Rebuilding

[JohnU]

I think the rebuilding concept is probably an ongoing story, but there are so many components to it as to render it an academic discussion.

Among them:

• Finding MLB-ready guys who want to play in Cincy ... hitters might, pitchers might not. The key phrase here is "MLB-ready." We can say that about every pitcher on the staff, including Gregg.
• Finding players who "fit" the system. My ongoing madness after 2013 was listening to experts wondering how "Dusty" would use Billy Hamilton, even though nobody had considered how "somebody else" might use Hamilton. You can NOT build a roster around a manager. You build a roster around the ballpark and find a manager who can make that work. If you ain't got the horses, you are not in the dogfight.
• Finding a manager. Price is making mistakes but they are only mistakes when the decisions end up beating the team. The most famous "mistake" in Reds history is letting Billy Bates pinch-hit in the 1990 World Series. Price can't win with this team, but Castellini doesn't appear anxious to hire a Piniella-type guy. Not sure that sort of manager is the right idea anyhow. As fans, we all know what worked in Cincy and what didn't. But we don't know any more about it than that.
• What are the expectations? Being a contender is often good enough. Having a dynamo team that is odds-on to win it ... it ain't ever gonna happen again for the mid-market franchises.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I agree.

Success or failure is always a mix of attributes and handicaps. Lou was a hardass, but had a team of Self-Critics and overachieving hustle players. That's a good mix.

Sparky was a praiser in a team of egos, and had a HOF catcher that policed pitchers (Bench), a solid gold D, a lineup alternating hustlers and power hitters, and a good cop (Perez) that smoothed the edges on the stars...7-8 .300 hitters made Sparky's job pretty easy.

Dusty took over a Reds team without pitching, and a lineup full of lazy asses. They added pitching and sent the lazy guys packing. They replaced them with a lot of sensitive personalities and fundamentals challenged bonus babies needing some strong leadership though. A manager that never admits a mistake, never loses his cool, and sleeps through non contract years wasn't a good mix, IMO.

I don't think Price is a bad manager, but he is also still learning. He doesn't have a rock solid dugout staff or a talented, balanced roster that has experience winning consistently and/or overcoming adversity-and IMO, in a 162 game season, all of those are required in the absence of incredibly good luck, to be dominant.

Bad managers lose more games than good managers win, but it isn't always the signals he gives on the field that make the biggest difference. It's the signals he gives behind the camera to players. Money isn't motivation after a certain dollar figure- and it takes different strokes for different folks, and the backing of the front office for coaches and managers to enforce, and a roster capable.

There appears to be resources required, missing in the current mix. I have seen bad baserunning and bunting, but no apathetic play or defensive indifference. That speaks to coaches and players in need of practice, not discipline. They need some better plate discipline, more players than coaching at their age there, IMO. They DO need better pitching, and even in the absence of better immediate answers, they need the balls to DFA failures just to show it's unacceptable. That's on the GM.

This team will be "competitive" as long as no other teams in the division get much better, or the Reds can't pitch better. They have to improve substantially to be a real contender though.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I wouldn't call this a full fledged rebuild yet- when they dump $50M in salary, and we need a program to know the names on the roster, it's a rebuild.

 

[JohnU]

I don't see how a team like the Reds can do a complete rebuild. In 4 or 5 positions, they are as strong as anybody in baseball. That does not include pitching. I think this is the sort of team that modifies, mainly ... looking for an upgrade here and there.
What happens soon is that the Cubans who really can come to the U.S. to play are going to start coming here. In a couple of years, some of the guys from here who can't make it are going to go BACK to Cuba to play.
Exciting times ahead, not much of which has to do with the premise of this thread.
I got to see a Midwest League game yesterday in Fort Wayne. I think a full 80 percent of the TinCaps roster is made up of Latin-speaking NDFA guys from the Caribbean.

 

[Redsfan1507]

John, the Gulf Coast League in the late 70's was like that, and no one from Cuba got out back then. The first authentic Mexican I ever ate was made on a Hibachi in the parking lot of a $8 motel by a couple of infielders that didnt speak much English.