Wheelimus

Eh, i'm not sure there was any point you would have gotten more than this for Doobie. Maybe when he had that bloated line earlier in the year from feasting on lefties.

Well, I mean, talent wise, it's a good deal. Doobie wasn't going to get his shot here, and if Gerut can channel his '02 AAA line of .322/.401/.399/.800 (yes, only 183 AB, his AA line of the same year in 256 wasn't too shabby either, .281/.368/.461/.829) in the big leagues, I'd be estatic. An upgrade to Grieve on the bench, and would probably outperform Hollandsworth. Hmm....

Always possible Gerut is going to be spun in another deal I suppose...

Well, all in all, it was clear Doobie was never going to get a shot with the team this year, and next year, he either stuck in the bigs or someone was going to claim him when we sent him down. So it's good to get something for him. Gerut is interesting. Here's his minor league stats YearTeamGABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOSBCSOBPSLGAVG1999 A-SALEM133499801443311116361652512 .367 .465 .2892000 AA-CAROLINA1093624810332335776541811 .405 .414 .2852001-INJURED00000000----00 --- --- ---2002AAA-BUFFALO55183315972121232035 .401 .399 .3222002 AA-AKRON6525644721529393430178 .368 .461 .2812003AAA-BUFFALO1765131850519111140 .377 .585 .277TOTALS:37913652163969218291992051806736 .382 .448 .290

Confirmed, CBS Sportsline http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/players/playerpage/129311 (see player news)

Yeah, I think we really dropped the ball on Moises. We didn't even think of resigning him because we weren't sure about Sosa, but still, be honest and tell the guy this. Maybe he says "ok, how about a 1 year, $5 mil contract, with incentives to get me to a fair level if I repeat this season?" Never know if you don't ask.

Hmm, marginal prospect(s) for Pierre (since it's a firesale and they won't be able to afford him). Hairston and Patterson to the Reds for Dunn :lol:

Honestly, wins are wins, and we need to win 5 more than anyone else in the wild card standing list. That's all I care about :D But lets make that 10 to be safe...

Well, it's not that it's 100% impossible to catch the Cards. I mean, stranger things have happened. To be quite honest, I would much rather see The Cardinals mow down our competition for the wild card, and us mow them down in our series :lol: Then, if we find ourselves atop the wild card standings and the Red birds in our sight, hey, go for it. But what I don't want to see happen is us take control of the wild card, and do anything stupid in a futile attempt to win the division. If there are 10 games left, you're 5 up in the wild card, and 4 back from the Cardinals, concede and get your team in playoff shape.

Have we not learnt the golden rule of baseball? If your team has a guy who has all the tools in the world, but can't put it together, if your team trades him, he will put it together and you'll kick yourself FOREVER. If your team doesn't trade him, he will never put it together you'll kick yourself FOREVER.

Thanks for the in depth stats Fred! And while I'm with everyone here literally begging Jim Hendry to add an impact bat in left field and someone to set the table for Ryan Dempster, I think we need to respect the changes that have already happened. For the rest of the year (unless while in Iowa a secret brain transplant between Brock and Patterson happens) 1 & 2 in the order should be Hairston->Walker. Hell, print Dusty up lineup cards with that already typed. He can cross the name out if he needs to give either a rest day :lol: Just imagine where our season might be if DLee had come up with runners on base more often in the first half. Holla is a weak link too it appears, damn, I wasn't aware how weak he'd gone of late, heh, blue colored glasses I suppose. Hopefully he broke out of it in the Pittsburgh series, because we're going to need him to produce if no upgrade happens. Here's a random thought, are there any teams with a need at Starting Pitcher bad enough that Glendon Rusch would be appealing, who could return us a quality reliever? Just dying for someone to set the table for Ryan, because with our rotation, we should only be worrying about someone for the 6th and 7th once each trip through said rotation.

Well, right now Holla has earned his playing time. I'm fine with him finishing the year out with a .370 OBP each month if he'd like :lol: I'm not going to count on Williamson for too much. Certainly shouldn't bet on him helping out. Nomar will be the big variable here. If he really is back, and at least 90% health wise, that's a huge upgrade.

I'm not too high on him, I think that Hairston will probably give you similiar production. Winn has a $5 mil team option for next year, and if they decline, Winn gets a $3.75 option. Hairston will cost less, provide as much or more...

The trade deadline is a couple weeks off. I think we all expect Jim Hendry to make a move, but what if we get surprised and there is no move? You'll see by my sig that I'm not a Dusty Baker fan, and my optimism as far as this team goes has wavered, but looking at things realistically, I think we have a good shot, whether we upgrade in LF or not. Prior and Wood being back are huge. Both seem to be getting into the grove, and honestly, when Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Zambrano are on the mound, if your team gives you anything you should have a chance to win. The offense has really came on during our recent streak. I think Hairston and Walker being at the top of the order is huge. The question mark there is Hairston. He's having a cold July, and his June wasn't great. He needs to get on base at a .350 clip minimum. That's what you're at the top of the order for. I'd like to see Walker get his OBP for the month back up there too, but kind of hard to badmouth a guy who has had a hit in every game this month but 2. Lee and Ramirez are just a deadly punch in the lineup, not much else to say about them. Pure All stars. And Jeromy Burnitz has been deadly of late. In fact, the guy has been deadly since the calender turned off of May. Heck, i'd love to see what his season stats are if you remove his horrid May of .226/.281/.340/.621 Say what you will about him, but the same goes for Todd Hollandsworth. Since the calender hit June, he's been on fire. Neifi is the weak link right now, that's for sure. Nomar Garciaparra better be back and able to play by August 1st, or we better be giving Cedeno starts NOW. Barrett seems back in it, what scares me with him is all year he's gone hot/cold month to month. Case in point, crappy April, hot March, crappy June, hot July. What he's been doing of late though that he hasn't done all year is take a walk. That's crucial. If he can get on base at a .350 clip through the rest of the year, that's going to be major in the lineup. The bench is the bench. Grieve needs to stay for the rest of the year, if Holla is our everyday LF, Grieve is our lefty bench bat. Sorry Adam, you took one for the team, get healthy, finish up in the minors, see you soon. Macias needs to be cut yesterday. Though he is hitting .357 in July...haha. Ronny needs to go back down if he isn't going to be used. Guess that'll happen August 1st is Nomar comes back. Ditto for Murton. If he's just getting starts against lefties, send the guy down and don't stunt his development. Trade for a replacement on the bench or get Doobie back up here. Already noted that Z, Wood, and Mark need to continue to be awesome. Maddux is Maddux, hopefully the 2nd half thing holds true. Tomorrow is a big day for Jerome. We need a guy in the 5th starter spot who will give us a quality start everytime. Hopefully it's Jerome... The bullpen, well, that's always going to be worth biting your nails I think. Dempster is gold, just start getting him the ball more often, as in, be ahead 1 to 3 runs in the 9th (of course, 10 is better, ha, just make sure and give Dempster enough finish up jobs anyway to keep him sharp). Mitre has settled down into the bullpen it seems. Glendon is having a rough time in the pen. We really need Wuertz to be consistent. Despite giving up a run today I still have faith in Ohman :). Novoa is still a bit of a question mark. And as for Remmy, since the calender hit July, he's been back. If the guy has one last run left in him, this is the time. All in all, as is I think we can win the wild card. I think a change in manager would make that more likely than a change in players, ha, but that's not happening. Honestly, if a move is to be made, I'd like to see an impact player come to the pen than the offense, I think the offense has turned the corner and can handle things. So...what do you think?

Not, it'd be kind of like the epic Mantle/Maris chase back in the day.

The move "DDT" got it's name from a rather infamous pesticide that had the nasty habit of killing birds, other wildlife, and the occasional human being. The alternate definition was supplied by the infamous Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and that is "the end" Although what Farnsy did there wasn't a DDT, if I had to call it as a wrestling move, i'd call it as a reverse bulldog (seeing as Affedlt landed on his stomach, not his back) :D Heh, he did try to body slam Affedlt, but at the last minute, Affedlt just DDT'd him. What is DDT'd?

Trick is, the 'Stros won't give what they want, so we don't have to top it, just be in the ballpark. What would really own here would be a 3 team trade it seems. Such as Cubs get Adam Dunn, high ceiling position prospect from Braves (have no clue who that would be, don't follow their system) Reds get Corey Patterson, Sergio Mitre, good pitching prospect from us, and a couple of "relatively high ceiling, but no sure thing" pitching prospects from Braves. Braves get Greg Maddux and cash Braves need pitching, we get them Greg back for the big reunion thingie. So what if we pay him some cash to play there, we're out the $ anyway. We get Adam freaking Dunn and a good prospect. Don't give up anything we can't live without. Hairston becomes permanent fixture at CF, slide Dunn into left, and we're going to kick some tail. Let Glendon move into the rotation.

With the base on balls being 2nd best on the team... Nobody EVER said that, when you get Jeromy Burnitz, you're aren't getting a guy who is going to strike out 100 times a year. But you're also getting a guy who has gotten his butt on base at a .340 minimum in every year since 99, other than his horrid '02 season and half of '03. This isn't anything new. Case in point, looks like his best years with the Brewers weren't a fluke, neither the comeback year last year in Colorado. Guy just needed to shoot fish in a barrel once to get his confidence back :lol: Honestly, with the crappy free agent list next year, if I'm Jim Hendry, i go to him and say "can we forget about the option next year which is going to be a little too expensive for the team, and resign you for $5 or $6 mil?" Worth every penny.

Want to bet? **calls up contact in the Bush Administration, delivers information of new terrorist suspects (Pujols, Eckstein, Rolen, Edmonds, Carpenter, Mulder, Morris), HELLLOOooooo Gitmo** :lol:

Right now i'll take the OBP over the power. Maybe he's realized that for the good of the team he needs to either make the pitcher give him a pitch to nail, or take the base. And it sure seems the guys are recognizing who the gamers are and are taking the lead :D

Corey gives the Reds an established center fielder with high upside. Allows them to shift Griffey to a corner and deal Kearns for a handful of great pitching prospects. What about this deal Corey Patterson, Sergio Mitre, and near MLB ready pitching prospect (Hill?) for Adam Dunn and a good quality position player prospect? Mitre will own at the GABP. Then you can think about trading Glendon Rusch for a few high ceiling prospects to an AL contender or something (I think Ohman can come up and handle LOOGY). I like the idea myself...

Love Reds/Cubs threads because I work with one of the more enthusiastic Reds fans I've ever known, so we always get good convo out of it. And he won't shut up that the Reds need to deal Dunn (before he gets more expensive and teams know they have the Reds over a barrel) to the Cubs for pitching. He wants Patterson (for some reason he thinks the Reds could turn him around and Griffey could help on that end), Mitre, and a prospect or two.

But, lets be honest here.. Difference in number of World Series won in that timespan with Raffy instead of Grace? 0 'Nuff said really. No year that Palmeiro's power would have really put us over the top. MAYBE you could argue in '98, but then you have to wonder "would he have even stayed around that long".

Well, hopefully the franchise saved some of Nomars salary this year with insurance... Thing is, when healthy (and that's been the big if for the past two seasons) Nomar is godly. I'd hate to see him go somewhere else and rebuild his career, because on a team that is OBP horrid, the guy has a career .368 OBP. If he's willing to take a low dollar contract ($4 million?) with incentives to get him to what he's worth if he's healthy, I go for it. But Ronny needs to be the backup next year and he needs to get a lot of playing time, because you never know...

Eh, he's in. With it very likely that 300 wins will not be reached by many pitchers anytime soon, I think that number will start to come down. 250 is more likely. Whether, when that happens, old pitchers who are still waiting to get in will, remains to be seen.