alright, I am getting a bit carried away BUT do not underestimate the Torre connection to Cincinnati!!!
In 1974 & '75, Bench, Concepcion, Foster, Griffey, Geronimo, Driessen, Gullett & Nolan were all under 28. I'd say that trumps the current group of youngsters.
Paul if you monitor this could you express your views concerning the opinion of Hal McCoy that the Reds should trade Hamilton. From my point of view, I'd much rather see him than either Adam Dung or Gripey Jr. Those two display absolutely no passion for the game anymore. One of the few things that made this last season intersting was following the progress of Hamilton, Keppinger, and to some degree Norris, although his absolute lack of power should let him revert to a back up player.
Hey anon 9:01,the 2 nicknames are neither funny nor original. Sounds like something out of Mo and Gregg, which should be renamed "Namecalling or Character Assassination 101" since its an obvious attempt to mask their inability to discuss the games intelligently. Not sure I agree with Hal's opinion either, but perhaps he feels Hamilton's value is high, amd because of what he put in his body for a few years that he is too prone to injury and sicknesses at such a young age that have landed him on the DL too often already. The only way the Reds will compete in the short term is to trade something of value that other teams covet to get the pitching that they don't have.
I'd take a .501 season next year for starters. Griffey will hit 600 in a Reds uniform, and the Reds can trade him after the break to a contender. Dunn has no business being here next year, period.
Bruce will be up after the break, but sooner than Votto was this year. There's a really nice young nucleus of position players we've got. Pitching is another story of course. Let's go get a legit closer and maybe a third starter if the price is right.
Maloney and Cueto will join Bailey up here during calls ups at the latest.
Happy offseason everyone
PD... Torre made his name by pumping up young kids named Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and Pettite. They all arrived in the majors just about the time Torre arrived in NYC. The past couple years he has again displayed it with Cano and Melky Cabrera staying with them through their struggles.
Joe’s In because his wife’s family is from here. Joe’s Out because his wife’s family is from here. Rotflol!
The doorbell rang one morning at Joe Torre's house. When he opened the door, there was his mother-in-law on the front step.
She said, "Can I stay here for a few days?"
Joe said, "Sure you can." And shut the door in her face.
Good one, 4:10 - I can use that!
No Pete Mack? Which of the options will tell Griff he's going to be double switch whenever he thinks it's a good idea and tell Dunn, he's getting subbed in a late close game because he's a crummy fielder?
I'm guessing none of them.
Keep Bruce, Votto, Keppinger, Hamilton,.....all the young STUDS.
Get rid of Jr. and Dunn. Yes, they hit home runs...so will the other young guys, who will be in the lineup every day, and will hustle to every ball, and will steal bases.
Repeat after me.....re-tool with young hungry players...get rid of old, complacent big contract boys....
Re-tool with young hungry players....
* Our online blogs currently are hosted and operated by a third party, namely, Blogger.com. You are now leaving the Cincinnati.Com website and will be linked to Blogger.com's registration page. The Blogger.com site and its associated services are not controlled by Cincinnati.Com and different terms of use and privacy policy will apply to your use of the Blogger.com site and services.
By proceeding and/or registering with Blogger.com you agree and understand that Cincinnati.Com is not responsible for the Blogger.com site you are about to access or for any service you may use while on the Blogger.com site. << Home