So welcome back, Ramon Hernandez. Knowing Dusty, I imagine you’ll be taking time from productive players like Joey Votto as soon as the next season starts.
Many Reds fans had speculated that the Reds might pursue Dave Duncan, whose contract ends with the St. Louis Cardinals after this season. Of course, the Reds would have to, you know, interview people instead of hiring the first moron who they could lure into Cincinnati.
All I can figure is that with the Arizona Fall League stating, the Reds were going crazy with the idea of not having a pitching coach. I mean, how are the pitchers going know that they’re supposed to throw strikes instead of balls.
The CTS and I are Cincinnati-bound tomorrow to catch the game and the pre-game show. I encourage all the Red Hot Audience to check out the show. It’s not even supposed to be too hot tomorrow.
After a night in the Queen City, we’ll venture to Vivay, Indiana for the Swiss Wine Festival. I have no idea whether it’ll be lame or awesome, but I’m confident it’ll be full of super-sweet Indiana wine. So if you happen to see a couple of Reds fans wandering up the river Sunday afternoon, sticky and loopy on blackberry wine, help a sister out and hook me up with cheese and crackers.
In a move no doubt to help the Cincinnati Reds at their battered catching position, the Reds sent Jerry Hairston, Jr. to the New York Yankees for minor league catcher Chad Weems. With Ramon Hernandez on the DL and Ryan Hanigan day-to-day, this probably had to be done simply to limp to the finish of the season. But it does leave the team even emptier in the outfield.
Plus, you know Dusty Baker had to have a single, solitary tear trail down his cheek. The only way he’d full-out bawl like dealing with Corey Patterson last year would be if golden-child Willy Taveras were traded.
In other, hard-to-deal-with-trade-deadline news, Walt Jocketty acquired his man-crush, Scott Rolen. The Reds had been linked with Rolen for weeks, but I’d kind of hoped it wouldn’t happen. The Reds gave up a lot for an aging, injury prone 3rd basemen: Edwin Encarnación, reliever Josh Roenicke, and pretty good pitching prospect Zach Stewart. Rolen will be a boost in defense over worst 3rd-basemen-I’ve-ever-seen EdE, but the price is steep.
The trade for Rolen has to be for next year. The Reds have zero chance this year. (The only way they have a chance next year is if Baker isn’t the manager. Regardless of off-season acquisitions.) Is the market for competent 3rd basemen really that empty?
We’ll see. Either Jocketty’s gone senile by working on a daily basis with Baker–he did sign Taveras for two years–or he’s simply attempting to rebuild his success with the St. Louis Cardinals. Literally.
On the one hand, shouldn’t the Pirates eventually run out of best players? On the other, this is the exact thing that the team should be doing. They’re not going to have a winning season with McLouth this ear. He had a career year last season. Sure, it as his first real year in the majors, but he’s in his late 20s and likely to regress. Best to replenish the farm system while you can.
And GM Neal Huntington did. Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez, and Jeff Locke all are coming into the Pirates system. Two starters and an outfielder, all young and with some decent upside, is quite a haul. It’s absolutely what the Pirates should be doing, and I’m enjoying watching Huntington move towards ending the Pirates losing.
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I’m late to the party on this, but the Reds and baseball haven’t been occupying my mind too much lately.
After the parade of veterans the Pittsburgh Pirates have sent out over the last few forevers, it shouldn’t have been such a shock to see them ship