Just thought we would throw this up here. We are Bengals fans (just barely) and it kinda stinks they would look to sue a fan who wants to openly write about the team.
Link to Stripe Hype
Hat Tip To Awful Annoucning
Chris Valakia (SS) was named the Player of the Week in the Florida State League 4-28 to 5-4. Valakia was 12-28, with a .480 AVG, hit two home runs, 4 RBI, and had a .750 slugging percent. A very strong prospect from the FSL, Valakia is starting to show his worth in a growing farm system.
Travis Wood (LHP) was named Pitcher of the Week. A 2-0 record, he pitched 13 innings, allowed 8 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks and 9 strike outs.
Photo via Sarasota Reds and MiLB.com
If their quotes are any sort of indication that the Reds have a little life left in them, Ken Griffey Jr. and David Weathers have some interesting words for the media and the team.
David Weathers was upset with Jeff Brantely when he called the team “quitters”. Via the Enquirer and beat writer John Fay, Weathers lamented that he was upset with the Reds on Radio broadcaster about his comments following Sunday’s loss (and ass-kicking) at the hands of the Atlanta Braves.
“All I said if this easy to play baseball, he should find a uniform and play,” Weathers said. “I was basically was taking up for my teammates. I heard some comments that he thought guys were quitting. I didn’t feel that way. It’s easy to say that when things are going tough for a team. It’s easy to dog-pile. I felt like he was doing that.”
Brantley was called out last year by Todd Coffey when Jeff said something about Coffey “trying to pitch with one hand around your neck”. Ouch.
While brutal in nature, Brantley’s comments are exactly what the Reds have been lacking in the clubhouse for many years. When is the last time we have heard a player go on a tirade? How about a manager? When is the last time a Cincinnati pitcher has plunked a batter because he gets way too many hits off of Reds pitching (see Bill Hall)?
It is not the job of the radio announcer to fire you up. You should be able to do it on your own.
In other news, Ken Griffey Junior told USA Today that he wants to be on a contender.
“My situation is different only because I can tell them where I want to go. I want to be in position to win a championship. I’m not strong-arming anybody, but that’s the way it is.”
It may be necessary to move Griffey before the trade deadline or not pick up his $16mil one year option.
Just thought we would throw this on the wall and hope this starts the discussion.
There has to be a reason. Right?
| 2007 | 2008 | |
| Record | 14 - 18 | 12 - 20 |
| AVG | 0.246 | 0.248 |
| OBP | 0.319 | 0.322 |
| SLUG | 0.393 | 0.406 |
| OPS | 0.712 | 0.728 |
| Runs | 109 | 132 |
| Run Diff | 7 | -32 |
Sarasota city council members and team officials of the Boston Red Sox have been in “preliminary” talks about moving their spring training facilities and offices from Ft. Meyers to Sarasota in an effort to bring together their major and minor league teams. Currently, the Sarasota Red Sox play out of Ed Smith Stadium, the same stadium that the Sarasota Reds use along with the major league team.
Certainly the Red Sox would have to renovate Ed Smith Stadium, which was the major sticking point for the Reds and Sarasota city officials. However, the Red Sox do have the financial ability to give more money from their side in order to secure and build onto the current site.
This also could be a power play by the Red Sox in order to demand renovations to their current site in Lee County and Ft Meyers, but why renovate when you can tear down and start new?
Given that talks between Sarasota and the Red Sox began just days after the Reds secured a memo of understanding from the Goodyear, AZ city council securing funding for their share of a joint site with the Indians, it would be a shame that just a few million dollars here or there could have kept the Reds in their current spring training home.
Hat tip to the following sites:
The Boston Globe released figures from all 30 MLB teams and their ticket prices. The average MLB increase was 10.9%. Along with those figures is a “fan cost index” which factors in four tickets, 2 beers, four sodas, four hot dogs, parking, two programs, and two adult sized caps. We will look at the “fan cost index” a little later on, but today we will focus on the average cost of tickets.
How do the Reds stack up?
The Reds increased prices between 2007 and 2008 by a modest $1.70 from $17.71 to $19.41, an 8.76% change. This is below the Major League Average of 10.9%. Of course we would all like to know where the money goes (must-sign contracts to lead-off hitters no doubt), but most of the financial data is hidden from the public. Cincinnati ranks as the 21st most expensive, or the 8th cheapest, ticket in MLB. These prices are comparable to Milwaukee, Cleveland, Florida and Texas.
It is not really surprising that the Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees are the most expensive tickets. Demand certainly drives up cost, but an increase in price can also come from other areas. For example, the Cubs added seats down on the field by expanding the seating area between home plate and the bullpens.
The San Francisco Giants reversed the trend and dropped ticket prices by a whopping 13.83% from 2007 to 2008. The average price in 2007 was $25.11 falling this season to $22.06. It is amazing that a team openly acknowledges that it will be rebuilding for sometime and, without a certain aging left fielder, that they would lower the price of admission to draw fans. Or perhaps the price was inflated over the past few seasons to generate revenue while a certain aging left fielder was breaking records*.
Cleveland (-9.84%) and Atlanta (-.70%) also showed decreases in ticket prices.
The Colorado Rockies had the largest percentage and actual dollar increase, a year after winning the National League pennant and reaching the World Series in improbable fashion. The Rockies increased ticket prices $9.22, from $16.50 in 2007 to $25.72 in 2008, a difference of 35.85%. That’s more than three times the MLB average. The Rockies were the 4th cheapest ticket in MLB in 2007 before their amazing finish. In 2008, they rank 18th.
Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Rays showed no change in their average ticket prices. Who can blame them?
One thing that would be interesting to look at is how much rising energy and food prices in an economy that has turned sour affects ticket sales and attendance as we move through the season. Certainly there is less discretionary income for individuals and families to spend on baseball games when looking at a shrinking budget.
In an article written by Hal McCoy with the Dayton Daily News, former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky discusses some of his decisions that he made during his tenure with the Reds.
While most of the quotes don’t represent any groundbreaking news for those who follow the team closely, one did stand out as a possible insight as to what happened while a member of the Reds organization:
“When I’m told before the season that I better win, I’m going to get all the pitching I can get,” he said. “Fogg was a $100,000 gamble, what we would pay him if he didn’t make the team. He made it so it cost $1.5 million and I still think it’s a good deal.
This is very telling of how Mr. Castellini felt about this season and how much pressure was on Krivsky to acquire players that would be contributors to a winning team. It seems as though the decision was already made on the firing of Krivsky and the slow start was a convenient excuse to install Walt Jocketty after only 21 games.
“I was told to get him signed, whatever it takes,” said Krivsky, who signed him for $3 million. Patterson was paid $4.7 million last year.
Again, the pressure to sign Patterson was another decision that was made either by manager Dusty Baker (Patterson being a former player of Dusty) or by Castellini who wanted to win at any cost.
In the article, Krivsky did take responsibility for signing Mike Stanton to a contract the Reds are still paying, and he also took the blame for Rheal Cormier, even though he added the cavet, “and, actually, with interest we got $2.08 million.”
We are not absolving Krivsky by any means. If you read between the lines, Wayne certainly has said more in this short interview than he did during his entire 26 months on the job and is able to do so without being constrained by the team. He is trying to shift part of the blame on Castellini who stated from day one his “win now” mentality. While it is good to have a positive outlook on the future of a multi-million dollar investment so that investment continues to grow, Castellini shouldn’t be totally immune to criticism either.
Castellini hasn’t reached the level of Peter Angelos, owner of the Baltimore Orioles, nor the tyrannical nature of the Steinbrenner family in New York, but when you set the bar too high and expect results to be immediate, you end up putting more pressure on yourself. When this happens, you make rash decisions based on expectations of fans that hear those words. As Buster Olney wrote in his column after the firing. [subscription required]
Perhaps it was the closed door nature that Krivsky operated under or it really was the losing, Krivsky should, and probably will get another chance in a front office.
From Mark Sheldon at Reds.com
ST. LOUIS — The Reds swapped out a struggling right-hander on Monday for a lefty with a hot hand.
The right-hander, Todd Coffey, was optioned to Triple-A Louisville and lefty Bill Bray was recalled from Louisville to take his place.
Bray posted a 1.04 ERA with one save in his eight games for Louisville. He walked three and struck out 14 over 8 2/3 innings while opponents batted .133.
Thank you. Hopefully this is the last time the Reds send Coffey back to Louisville to “work on his stuff”. It is clear to just about every Reds fan that Coffey cannot be counted on to pitch in tight situations. Now that the bullpen has become marginally better, one weak link can still ruin the game for everyone.
Today we take a look at Edwin Encarnacion and try to figure out why he has become the media’s whipping boy when trying to find what has gone wrong with the Reds so far this season.
We wanted to take a look at how he compares to other third basemen in the National League.
|
Stat |
Number |
NL Rank |
|
AVG |
.282 |
7 |
|
OBP |
.378 |
5 |
|
SLG |
.553 |
5 |
|
OPS |
.930 |
4 |
|
BABIP |
.273 |
9 |
Edwin has done especially well in these categories. Only trailing the likes of Chipper Jones, David Wright, and Aramis Ramirez in these areas, and having an OPS+ of 139, we don’t understand why Edwin has gotten a bum rap for his hitting. Edwin is also above league average in walks, on-base percentage, and slugging. Even with runners in scoring position, Edwin ranks 4th among current NL third basemen at .278.
The negative stems from his errors and plays in the field. Committing 7 errors through Saturday April 26, he has almost reached the half way mark of his 2007 season total of 16. This would be reflected in his 0.68 WPA.
Seeing that Edwin is only 25 years old, we hope that he continues to improve and mature so that people won’t be so critical. Improving his defense should be his primary concern, but his hitting is something that will keep him around for a long time. For the time being, we back Edwin Encarnacion and feel good about him playing third base for many years.
Today the Reds announce the firing of General Manager Wayne Krivsky and the promotion of Walt Jocketty to the General Manager position as well as president of baseball operations. Jocketty, a former GM with the St. Louis Cardinals, was serving as special assistant to owner Bob Castellini.
The move comes as a surprise, not a shock. Jocketty was hired in the offseason to be a special advisor to Bob Castellini. However, due to their prior relationship in St. Louis, this move was not totally earth shattering. Why was this move not made in the offseason when Jocketty could have had more time to evaluate the current team as well as the farm system?
Wayne Krivsky’s struggles have been well documented. “The Trade” with Washington, signing extensions to undeserving veterans, and generally being very tight-lipped with the media when speaking about his vision for the organization were all cited as criticism of Krivsky. However, owner Bob Castellini gave Krivsky an extension through the 2008 season (with a club option for 2009) on June 28, 2006 saying, “”We’re happy with the direction that we’re going. We’re very happy with…Wayne’s performance. It was an opportunity to show our appreciation with how much we thought of [Wayne]“
There were also positives. Finding Brandon Phillips in Cleveland and, to this point, acquiring Bronson Arroyo for Willy Mo Pena were probably the signature moves that Krivsky has made. Signing Scott Hatteburg and finding Josh Hamilton in the Rule 5 daft were also huge pieces brought in. Hamilton was sent to Texas for the stellar young pitcher Edison Volquez who has pitched brilliantly through four starts, something the Reds needed badly.
What we don’t understand is how can someone so happy with what he has fire someone 21 games into the 2008 season? Castellini said in the press conference today that the team’s slow start was the primary reason. We feel that the stubbornness and closed door mentality (not to mention long time Reds scouts Larry Barton Jr. and Gene Bennett quitting in anger under his tutelage) is what sealed Krivsky’s fate.
