Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
New Miami graduation 2012
Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > March > 30 > Entry
Paying the price to win
After taking a couple of days off to recover from sunburn and baseball overdose (there really isn’t such a thing with me), I’m back, just in time for Opening Day.
First things first. I tip my Tilley (that’s the Australian hat I wore all spring) to owner Bob Castellini for permitting manager Dusty Baker and general manager Wayne Krivsky to do the right thing.
They are saying good-bye to Mike Stanton. It’s difficult for a franchise that counts nickels and dimes to swallow $3.5 million in one gulp, but that’s what they did. It’s what they owe Stanton.
What it shows is that Castellini & Company are willing to do what they think will help this team win and dumping Stanton was one giant step for Redskind.
Question here, though. I had it on strong authority that the Phillies offered the Reds infielder Wes Helms for Stanton. Helms is making $2.1 million. The Reds said no to the deal, but if they had done it, they could have then dumped Helms and only eat $2.1 million.
But I commend them for that, too. That’s dirty pool, a heartless thing to do just to save (gulp) $1.4 million.
So they’ll announce Monday that Stanton is gone. And they’ll put pitcher Matt Belisle (arm tenderness) and catcher David Ross (back spasms) on the disabled list, which gets the roster down to 25.
With the release of Stanton, I’m surprised the Reds didn’t keep lefthander Bill Bray. Their only lefties in the bullpen as of now are Jeremy Affeldt, who left a large odor most of spring training, and Kent Mercker, back after a year off from Tommy John surgery.
The biggest shocker to me is that Mike Lincoln is on the roster in the bullpen. He quietly (so quiet, I never interviewed him one time, but he is a super nice guy) put together a solid spring and impressed Baker with his velocity.
Lincoln hasn’t pitched in 2 1/2 years and has not one, but two, Tommy John surgeries.
Ryan Freel is still on the team - and that’s a good thing. He can play second base, third base and all the outfield spots, especially now that the team kept only four other outfields - Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Corey Patterson and Norris Hopper.
Anway, a big bow to Castellini for sending such a strong supportive message to the fans. Let the games begin.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Post your comment |
Tweet
Comments
By Daniel P
April 1, 2008 11:30 PM | Link to this
The recent moves show me that the Reds have little confidence in their starting pitching to provide innings. They know that Mercker and other veterans arms in the pen will be shot by early May and are hoping that Bray can pump some life into the pen when disaster strikes.
By Daniel P
April 1, 2008 11:30 PM | Link to this
The recent moves show me that the Reds have little confidence in their starting pitching to provide innings. They know that Mercker and other veterans arms in the pen will be shot by early May and are hoping that Bray can pump some life into the pen when disaster strikes.
By Daniel P
April 1, 2008 11:06 PM | Link to this
The recent moves show me that the Reds have little confidence in their starting pitching to provide innings. They know that Mercker and other veterans arms in the pen will be shot by early May and are hoping that Bray can pump some life into the pen when disaster strikes.
By reggie98ud
March 31, 2008 4:22 PM | Link to this
I agree with Bill. Baker couldn’t win with a better lineup in Chicago what makes anyone think he will win here. Bring back Pinella!!
By Bill Miller
March 31, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this
Doesn’t really matter too much,the Reds aren’t making the play-offs,this year,next year,or the year after! People will slowly come to realize that not only is Dusty Baker not a good manager,he’s really not all that great of a human being, period! I suspect you will not post this,but I still respect you Hal!Not your fault the reds have gone loco :-)
By Reds Fan!!
March 31, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
Wow! This bullpen scares to s#%t out of me! Most of the games were lost in the 8th inning. Cordero isn’t a 2-inning closer! Dusty is a player’s manager and decent strategist, but has NEVER been good with pitching staffs. Cordero may get alot of saves, but his ERA will around 3 or 4 and the average score will be 7-5 Reds. These aren’t your Father’s Reds, that’s for sure. ~~we miss you Joe~~
By Mike
March 31, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
I commend the Reds for the Stanton move but the bullpen is still a big question mark. Merker,(age 40+) did not pitch in 2007 and Lincoln has not pitched since 2005. Affleldt is coming off one good year in Colorado. He looked lousy in Florida. Coffey had a great Spring but he needs to prove the last 2 years are history. Burton had a terrible spring and needs to prove 2007 was not a fluke. Weathers is 38 and I hope he has something left. Cordero is the $46 million dollar man who we hope will prove dominant over the next 4 years. There are some big “ifs” and “maybe’s” here. The Reds will be contenders if these guys produce and pretenders if they don’t. The same applies to the starters ex Harang. I would sum up the pitching as a “?”. I hope the Reds get lucky.
By strapp
March 31, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this
I may be wrong but I have long thought that it is not correct to say that the Reds “eat $3,000,000”. I think that it really costs the Reds the salary of whoever replaces Stanton on the roster. The only additional cost is the replacement cost.
By D.B. Cooper
March 31, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this
I agree 100% about Stanton, but I’m not sure that trading for, then releasing Helms would be such a dastardly move. Once released, Helms would be free to sign anywhere, and with the Reds paying the freight, I’m sure he’d have landed a job. If anything, they’d have “freed” Helms from the confines of Philly, and recouped a couple mil in the process.
By Todd
March 31, 2008 8:21 AM | Link to this
Opening day and more of Hal McCoy! The only thing missing is the Ole left Hander in the park!
By Todd
March 31, 2008 8:21 AM | Link to this
Opening day and more of Hal McCoy! The only thing missing is the Ole left Hander in the park!
By Mark
March 31, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this
Goodbye Mike Stanton ! Last year was enough heartache watching this guy repeatedly come in and never get anyone out.
By Dean, Piqua
March 30, 2008 11:05 PM | Link to this
I, also enjoyed you blog page during the training and hope you continue, what is on my mind is that Dusty Baker sent Bray packing because of his lack of innings pitched, but if that is true why did he keep Lincoln on the roster, seems to me he has not pitched as much as Bray did, I would like to see both of them on the team.
By Dean, Piqua
March 30, 2008 11:05 PM | Link to this
I, also enjoyed you blog page during the training and hope you continue, what is on my mind is that Dusty Baker sent Bray packing because of his lack of innings pitched, but if that is true why did he keep Lincoln on the roster, seems to me he has not pitched as much as Bray did, I would like to see both of them on the team.
By Dire Wolf
March 30, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
Great job with the blog this spring, Hal. Do you plan to continue with it during the season? Hope so.
By Andrew Jenkins
March 30, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this
I certainly had my doubts about the moves Krivsky and Castellini made this off-season, especially coming out of the second half of last year. I must say though, I have been pleasantly surprised with the results and commitment displayed. Whatever the results this year (although I have high hopes), this is certainly a big step forward for the Reds organization.