June 18, 2006
Rick White Designated for Assignment
By
Amanda
Posted at 4:10 pm
I was half asleep when George Grande said it, but I'm confident that it was not a dream. Rick White has been designated for assignment. The corresponding roster move has yet to be announced.
That's a start, but it doesn't prove much until they replace him with something good.
UPDATED 4:35 p.m. Marc says that the team is buying the contract of one Jason Standridge to replace Rick White. Standridge is 2-2 with a 2.62 ERA. He's made 29 appearances comprising in 34.1 innings pitched this season with the Louisville Bats. He's struck out 33 and walked 13.
Wow, RHM, you scooped everybody with this one, I can’t find anything about this anywhere else on the Internet.
White was signed as a free agent by Brad Kullman when he was the interim GM between O’Brien and Krivsky. So once again we see that Krivsky has not hesitated to do away with one of someone else’s mistakes.
White had a reputation of letting inherited runners score. Here’s hoping Standridge develops a reputation for the exact opposite, so we can hang the nickname on him that RHM suggested a long time ago – Strandridge.
Seriously, dude, you have one heck of a memory. I haven’t called him “Strandridge” since [url=http://www.red-hot-mama.com/comments.php?id=177_0_1_0_C]August 13, 2005[/url]. That was almost 700 posts ago!
OMG, I knew it was a long time ago, but I didn’t realize it was last season!
I just thought it would be a good nickname for him. I still do. If only he’d earn it by getting guys out, that is.
Hey, I’m just pleased to be so memorable.
Really, it’s weird timing for releasing White. He didn’t pitch today or yesterday. His last outing on Friday he gave up one run in two innings. Before that, he had some three scoreless outings. His game’s been improving lately.
But I think any single move with the bullpen is going to seem pretty futile. The whole damn thing needs blowed up.
Yeah, I agree, it seemed like wierd timing to me, too. What makes it seem like wierd timing to me is that Matt (not Mark, dadgummit!) Belisle is doing his minor-league rehab assignment as we type, and will be ready to come off the DL soon. When he does, somebody’s gotta go bye-bye to make room for Belisle on the 25-man roster. And until today, I thought that might be White, but now I have no idea who gets the axe when Belisle is ready to come back.
Although I suppose if I was Mike Burns, sporting that 10.32 ERA he now has after serving up Jermaine Dye’s three-run dinger in the ninth inning today, I would keep paying the rent on my flat in Louisville for now.
The AP finally picked up the White move, by the way, RHM – more than an hour and a half after you posted it here. 🙂
HMZ
I’d love to see Belisle take McCracken’s roster spot. McCracken hits about as well as a pitcher, doesn’t he?
Believe me, it wouldn’t be like losing a position player…
Nah, Belisle can have a real-live spot in the bullpen. Dewayne Wise ought to be about ready to take over for McCracken.
Wise is getting there. He was promoted from AA Chattanooga on Monday after tearing up the Southern League to the tune of .420/3 HR/7 RBI/11 RS in 13 games for the Lookouts. Upon joining the AAA Louisville Bats he promptly got a pinch-hit single Monday in his only AB against Norfolk, but went 0-for-4 as the starter in center field on Tuesday.
As much as I would have liked to have seen Wise make the Reds in the spring (and he probably would have if he hadn’t gotten hurt), what’s killing the Reds right now isn’t McCracken, it’s middle relief. White pitched himself out of a job, Weathers got his butt handed to him by the Mets and looked as if he’s about to follow Claussen onto the DL, Mercker hasn’t been effective either.
I’m hoping Belisle comes back soon and can pair with Strandridge to give the Reds some solid, effective seventh and eighth innings, so that they can get to the ninth with a lead once in awhile and get Coffey some regular work as the closer. I think the lack of regular work has started to affect Coffey’s performance his last couple of outings.
John (HMZ)