Rejuvinating the Great Red Machine

[jaykno14]

With the inspiration of cknox's The Pale Hose, I have decided to do a similar dynasty. I simulated the first two years (2005 and 2006) and found the worst team available. The Cincinatti Reds. The MLB was not very dominant this year (The Empire shudders as I speak) and there was only one team under 70 wins. That was the White Sox. I could never take over them. So let's get on with the friggin show!




PS This may be the end of my Milwaukee Brewers dynasty. I just don't have fun writing it any more to tell the truth. I am hoping this dynasty is different and I can continue it.

[jaykno14]

The first thing is first. I have to figure out who all is on this team. I look the team over in five minutes and recognize about 25% of the names. Then I look over at the payroll and expect to see something one millionth of the Evil Empire's. 56,490,014. What the hell was past management thinking spending this much money on useless crap. The pitching staff would only be the beginning.

You have to get the feeling that when your staff is anchored by none other than Eric Milton (GULP), you aren't in very good shape. The 31 year old starting pitcher has been getting $8 million a year for the past two years. If I could decide I wouldn't even spend half of what he is getting. Luckily only two more years of that big hunk taking up my precious payroll. At the most. I could just put the guy on waivers and pray to god that he is taken out of my hands. Its like having the maid in a card game of "Old Maid". When you get the old hag you just pray that someone will take it out of your hands. I haven't played that game in years. Any way back on track. Milton is 17-23 with the Reds which isn't even near as well as he should be playing with that salary. If you think that he has a good ERA. Your wrong. His earned run average of 4.43 isn't horrible, but when making $8 mil a year that should be cut in half. I decide to pull out the old scouting report on this guy. "Eric Milton is really in a class by himself. He puts his team in a position to win every time out. Truly a dominator." Gag. I don't know what this scout is getting paid, but remind me to later in the off season, to fire his ass. The bottom line is, at best Milton is a 4 or 5 starter and I don't want to be spending that much money on a bottom of the rotation starter.

Next in line of these "truly dominating pitchers" is Shawn Chacon. Yes the old closer from Colorado. When did he become a starter again? I forgot. Anyway, he is still only 28 years old and had the best year out of any pitcher on our staff. Also, more importantly he is making a quarter of what Milton is making at $2,350,000 year, BUT we can expect a decent raise since this is the year his contract is up. Damn. We'll see what he asks for and if it is something reasonable he will remain a Red. His line of 11-8 is the best on the staff (as mentioned above). He had a 3.86 earned run average and a reasonable 1.23 WHIP. He was acquired from Colorado just before the trading deadline in 2005. That year between Colorado and Cinci, he had a 5.55 earned run average. I think the lack of thin air suites him well here in Cincinatti. For the record, in that trade we gave away Mike Hampton, who by the way was pleased to be heading back to Colorado *sarcasm*, and Brandon Kawakimi. Anyway, Chacon could be my staff ace in 2007, but we'll see what trades or free agency bring us.

The third pitcher is Horacio Ramirez. This 26 year old is a lefty and after having a very good year in 2005 with the Braves, but he struggled in 2006. I seem to like this guy and so does my scout. (Wow maybe this scout isn't so bad after all--he is still being fired.) In 2005 he was selected to the All-Star game and was 13-2. He had an earned run average of 2.84 and a 1.11 WHIP. Opponents only batted .218 against him. In 2006, he came back down to earth and had a 9-12 record. Not bad you say? I agree. He had an earned run average of 4.40 and a WHIP of 1.36, which isn't horrible. He even hit a home run for us! Bonus! Wait never mind that was for the Braves. :-( He was traded for Jon Garland who was then traded back to us for Phil Dumatrait. He is arbitration eligible this year and I don't expect him to get too much. He is telling me that he wants to test the market because he is in his prime. I think I'll just leave it up to the arbitrator to figure out how much he gets.

The next hurler for your Red Machine is Jon Garland. Now, before I tell you his stats, let me say that this guy has had to go through a lot of real estate over the past year moving from three different teams, in a span of 12 months, so cut the guy some slack. Nah. This 27 year old started out with The Pale Hose last summer and then was traded at the deadline to the Red Machine. This past deadline (July 20) he was traded to the the Braves for Ramirez. Four days later, he was traded back to Cinci for Todd Dumatrait. Talk about non stop moving. YIKES! Anyway, he is earning $2,300,000 a year, but is due for a contract extension this year. He says that he wants to test the market, but instead I offer him $2,800,000 for three years because he has a hell of a sinker. No I didn't listen to the scout I have seen it. The past year wasn't too good for the transporter with a 4.79 era and a 9-13 record. Maybe the moving did get to him and now that he is settled down he will win 15 games for me. Wishful thinking on my part. This guy is a good pitcher to have in the bottom of the rotation.

The fifth, and final starting pitcher, is named Brian Cooper, who is 32. Up till now I haven't ever heard about the guy. He was signed by us in July of 2005 for a minor league contract after appearing in brief stints with The Pale Hose and Giants, before being release by them. This past summer he appeared in 30 games (all starting) and actually did really well. He was 9-11 with a 4.81 ERA which I will take any day from my fifth starter. He will compete for a rotation job again next spring and if worse comes to worse he'll appear in the bullpen. The thing I like most about this guy is that he has fantastic control and great movement, which are two things I look for in a pitcher.

[jaykno14]

Now onto the farm system which is full of promising young pitchers that could someday become coaches and lead my future stars to something that 75% of them won't get. A call up to the Big Leagues. Unless the lord is on their side and half our pitching staff gets injured they will never get a call up to the Bigs. It goes to show you how good my young pitching is when you consider that we are the 27th ranked minor league system and we don't even have a starting pitcher in our top ten prospects. Just think about that. Yikes.

Any way the leader and general for this bunch is a young feller named Jose Guevara, who is 24. Now this guy actually has some potential, but not in my eyes. My number one stat (or quality) in a pitcher is thier control. This guy's cotrol is awful. For all you math whizes out their tell me the ratio of 104 K's over 76 walks. Hah beat you to it. It is just a little over one or 1.36. So that means that if this guy was to strike out five guys in a game, this ratio tells me that he would walk four or five guys. (Vomit all over the place now.) No. Not on my team. We will try to trade this guy for some prospects or maybe even that plasma T.V. that I have wanted forever. Anyway, in AAA he was 9-10 with a 5.55 ERA. Opponents had 173 hits on him in just 153 IP. Not a good stat to go along with his poor control. Sorry bud, but I wish you well on the rest of your career. In AAA. The talent of this guy is outstanding compared to the next couple guys I am going to name off.

Chad Oram was a fourth round draftpick in 2005. He actually had really decent stats at AA going 10-7 with a 4.34 ERA. Then this year he got called up to AAA and struggled. He started three games going 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA. His talent rating tell me he has O.K. potential, but he won't ever be anything spectacular. His age of 25 years old is beginning to tell me that maybe he doesn't have what it takes to succeed in the big leagues. We'll keep him on the roster and give him an invite to spring training this year and see how he does.

The third and final pitcher at AAA is named Jose Tavarez. He was drafted in the sixth round of the draft last year and is 25 years old. Like Oram, he did well in AA, but got called up to AAA and struggled. In AA he was 3-3 in 9 starts with a 3.48 ERA. He then got called up to AAA and didn't do as well. At AAA Louisville this year he was 5-8 with a 7.56 ERA. Opponents hit an astounding .336 off of him. Tavarez could possibly mount out to something if a lot goes his way, but I don't see that happening to him. Like Oram, time is running out for him.

The rest of the minor leages don't offer much and so sorrily to say, it doesn't look as if we have that future and much needed ace on the horizon for The Red Machine.

[jaykno14]

Surprisingly enough, your Red Machine isn't to bad in this category of the many positions in baseball. Out of the six guys that are in the active bullpen, three of them have ERA's under 4. I decide to take a look at the age of the five guys on the active staff (the sixth guy Joe Valentin, our closer, is injured), and am happy to see that there is only one guy that is over the age of thirty, but, and this is a big but, that one guy is earning $9.5 million f*cking dollars a year. (Jaw drop) How the HELL, could anyone managing a baseball team spend almost $10 million on a friggin relief pitcher who isn't even that good. Scott Eyre. Must be thinkin' he is hot stuff right now with that much money. Sorry man but you ain't gonna last more than a week on my team with that kind of salary. Anyway, on with the show.

As mentioned above, our oldest AND richest relief pitcher is Scott Eyre who is 34. Our genious owner before me decided to sign him to a four year contract that is worth $9.5 million a year. What an idiot. I have no clue what he was on that day, but it had to be something pretty strong. Scott Eyre isn't even that good of reliever. He had a 3.95 ERA and was 6-5 this past year. In fact, the year before that he was even worse with a 5.55 ERA with the Giants. What was this owner THINKING?! I then decided to take a look at his scouting report (beware) and see what my friend "The Scout", thinks of him. I then figure out why he was signed to such a big deal. "He is an intimidating reliever!" I laugh and decide not to even finish reading the rest of the report has to say about him. I decide to place him on the waiver wire and pray that he is taken off my hands.

The next reliever is a 29 year old named Luke Henson. This is the first time I ever see this name so I decide to take a look at his profile. Thanking the lord, I see he is only earning $300,000 a year. This past year he appeared in 38 games going 0-3 with a 3.77 ERA. He can pitch up to 94 miles an hour and will make a good middle reliever for me next year. This is the kind of guy I want for my bullpen. Someone that won't take up too much payroll space and is serviceable. Not some 34 year old washed out veteran making almost $10 million.

I look at the next reliever and it is another guy I have never heard of. His name is Orber Moreno and he is 29 years old. He was signed at the beginning of this season after spending the last two seasons with the Mets. Not to my pleasure, he is making a million and a half dollars a year for this year. I decide to offer him a contract and see what he wants. Two and a half million dollars. No way. You can try to get that from some other team who is willing to spend that on an average middle reliever. I will briefly give you his stats. He hade a 6.75 ERA. Done. Over with. Good Bye.

Dave Riske is our second guy who has an ERA over 3. But, he actually has potential, unlike Moreno. After spending 5 seasons with the Indians, he was picked up off waivers by Milwaukee last year and then we picked him off waivers. With all the moving, he struggled with a 5.85 ERA and a 5-5 record. He has shown that he can be a true bullpen ace but in the last two years he has a combined ERA of 5.83. We will give him one more year and if he doesn't succeed, then he will be placed on waivers or released from his 3 year contract that is worth $1.5 million.

The fifth and final reliever out of our bullpen is Ryan Wagner. Out of all the guys on my staff, Wagner in my eyes has the brightest future. He is 24 years old and has the talents of a future closer for my staff. This year as a setup man, Wagner was 3-4 with one save and a 3.57 ERA. He is making $300,000 this year and is eligible for arbritration. His fastball touches 99 miles per hour and he is a ground ball pitcher. Truly everything that I look for in a pitcher. Oh and I almost forgot he has above average control which is also a plus for a pitcher with that kind of velocity.

The closer for the 2006 Machine was Joe Valentin and don't ask me who the hell he is. All I can tell you is that he is 26 years old and has all the makings for a set up man not a closer. With him and Wagner in red over the next 5-7 years I think you won't see very many leads given up. The past year, Valentin struggled as a closer with a 5.13 ERA. He did manage to get 27 saves but also blew nine games. (eek!) He is also eligible for arbitration and I will give you his arbitration numbers when my money guy gives them to me.

In the minors, we are stacked with relievers and I would be up all night if I told you them all. In AAA we have former St. Louis prospect Rick Ankiel. One of the few smart things the past management did with him was make him a reliever and he responded well with a 2.63 ERA. He will make $940,000 over the next three years which is reasonable enough for me and he will take the place of veteran and rich guy Scott Eyre. Ankiel can pitch two or three innings at a time which is a bonus in a relief pitcher. His control is the only downfall but it is average and won't hurt him too much. The 26 year old had an above average 1.27 WHIP in AAA.

David Bailey is 20 years old and was a former starter but is now a reliever. In AAA last year, he had a 7.04 ERA, but my gut feeling is giving me the indication not to give up on him so I sign him to a one year deal worth $600,000. He will be invited to spring training this year but will most likely remain in AAA to work as a reliever some more.

Bob Hollingsworth is a 24 year old reliever who was drafted in the fourth round in 2005 by Philadelphia. He was released and this year we picked him up to for depth. He appeared in 24 games at AAA and had a 3.71 ERA and was 1-0. He pitched 50 innings so he pitched just a little over 2 innings an outing which shows me that he has very good endurance.

Also in AAA we have 26 year oldDavid Mattox and 31 year old closer Jason Middlebrook who are both going to be career AAAer's.

In AA we have one notable reliever who is Bubba Nelson. He is 22 years old and probably will be at AAA next year to start the season. He had an ERA of 3.55 and even started 9 games but appeared to be best at reliever. He has very good talent ratings which project him to be an above average middle reliever.

In A we have a bunch of 20-24 year olds who can't make it out of there and probably never will.

All in all, I wasn't too displeased with our relievers. Once we get rid of Scott Eyre's $9 million contract I will be one happy man with this bullpen.

[Jestor]

Cincinnati

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Cincinnati

?

[jaykno14]

Well, this is actually the first position that we have a prospect in, and you'll see who he is coming up. At this position I would like The Red Machine to have a great defensive catcher who can throw out guys stealing and block the ball in the dirt. In my eyes, a catcher who can hit is a bonus and if I am deciding between giving the start to two catchers, I will pick the one who is the best hitter (along with fielding of course). Do we have that type of guy as or catcher? Well we'll just have to wait and see.

Our starting catcher in '06 was a familiar name in Bobby Estalella. First off, he threw out 34.3 percent of runners in '06 throwing out 44 in 129 attempts. Another plus for him is that he only allowed 2 pass balls which is phenomonal in my eyes. And even better is that he is signed for the next three years for only $944,000 a year. I don't think we could be in a better situation at this position. Hitting wise he didn't do too bad either. He hit .270 with 9 home runs and 44 RBI. He also had 24 doubles and a triple to go along with that.

Bryce Terveen was my back up catcher and is 28. He appeared in 42 games and 41 of them were starts. He also had a good caught stealing rate at 41 percent (16/39). He allowed only 2 pass balls and had a .987 fielding percentage. Hitting wise, he isn't as good as Estalella. His line of .221/.314/.356 about makes me puke but I remember quickly that I don't mind if the catcher can't hit even though I would prefer him to. His contract is up after this season and he is demanding too much money so he will probably be let go.

Steve Lomasney is the one and only catcher in AAA for us. At 29 he will probably take Terveen's spot as back up catcher next year. He has a slightly above average arm and doesn't let too many balls in the dirt get by him. In AA this year, he showed very good signs of a decent hitting catcher with a line of .278/.448/.584, but when he got up to AAA he only hit .219 with a .287 on base percentage.

In AA, we have two teenagers who look to have no future as a big league catcher. Their names are Larry Branch and James Tracy. Both look to have very good defensive ratings, but neither look to have very good careers in hitting.

At A we have our first prospect that I will report to you. His name is Mark Wolters and he is 20 years old and was drafted in the second round last year by Houston. This past trade deadline he was traded away from Houston to us for Sean Casey. He is our third best prospect. In A this year he hit .322 with a .844 OPS and also slugged 12 home runs with 68 RBI. He looks to have an average arm and just a little below average range but will improve as he gets older. Our second catcher down in A is a man by the name of Jason Wyllie who was drafted by Oakland in the fifth round this year. He was released by them so past management decided to sign him to a minor league contract. According to my reports, he looks to have an average arm and an above average range which I like. His hitting talent projects him as a doubles hitter and he will have an above average eye.

All in all I am not too worried at this position. If possible, I may try to sign a back up catcher with fantastic defensive skills and let Lomasney play in AAA as depth. Otherwise, it looks as if Wolters will be getting to the majors by about the time Estalella's contract is up so it will work perfectly.

[jaykno14]

Well now it is time to take a look at one of the most important hitting positions in the field. Good ol' first base. This is where guys get the nick name "scoop" or something of that sort. Former first baseman Sean Casey was traded away this past July so lets take a look and see what we have now.

The first baseman that started all of 2006 is Kyle Nichols, who is 28. This year was a breakout year for Kyle, who was a career minor leaguer until the Reds traded for him in 2005. Suprisingly (!) in one of the few good moves by past management, he went on to hit a respectable .277 in 238 at bats. He also hit 8 homers with 34 RBI's. This year in full playing time he hit 17 home runs with 51 RBI's and a line of .291/.361/.474. Also add in 29 doubles into that line. It looks as if this year he could possibly erupt with his excellent power and contact ratings. I decide to extend his contract three years worth $2.03 million a year.

Our backup scooper is a power hitter named Brain Shackelford, who is 30. Shackleford's summary will be brief because the man wants a winning team next year. Shame on him, well actually I don't blame him, I'd do the same. If he had the chance to have 400 at bats he could possibly hit 30 homers but unfortunately for him no team is going to give him that many at bats. He didn't appear in too many games last year only getting called up when Sean Casey was traded away.

Our next closest first baseman in the orginization is Sean Luellwitz who is in AA at the age of 26. I think that is enough information on him because I don't want to waste your time or my time talking about a useless player even though thats what half these guys are.

In A we have a man by the name Joey Votto who is 23. In A last year he hit the living **** out of the ball. He hit 44 home runs with 118 RBI's and definitely earning MVP honors for that league. I decide to quickly take a look at his talent ratings to see what he could be someday and it doesn't give me much with ratings of 4/4/5/7. (Contact/G Power/Power/Eye) Hmm. I have always been a stat guy so we'll put him up at AA for next year.

The last guy in A is our fifth round draft pick for this year. Give it up for 24 year old Terry Alexander. No not really. I can't say he is terrible, but because of Mr. Vott he will not be advancing to AA this year and he will need to get on his horse and Giddiup if he wants to remain in our orginization past next year. In the time he played he hit .281 with 5 home runs and 28 RBI's.

Again, I am not too worried with this position either. We have Nichols locked up for the next three years and we have a man named Votto who could possibly turn into something in the future. Shackelford can leave because I don't really need a back up first baseman on the 25 man roster.

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Cincinnati

Spelling Nazi.



Looks good, Jay. I particularly like your bolding of the key stats, makes things very clear. Only tip I have is not to overwhelm yourself -- going as in-depth as you appear to be can be taxing, but it's well worth the effort so long as you take your time.

Keep it up!

[Jestor]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

Spelling Nazi.

Say what you want about the tenents of Spelling National Socialism but at least it's an ethos.

And I concur on the good job thus far and nice in-depth reports, Jay

It's just Cincinnati being spelled as Cincinatti was driving me nuts is all

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

Spelling Nazi.



Looks good, Jay. I particularly like your bolding of the key stats, makes things very clear. Only tip I have is not to overwhelm yourself -- going as in-depth as you appear to be can be taxing, but it's well worth the effort so long as you take your time.

Keep it up!

Thanks it's an honor to take a compliment from the master himself.

I will try not to overwhelm myself and when I catch myself rushing I will do what I can to cut down on as in depth I am going. Happy to know your reading! Your dynasty is definitely the best "present" dynasty on the boards!

Originally Posted by Jestor

Quote:



Say what you want about the tenents of Spelling National Socialism but at least it's an ethos.

And I concur on the good job thus far and nice in-depth reports, Jay

It's just Cincinnati being spelled as Cincinatti was driving me nuts is all

Ahh I see. I had a feeling that I spelt it wrong next time I'll make I look it up in a dictionary. Happy to know you are reading!

[jaykno14]

Just to let everyone know, (who is reading this) I will be on vacation from the 17th to the 25th so I won't have any updates for you then. Tomorrow is probably the last day I'll have updates for because Wednesday I will be out to eat with family but I could possibly get in an update or two that afternoon.

[reds1]

This 'machine' sounds like it will be fun, Jaykno14. Looking forward to reading more.

Err...just remember to keep injury frequency on 'low'.

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by reds1

This 'machine' sounds like it will be fun, Jaykno14. Looking forward to reading more.

Err...just remember to keep injury frequency on 'low'.

Ha yeah I am hoping that I enjoy this dynasty and so far I am. That has been one of my biggest problems is getting bored with a dynasty so I quit them. This ones keeps on keepin me interested which is a good thing. Happy to know your reading!

[jaykno14]

And we are. Well we were. Second base is probably the position in which we are deepest out of all nine. Our current second baseman had the highest batting average last year and we have three second baseman in the top 10 are two facts that goes to show you how good we are here. I plan on taking one maybe two of those three prospects and trading them away for starting pitching or any other position we are thin at. We shall see.

The grandpa of our second basemen (don't ask where I got grandpa from it just came to mind, maybe it is because he is the starting second baseman of four in our system, which makes him a grandpa. Nevermind.) Anway, sorry for that brief moment of an attempt at humor, Adam Kennedy was the Machine's starting second baseman in 2006. The 30 year old was traded from the Halos to us less than 24 hours before the deadline and he took off from there. Overall, he hit .294 despite hitting .210 against lefties, and drove in 41 guys with 5 home runs. Not outstanding but hey that was one of our best hitters last year. Yikes. Fielding wise he has very good range, which is something I value in my second baseman and short stops. When I decide to take a look at his salary status I figure out that you and I just wasted the last 30 seconds because due to prior management's stupidity, he is unhappy with his playing time so he will become a free agent.

The backup second baseman (and he will remain that) is Felipe Lopez, who just like every other second baseman, can field but not hit. Urgh. Lopez is 26 and is making $377,000 in 2006. He too is due for an extension at the end of this year, and he too was unhappy with his playing time. What the hell is he thinking?! He can't even hit barely over the mendoza line but he wants playing time. It's fine with me when someone with that kind of stupidity and selfishness wants to leave the team Because I don't want them here!

Well now that my ''deepest position'' has become one of my weaknesses, I will look into the good ol' minor leagues to find the Red's second baseman of the future.

We begin at AAA where you will find a man by the name of Ray Olmedo who is slightly shorter at 5'11 and slightly skinnier at 155 pounds than I would like, but like the legendary Billy Beane said, "We ain't sellin' jeans here." So after all of my nightmeres of having a guy that small I decide to DEAL WITH IT. Olmedo as you guessed kind of reminds me of Lopez as he is a field first hit second type of second baseman. In AAA he hit .252, which I wouldn't mind at the MLB level but at AAA, eh no. He has no power and does not have a very good eye so that just about labels him "useless piece of crap".

Our second of three second basemen at AAA is Jorge Mejia, who is one of the our Top Ten Prospects. He is our fourth best prospect and second best second baseman in the minors, but he just got called up to AAA late in September and struggled there so he will probably have to remain in Louisville. At AA Chattanooga he hit .307 with 13 HR and 51 RBI. He also showed some speed with 5 triples. He had an on base average of .353 and had a .507 slugging percentage which is really good at his position. In AAA he struggled by hitting a line of .234/.267/.386 with 7 HR and 26 RBI. He overall 2006 line of .270 with 20 HR and 77 RBI with 62 runs shows that he has potential as a second baseman in the majors but must improve for the call up.

Our last second baseman in AAA should be considered with the AA second baseman but since he is on the AAA roster we will keep him here. Drew Anderson is 23 and was called up to AAA in the last week of the season thus not appearing in any games in AAA. He is also our third best second base prospect and seventh best overall prospect. At 5'9 as of now he is the shortest player on The Great Machine and will earn himself the nickname of "Midget". At AA he showed good signs by hitting .302 with 12 HR and 55 RBI. He had a .331 OBP and .397 slugging with 18 doubles. The Midget and Mejia will platoon at AAA and they'll make it a competition to see who gets to the majors first.

In AA we have no second baseman so we will skip on to A where our second best overall prospect and best second base prospect is featured. Please give it up for William Burgola a 23 year old. He hit .269 with a .342 OBA and 10 HR. He drove in 64 and stole 44 bases. He also had 21 doubles, but my favorite statistic is his 52:32 BB:K ratio. Exactly the kind of guy I want at second. He will begin at AA and his talent projects him to be a .330 type hitter who will steal 60+ bases in a season. I get a chill just thinkin about it. Oh and I almost forgot. He is also 5'9, and lucky for him he will remain Will Burgola instead of "Midget".

Our second and final second baseman at A is a 17 year old Darren Harkey. He projects to be a minor leaguer at best, but has a chance to develop with an above average eye.

Overall, I think I am going to need to sign a veteran second baseman cheap and wait for Mejia or Anderson or possibly even Burgola to arrive at the majors to relieve me there.