You know who I really hate?
By
Geki
Posted at 1:49 am
Rich Aurilia. The man does not have one redeeming quality. He's incredibly arrogant and seemingly unaware of the fact that he sucks at baseball. His range in the field rivals that of Sean Casey. He's completely unable to hit outside of GAB. He steals playing time from not one, not two, but three more deserving players. Oh, and yes, his goatee looks stupid. Seriously, take a look at his home/road split from last year.
Home: .332/.380/.561
Road: .231/.296/.321
Now, a discrepancy between the home and road numbers of a player is pretty common, but Aurilia's OPS is 320 points lower when he leaves Great American. His road numbers would make Tony Womack proud.
Oh, and speaking of Tony Womack, it's already looking like he's come in with that same sense of entitlement that Aurilia seems to have. There's only one real difference I can see between the two: Tony Womack won't be able to hit at home, either.
All my anguish traces back to Dan O'Brien. I shall hunt him down and I shall throw heavy objects at him until he points his finger at me and says “Negatory”. Then I'll call him a douchebag and go cry, thinking about how good of a job he did at making the team worse.
Which Reds personnel or former Reds personnel do you hate with an undying, burning passion that will never be quenched?
Hmmm… yea, I disagree. Aurilia is a solid veteran. He hit 37 home runs for the Giants a few years ago, so he can hit outside of GABP. He was one of our clutchest hitters last year, driving in runners in scoring position. Since he is a bench player I am not sure whose playing time he is cutting into, but if you are talking about Bergolla he is not major league ready by any stretch of the imagination. Yea, I like Ray-Ray but his average plummeted last year so clearly he is not a starter either.
How can you possibly be critical of O’Brien? He got Aurilia for a song — the major league minimum, and it added veteran insurance in case Felipe wasn’t ready yet. Possibly Aurilia’s presence brought out the best in Felipe who was forced to win that job at SS.
As for Womack… another bargain basement signing. Yanks wanted to unload him and do you have any doubts whatsoever the Cardinals wouldn’t have brought him back into their fold if we didn’t get him first? Sure Womack’s OBP is ugly, but he is fast and reliable with the leather. This is baseball. Sense of entitlement? All he said is that he wants to win a starting job. Everyone on every baseball team should have that attitude or they don’t belong in the major leagues. Womack would have to have a spectacular spring to win a starting job, and if he can do that than he deserves some playing time. I have faith Narron can manage the egos and put the best team on the field. Freel, when healthy, will be in the lineup — rest assured.
[em][Comment removed by RHM.][/em]
Dammit, Geki, what are you doing? You know I can’t let a comment like that stay up.
Ahem. This is a little awkward.
Hey what happened,,,,did I get told off? I don’t need moderator protection…. BRING IT!
But…but…he somehow thinks Aurilia and Womack are good players acquired by a good GM in Dan O’Brien. When, in fact, Aurilia can’t hit outside of GAB when he doesn’t have his steroids, Womack is coming off one of the worst seasons ever had by anyone, and O’Brien was the worst GM in baseball for 2 years. You can’t defend any of those three and not have me be very mean to you. 🙁
Well, I *like* Aurilia. When he goes to the plate in a critical situation, he’s not going to sit there and stare at close balls and storm off in a huff when he’s called out on strikes.
Aurilia, fresh of the coast where it’s normal for people to speak up, said like ONE thing last season about playing time and was immediately branded as some kind of whiner. This year, he’s adjusted to this Ohioan ideal of sitting down and shutting up and has been perfectly willing to quietly play wherever they put him. Funny how no one seems to notice that part, though.
Plus, his wife has always been real nice to me.
Person I couldn’t stand: D’Angelo Jimenez. Talk about a sense of entitlement.
Yeah, Aurilia’s going to swing at close balls and storm off in a huff when he pops out no matter what the situation because he’s always swinging for the fences. He whined about Felipe taking his job. He whined about not starting at 2B everyday. He whined about not getting traded when there was absolutely no interest in him from anyone. Now he’s probably gonna be our starting second baseman this year, all because his washed up career becomes rejuvenated when he hits at GAB.
You can’t blame Rich for being our starting second baseman this year because 1) it hasn’t happened yet, 2) it wouldn’t be his call even if it did happen, 3) maybe he’d be the best man for the job.
Even you admit he can hit at GABP.
Womack just didn’t mesh in NY which is a ruthless marketplace. If you are not a future hall-of-famer you are in big trouble playing in the Bronx. I am not a huge Womack fan, but he did have a career year in 04 and was instrumental in the Cards winning the division. All I am saying is I am glad he is not right back in a Cards uniform for just 800K. I fully expect Grudzilanek to get hurt as has happened thoroughout his career, and then the Cards are stuck with a journeyman in the lineup. He can still run, so I don’t see any problem with having him aboard for just 800K.
As for Aurilia, yea I agree those splits are disappointing, but I think we will see more consistent performance this year. even if he still plays way better at home, it makes it a lot easier to decide when to play him. I don’t think he is a starter.. he is just insurance in case Encarnacion falters or someone gets hurt. He came through in a lot of clutch situations, so it gives Narron another option off the bench.
If you are going to ridicule O’Brien it should be about the state of the pitching staff, not veteran bench players. The bench has actually been a strength the past couple of years.
Womack makes $2 million and the Reds are paying him $1.1 million of that with the Yankees chipping in $900K. Not to mention the fact that the Reds gave up 2 minor leaguers to get him. Granted they aren’t huge prospects, but in a system void of prospects, Kevin Howard could have at least been a contributor in 2007.
I would much rather the Cardinals had Womack than the Reds, that’s how bad he is. His 2004 season was nothing more than a fluke for him, and even at that, he was still less than an average player. And it wasn’t just with the Yankees that he was bad. His 2003 season with Arizona, Colorado, and the Cubs was worse than 2005. I’m sorry, but I can’t find any reason to be happy to have him on the roster taking at bats away from anybody.
Geki already pointed out the multiple instances of Aurilia’s “veteran leadership.” However, I’m not upset about having him around in a bench role. He’s at least a little better than your average replacement player and the Reds aren’t breaking the bank to keep him. And if he accepts a back-up, security blanket role, then all the better.
One more thing on Aurilia, the problem is not that he plays better at home. Several Reds had some decent sized home-road splits in 2005 and his numbers at home in 2005 were quite good (.941 OPS). I would be happy if he did that again in ’06. The problem is that he was terrible on the road in 2005 (.622 OPS). And given the numbers that he put up the two seasons prior, I’m afraid that we might see a big drop off in his home numbers but not a big improvement in his road numbers. Hopefully, I’m wrong.
“His 2004 season was nothing more than a fluke for him, and even at that, he was still less than an average player. ”
But but … he hit .300! How could he have been less than average if he hit .300?!? Hell, he stole 26 bases too, he does it all.
Answer me this Joel. When’s the last time your man-God Adam Dunn hit .300? Huh? Answer that. Yeah.
Kevin Howard would not be a contributor, because we have Adam Dunn at 1B and a ton of outfielders. The Reds already left Howard unprotected for the Rule 5 draft so they obviously saw no future for him in the Reds organization, and no one is predicting he will be much of a player at any point. Who was the other guy we gave the Yanks? You are right 1.1M instead of 800K — still chicken feed for a player capable of playing every day and with the rare commodity of basestealing ability. I do not want him at the top of the Cardinals lineup batting .300 and stealing 30 bases, I can tell you that much. Even if he only batted .280 it is still a better leadoff option that David Eckstein. Also LaRussa for whatever reason gets that maximum ability from his players. I could easily see Womack returning to 2004 form if he was back in St. Louis.
[b]Kevin Howard would not be a contributor, because we have Adam Dunn at 1B and a ton of outfielders.[/b]
Kevin Howard plays 2B, I don’t know what Dunn or the outfielders have to do with him. For a middle infielder, Howard could end up being a decent hitter. I don’t know if he’ll be an everyday player anywhere, but he could hit well enough to play a backup role in a year or so. He’s improved at every level and even showed a little bit of power last year in Chattanooga and the AFL.
[b]The Reds already left Howard unprotected for the Rule 5 draft so they obviously saw no future for him in the Reds organization[/b]
I think that is as much of an indictment against the Reds as it is of Howard. Howard isn’t going to be a star, but at least he has some possibility of contributing in the next 2 years.
[b]Who was the other guy we gave the Yanks?[/b]
Ben Himes was the other player, an outfielder that was stuck in Single-A. No big loss, outside of using 2 players to get Womack.
[b]You are right 1.1M instead of 800K — still chicken feed for a player capable of playing every day and with the rare commodity of basestealing ability.[/b]
First of all, I think it’s funny that there is a game show on NBC where contestants are overjoyed at the possibility of winning a million dollars, but paying one of the 10 worst hitters in the league that much money is considered chicken feed. I know baseball is a different market, I just thought that was funny.
As for Womack’s rare commodity, they already had that in Ryan Freel. But the thing is, Freel has actually shown an ability to get on base, something Womack has never done well. And I hate to say it, because it has been said ad naseum since Womack was acquired, but you can’t still first base. It’s almost as if that statement was invented for Tony.
[b]I do not want him at the top of the Cardinals lineup batting .300 and stealing 30 bases, I can tell you that much.[/b]
I wouldn’t worry about that. The guy has only batted over .282 once in his career and he hasn’t stolen 30 bases since 2000, when he was 30 years old.
[b]Even if he only batted .280 it is still a better leadoff option that David Eckstein.[/b]
I can’t stand Eckstein, but I would take him and his career .351 OBP over Tony Womack and his .316 career OBP any day of the week. Of course, I’d take Ryan Freel over both of them. If only the Reds had a player like Ryan Freel to play every day.
Oh, and JD, Dunn batted .329 in Louisville in 2001. Just sayin’.
Well played Mr. Luckhaupt, well played.
Hmmm you make some good points. But if Freel goes down we have no speed. Zilch. Except for Womack. And Freel has proven that he cannot play 162 games. Maybe not even 140 games. So Womack is a good back up plan for 1.1M. Not to mention that Freel is great wherever you put him so why stick him at 2B? His versatility is what makes him valuable and I like the way the Reds plan to move him around as needed. I think he is probably the best CF defensively on th team.
Anyhow, what’s done is done. This is our hand and now we shall see how it plays out. My point of all of this is that it is detrimental to sit here and criticize our offseson acquisitions/re-signings before they even play 1 game. I know 5 years of losing breeds pessimism, but can we watch some games before we start the scapegoating and name calling?
[quote]Dunn batted .329 in Louisville in 2001. Just sayin’.[/quote]Which marks the [i]last[/i] time Dunn’s batting average was higher than his weight.
In the post that started this all, Geki wrote:
“Which Reds personnel or former Reds personnel do you hate with an undying, burning passion that will never be quenched?”
So now to get back on topic…my answer is: Ex-Reds GM Dick Wagner, for letting Pete Rose get away to Montreal as a free agent, and even more, for firing Sparky Anderson.
HMZ
[i]O’Brien was the worst GM in baseball for 2 years. [/i]
Nope, that honor still goes to Bowden, even when he wasn’t GMing. At least O’Brien didn’t sign Soriwhino when he had an all-star second basemen who is committed to his team.
Agree about Dick Wagner.
I hated Guillen when he was on the Reds. Now that he’s grown up and he plays for the Nats, I love him. I just couldn’t stand how he thought he should have been playing before Griffey.
Jimenez was pretty much a jerk. Good riddance.
Bowden didn’t sign Soriano, he traded Brad Wilkerson and Termell Sledge for him. Incidentally, both would probably be better as leftfielders.
Yea Bowden is way to quick to pull the trigger and disrupt team chemistry… he may get some quick instant fan excitement, but in the long run I have to believe he is going to wear out his welcome in Washington. I am happy that O’Brien was not trade happy…. he kept the core of the team in tact. The Milton debacle was his undoing… and yea I am not sure what he ever saw in Jiminez but at least we easily replaced him.