Reds Hire Dusty Baker

[Bruno7481]

Hmmm...

 

Dusty in Cincy. Should be interesting.

 

They have a decent core there, I don't think Dusty will be the ultimate death nail that most here believe. I don't think he be the reason for them making the playoffs either though.

 

Dusty isn't dumb enough to not play guys like Votto, and Bruce if he makes the team out of ST.

 

I wonder how much Cincy is paying him though. You'd think that if they went with the "big name" they would want to follow that up with spending some more money on their roster.

 

Who's gonna be responsible for whether Bruce makes the team out of ST? Same with Votto.

 

Tampa spent big money on Piniella a few years back, and that was it when it came to spending money. I don't expect Cincy to make a big splash money wise, and if they do, who's it gonna be on? Another OF? The free agent market(as usual) sucks this year.

 

I don't think Bruce is a lock to make the team out of ST, regardless of who the manager is. He will be up next year, might not make it from the start. He is scary good.

 

I know Dusty made stupid decisions with the Cubs when it came to rookies getting playing time. But, during his tenure with the Cubs they never had a position player like Bruce, or even Votto. I don't think he's that dumb...

 

Your right, there isn't a lot out there through FA the Reds could spend on. I just think they would make more of an effort after getting Dusty. Dusty was probably 3x more expensive than Mackanin would have been.

[Too Tall]

Well I now know why those rumors of the cubs potentially re-signing Steve Trachsel came about. His trade value has to be through the roof now with Dusty in Cincy! Dunn for Trachsel? :D

[Bruno7481]

I think there is probably a pretty good chance you will see Barrett sign with the Reds this off-season.

[NCCubFan]

Dusty becomes the first former Cubs manager to get another head job in goodness knows how long.

 

The last Cubs manager to complete an entire season with another team was Jim Marshall who managed the Athletics for ONE season in 1979.

 

You have to go back to Bob Scheffing, who managed us in 1959, to find a manager who managed at least two full seasons after his stint with the Cubs (Detroit '61, '62).

Leo Durocher managed Houston for one plus season. He finished 1972 as Astros manager (after resigning from the Cubs earlier that season) and then managed the Astros for all of 1973. It's a rare case of a manager managing two different teams during the same season.

[Balsa]

Well at least he's off of BBTN.

 

And now we won't have to worry about the Reds pulling a "Brewers" with a young core.

[Brian]

"Since I've been here, we haven't had the big-name manager," said right-hander Aaron Harang, who has been with the Reds for the last five years.

[inari]

I think there is probably a pretty good chance you will see Barrett sign with the Reds this off-season.

 

I'd bet almost anything he will be a Red.

 

So how is the Dusty Baker in a Reds uniform photoshop coming? Anyone?

[C.C.]

I think there is probably a pretty good chance you will see Barrett sign with the Reds this off-season.

 

I'd bet almost anything he will be a Red.

 

So how is the Dusty Baker in a Reds uniform photoshop coming? Anyone?

 

Sounds about right. He'll be a Red no doubt about it.

[Brendan]

pretty hilarious take at tcr.

[Burtonbell]

Anybody know how the bass fishing is in Cincy?

[3Dog]

From TCR:

 

First Base coach Billy Hatcher complains that Reds’ broadcaster Marty Brennaman sighed audibly at the end of the game.

 

Comedy gold. :lol:

[Outshined_One]

Anybody know how the bass fishing is in Cincy?

 

There's some good fishing to be had on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border along with plenty of good lakes in Kentucky.

 

...dude.

[CuseCubFan69]

I wonder if the Reds are going to spend the money needed to fix Dusty's vet habit? I'm sure he has a lot of players that want to play for a manager that won't say a thing when they screw up and get a lot of AB's if they've been in the league for awhile. The 150 hitters have hit the lottery.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

9-22-08- In a tight race with the Cubs for the division title, Baker orders Dunn, who has been intentionally walked 30 times this year, to swing at intentional balls as well.

 

:lol:

[NCCubFan]

Maybe the Cubs can trade Jones and Blanco to the Reds.

[Guest]

9-22-08- In a tight race with the Cubs for the division title, Baker orders Dunn, who has been intentionally walked 30 times this year, to swing at intentional balls as well.

 

:lol:

This, of course, follows Griffey laying down a sac bunt to move the runner over from second with nobody out.

[seanimal]

BP's take...

 

If the careers of Bailey and Cueto are ruined by high pitch counts, it will be Dusty who pulled the trigger — but the Reds who hired the assassin.

[frostwyrm]

The Reds should dump Josh Hamilton. 3 SB is pretty damn lame for a CF. No speed. He also strikes out a lot and walks too much for a non-basestealer. They should trade for Juan Pierre.

[Bruce Miles]

Your intrepid Cubs beat writer has "blogged in":

 

http://www.beepcentral.com/blogs/bindex.aspx?ubid=3103&blog=3990

[Guest]

Your intrepid Cubs beat writer has "blogged in":

 

http://www.beepcentral.com/blogs/bindex.aspx?ubid=3103&blog=3990

Hey, Bruce, you have to "judge him on his whole record" -- whatever that means!

[Mizzou]

pretty hilarious take at tcr.

 

That is hilarious. My favorite part...

10-1-08 - The Reds play the Cubs at Wrigley in a one-game playoff to determine the sole NL Central representative in the playoffs. After 9 innings, the score is tied at 2, the Reds’ infield is 0-14 with 2 sacrifice bunts. Dunn, playing in game 163, hits his 100th and 101st home runs of the regular season, but strikes out four times on four efforts to intentionally walk him, bringing his strikeout total to 372. In the bottom of the tenth, Aramis Ramirez, noticing that Homer Bailey’s arm appears to be visibily throbbing and glowing a strange orange, smartly bunts a ball back towards Bailey’s right. Bailey grabs it, fires to first, with his arm detaching from its socket. With arm and ball alike traveling towards Hatteberg, Ramirez is able to beat the throw.

[frostwyrm]

Your intrepid Cubs beat writer has "blogged in":

 

http://www.beepcentral.com/blogs/bindex.aspx?ubid=3103&blog=3990

Hey, Bruce, you have to "judge him on his whole record" -- whatever that means!

 

It means when a manager has some success he's earned a license to suck for the rest of his career.

[Sosa21MVP]

Well Dusty in his press conference said a "number of players" have contacted him about playing for the Reds already. Let's start a list of who called Dusty today....I'll go with the obvious ones first:

 

Neifi Perez

Jose Macias

Lenny Harris

[The Voice of Reason]

For some reason, I think there may be some disagreement with this writer's "points."

 

In Dusty's defense . . .

 

http://cbs.sportsline.com/columns/story/10410305/1

 

In Baker, though, the new owners have hired an Internet piñata of the first magnitude, so this seems like as good a time as any analyze what about Baker makes his critics so crazy, and whether in fact it is true.

 

"Pitcher-abusing." The prime examples here are Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, and they are both bad ones. Prior's injury history is (a) colliding with Marcus Giles; (b) blowing an Achilles' tendon; © being hit on the elbow with a Brad Hawpe line drive; and (d) shoulder issues that might have not been properly diagnosed by the Cubs doctors and in any event might well have resulted from any or all of the three other injuries.

 

Wood has had a chronic bad elbow that was predicted when he first broke into the big leagues because of his high-energy delivery, and in any event began in 1999, four years before Baker got to Chicago. He also had a knee problem, which might have been the result of compensating for his arm issues.

 

On the other hand, Baker always scored high in what numbers-based seamheads call "pitcher abuse" points, because he let his starters go 120 pitches and beyond. Since many of those pitchers were Livan Hernandez, who by any definition breaks that rule all to hell, this might be exaggerated somewhat.

 

"Thin-skinned." Maybe, but that's only if you believe Lou Piniella is a gentle soul, or Tony La Russa lets criticism roll off his back, or Ozzie Guillen is a Zen master.

 

Baker has had no recorded YouTube-quality tantrums, but he does speak his mind and defend his turf, perhaps to his detriment if your idea of the perfect manager's temperament is Joe Torre. He does pay more attention to public commentary than he should, but that hardly puts him at the front of the pack.

 

"Failure." Yeah, right. Next to Bonds, he is the most important hire Peter Magowan ever made as managing general whatever of the Giants. He managed the only team in the post-playoff world to win as many as 103 games and not get into the playoffs. He was one Scott Spiezio golf swing from managing a team to the World Series title. He was one Alex Gonzalez error from being the manager when the Cubs got to their first World Series since 1945. Yeah, that sucks. He's brutal. Chase him with sticks.

[baseball7897]

 

I wonder how long it will take for Harang to get mark prior'd.

 

Except Mark Prior has some of the worst upper body mechanics ever for a pitcher. I know a lot of people are jumping to conclusions that just because Dusty is their manager now that he will destroy ever single pitcher they have. I don't think that will be the case. I think a pitcher is more likely to break down if they have bad mechanics than the big pitch count theory. I really don't see anything mechanically in Harang, Arroyo, or Bailey that catches my eye. They are no Dan Haren when it comes to mechanics, but their mechanics are pretty good.