Reds, as of today

[JohnU]

BP's numbers are declining for sure but the part that isn't clear is whether some of last year's decline was because the Parrots wrecked his wrist in the HBP derby.

The only number that went up for him was RBI and he had the top 2 OBP hitters in the league ahead of him.

I think the Reds, if they can't trade him, will come to an ugly spot in the road soon.

For now, I am just hoping he rebounds to 2012 numbers.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Didnt BP hit in the 1-2 lineup spots in 2012 ? Seems to me that BP did a better job of getting hits, especially to opposite field whe he wasn't a 4 hitter that everyone expects to hit homers. The problem with that "adjustment" is, I don't think it results in more HR for BP, just fewer hits. His propensity to hit into DP's makes me believe he's better off as a tablesetter than a cleanup hitter that hits lots of homers and hits enough flyball a to sac a few runners from 3b. I still think that Bruce is the only logical 4 hitter, because he's the only guy likely to hit 30-35 HR a season on the team. I couldn't care less about back to back lefties in the 3-4 spots, especially when both Bruce and Votto hit them for a higher average than BP or Spudwick anyway.

 

[JohnU]

Not much news means there either is no news or the news is sooooooooo big that we can't handle it.
Not signing any organizational depth this week is curious, but I would guess a marginal lefty or two will show up on the trannies soon.

Will be curious to see if Price is willing to extend his bullpen a little more, maybe go with 12 arms instead of 13 like DB did ... and add another bench bat. I'd go for that.

 

[WvuDieHard]

BP was hurt last year and do believe that played a big factor in his play. Yet, BP is the farthest thing from a 4 hole hitter. Hit the lefties back to back and maybe mix them up a little if Mesoraco or Frazier hit with any power.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

Reds Sign Chien-Ming Wang

The Reds have signed right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to a news release in Taiwan from Wang's agency, Octagon (via Focus News Taiwan). Wang would earn $1.25MM upon making the Major League roster and could see his salary hit $3MM should he reach all of the incentives in the deal.
Wang, 34 in March, turned in a pair of brilliant starts for the Blue Jays last season but saw those two excellent starts sandwiched by a series of poor outings that led to a 7.67 ERA with 4.7 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 58 percent ground-ball rate in 27 frames. The Taiwanese hurler was very solid between the Triple-A affiliates for the Blue Jays and Yankees though, pitching to a 2.87 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 109 2/3 innings.
Wang's big league career got off to a promising start, as he posted a 3.79 ERA in 628 2/3 innings over parts of four seasons (2005-08) with the Yankees. That run included a pair of sub-4.00 ERA, 200-inning seasons -- one of which landed him second in the AL Cy Young voting.
Injuries are the likely reason for Wang's 6.60 ERA in 163 innings since the 2009 season. His 2008 season was cut short by a Lis Franc fracture in his foot, and he then required shoulder surgery in 2009. It's been an uphill battle for the veteran since that time, though last year's Triple-A work and an impressive showing in the World Baseball Classic give some reason for a bit of optimism.

 

[JohnU]

Wang is mostly AAA filler, but he can get some people out. That shoulder is probably the killer.

 

[JohnU]

Greg Reynolds signs to play in Japan.
Xavier Paul signs minor league deal with the Orioles.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Can he play LF and hit 5th ?