Biggest Area of Concern

[Hubs]

I think it's offense.

 

Can they improve on their pitching? Yes. Will adding free agent starters necessarily do that? No. Other than David Price, Jordan Zimmerman, and Johnny Cueto are there any that would definitely upgrade the rotation? I think they have a lot of young depth, and need to use it, whether in their own rotation or to improve the offense.

 

They could spend $8or $10M on two impact relievers, which would significantly help the whole situation more than an $8M starter or an $8M bat. Darren O'Day and Tyler Clippard anyone?

 

Meanwhile, offensively, just about any league average hitter would improve their LF situation. It was the worst in the league. In 2014, 9 players managed to keep it just 0.1 games lower than average for 9th. That dropped to -2.5 wins below average. That means that basically Colin Cowgill as the full time left fielder in 2016 would be an improvement.

 

We know they have the best player in the game in CF. He had a better year in 2015.

 

In RF, Calhoun needs to cut down on his strikeouts. He had a better year in 2014, lets hope he gets back to that. He did hit more HR though, but his average dipped. He needs to hit .270+ to be a top of the order hitter. A true leadoff man would move him to 2nd, so that's one way of approaching it. 

 

At 1B, Pujols is your guy. His contract is untradeable. He is not going anywhere, except maybe to DH. Going forward, you just have to hope for 2012. I'd take the lower HR total for a higher average and OBP.

 

At 2B, Giavotella was significantly better than his competition offensively, but does anyone really expect him to be better than the average player he was last season? Granted the injury let a lot of subpar players see time there, but he still had 500 AB's. And the Angels had the 12th best production out of 15 at 2nd. They were 5th in 2014 with Kendrick.

 

At SS, Aybar had a significantly down year. Featherston wasn't good. They finished league average. Aybar isn't getting moved nor are there any options for improvement. This means that they have to just hope for a rebound. They can start by cutting down his games to the 140's instead of playing nearly everyday as he has for the past three seasons that Izturis has been gone. He should also stay in the 7-9 spots where he is the most comfortable. Interesting note, he was the best SS, statistically, offensively in the league in 2014. 

 

At 3B, Freese is a FA. Cowart or Kubitza is going to get that job. One will produce offensively, but not to Freese's level unless we're very lucky. An increase in production from SS and 2B should help.

 

At C, Perez showed some pop, but they need a veteran backup who can hit well. Bandy is likely the backup, so maybe get a guy who can Catch, play some first base and DH?

 

At DH, they were awful except Cron had a good two months. When Joyce or whomever else played DH, it was awful production. 

 

Here's the chart for production comparisons.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2015.shtml#team_output::none

 

They could add two impact hitters, maybe three, and move back to the top of the AL West. Adding David Price isn't going to fix things by itself.

 

Does anyone agree?

 

[tdawg87]

It's the biggest problem on a team with multiple problems, sure.

 

And if they only look to improve one area this winter then it should be the offense, because at least the pitching has some level of potential. But the reality is they need to improve everything. You can't ignore that the rotation is a serious area of concern. Maybe not as big as the offense overall, but that doesn't mean they should ignore trying to improve it altogether.

[tomsred]

Are you interviewing to be Eppler's new assistant, that's pretty good for an amateur.

[TroutField]

If the Reds were willing to do a Cron for Votto swap with the Reds eating some money on his deal would you do it?

[seenoevil]

1. Lead off hitter - (let's put some guys on base for Trout. Let's  utilized Trout while we still have him.

 

2. Relief pitching is atrocious. Since we don't have a Kershaw or a Bumgarner in the starting rotation, let's stack the BP with arms. We all know CJ Wilson is only good for 5 innings going over 100 pitches)

 

3. Cut the garbage hitters on the roster, I can't go another season with a player hitting under 200. Kalhoun, Trout , bring in an every day LF who can hit at least above 250 jesus

Edited October 6, 2015 by seenoevil

[Adam]

If the Reds were willing to do a Cron for Votto swap with the Reds eating some money on his deal would you do it?

Lol

[Guest]

If the Reds were willing to do a Cron for Votto swap with the Reds eating some money on his deal would you do it?

Lol are you for real? 

[Blarg]

1. Lead off hitter - (let's put some guys on base for Trout. Let's  utilized Trout while we still have him.

 

2. Relief pitching is atrocious. Since we don't have a Kershaw or a Bumgarner in the starting rotation, let's stack the BP with arms. We all know CJ Wilson is only good for 5 innings going over 100 pitches)

 

3. Cut the garbage hitters on the roster, I can't go another season with a player hitting under 200. Kalhoun, Trout , bring in an every day LF who can hit at least above 250 jesus

 

Is Kalhoun that new guy that botched all those plays at 3rd base on Sunday or am I thinking Giovanelli?

[Troll Daddy]

It's a shame we didn't have the chips to pull off a Cole Hamels trade. This is something I was hoping for way back when. Three year contract with a option is very friendly. I believe that trade would of been the difference in making the playoffs.

 

This team needs a #1 pitcher desperately ... it's going to be costly but I ranked that as my #1 priority. My #2 priority is a guy like Chris Davis ... someone to bat cleanup and DH/1B. I think we can trade for a left fielder who can leadoff and provide some speed on the bases. Will have to gamble with our your prospects at 3B. We can always fine tune everything before the trade deadline.
 

I'm very curious to see what Eppler has in mind this off season.

[WallyWorld]

Don't know how anyone could not say it's the offense. Outside of one short stretch, it was consistently awful all season.

[Chimi]

If the Reds were willing to do a Cron for Votto swap with the Reds eating some money on his deal would you do it?

Whenever you think of a trade proposal ask yourself the same question but from a Reds perspective. If you won't do it then it's a bad trade. And that's an awful trade for the Reds.

[Brandon]

If the Reds were willing to do a Cron for Votto swap with the Reds eating some money on his deal would you do it?

+1

[DowningRules]

I'm a novice when it comes to who would be a good contributor to the offense.  I just dont know enough about the other teams.

 

How would any of you improve the offense.  I presume it only needs to be improved, by position, at:  3rd (assuming freese is a goner), left field, catcher (Perez is going to be Molina-like, but he's a 1-2 years away), DH, and the bench...probably 2nd base too but Giav. was clutch in September.

 

Help me understand.  Thanks.

[Stradling]

I agree that offense is the biggest area of concern despite what the stats say. At least all of our starters are passable major league starters, even if Weaver isn't good anymore he's still a major league pitcher. The only one you can argue isn't a major league pitcher that pitched down the stretch is Bedrosian and he has the stuff he's just inconsistent. You certainly can not say that about our offense.

[JoJo26]

[TroutField]

The Reds were listening to trade offers for him earlier in the season along with Chapman, they obviously are thinking rebuild. Cron in that stadium would do great.

[ScottT]

Don't spend much on relievers. See what Gott, Morin, Rasmus, and Bedrosian do next year.  You've already got Street and Smith earning over $13 million combined.  If that group doesn't pan out, you can always fix the bullpen later.  Like in 2014.

[tdawg87]

The Reds were listening to trade offers for him earlier in the season along with Chapman, they obviously are thinking rebuild. Cron in that stadium would do great.

 

But, are you legitimately suggesting a straight up trade of Cron for Votto? Votto is one of the top 5 hitters in baseball. Arguably top 3.

[arch stanton]

The most obvious thing that's missing is someone, anyone, who can get on base and run. Whether that player slots as an OF, 2B, 3B, doesn't really matter. If you can find that then you can fill the other voids and the second most glaring hole is a solid lefty bat.

 

If they're going to spend big money on a free agent it has to be a starter who can bypass the middle relievers like Price.

[ten ocho recon scout]

The offense is priority 1, no way around it. The problem is the parts we need arent really available in FA (none of the big 3 jump out at me personally), were going to have to overpay for FAs that wont wolve it all with an owner whos gun shy about spending too much (regardless of todays quotes), abd we have little to trade for the needed pieces (LF, 3B, C).

An upton or cespedes gives us a LF who can provide some thump in the moto, but neither are perfect. Both will cost a shit ton and wont solve the leadoff problem or back of the order issues. So lets say we sign span, an idea i like, but then were still going with a trout, pujols, cron moto....not sure that solves much. It helps obviously, but i have serious doubt pujols repeats his june, and without it...

If we could somehow flip pitching to get a real 3B that can hit (no clue who that would wven be, there arent many, and rhose who can are locked up), we could sign span and a big name pitcher and probably be in business. If we sign upton, and somehow get a 3B or 2B that are more likely to be good on base guys, that works too.

Span and upton (not feasible, just for argument sake in terms of what they bring) could solve a whole lot. The problem is we only have 1 OF spot.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Something else to add, as much as i like calhoun (a lot), i think we might be overrating him. Hes a very, very good overall talent in terms of bat/glove/baserunning, but his bat might not be as good as we all kind of see it. I see his bat as more of a howie one, great for lineup depth, not so great if hes a main piece. I could be totally wrong about that. But i dont see him having enough power as a moto guy, or a high enough obp to be an asset as a table setter. Again, solid overall body of work, just (imo) better suited as a an addition than a main piece.

Then again with a real leadoff hitter, hes a good option batting 2cd in front of trout

[deepdrive]

My biggest concern is the management - at all levels.

[Angel Oracle]

I was thinking Span today, but will he be able to recover from the hip surgery?

Won't that ultimately zap his speed?

Murphy is the type of lefty hitter ideal for Angel Stadium: gap to gap hitter.

But although having a few big hits, his OBP was sub .300 here.

Are there any other viable solid enough LFs who won't cost 8 years/$175 million like Heyward may?

Let Cowart/Kubitza duke it out for 3B.

Hope Giovatella and Cron improve defensively.

Hope Gott can bridge Smith in the 7th to Street in the 9th. Improve his change up for starters.

Above all, has Arte Moreno finally wised up, and will be smarter with his money.

Spending is nice. Spending smart is even better.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[tomsred]

My biggest concern is the management - at all levels.

 

Great players can overcome incompetent management, but incompetent players can't be fixed by great management.  Not sure if that's true, but it might be.

Edited October 6, 2015 by tomsred

[tomsred]

I was thinking Span today, but will he be able to recover from the hip surgery?

Won't that ultimately zap his speed?

Murphy is the type of lefty hitter ideal for Angel Stadium: gap to gap hitter.

But although having a few big hits, his OBP was sub .300 here.

Are there any other viable solid enough LFs who won't cost 8 years/$175 million like Heyward may?

Let Cowart/Kubitza duke it out for 3B.

Hope Giovatella and Cron improve defensively.

Hope Gott can bridge Smith in the 7th to Street in the 9th. Improve his change up for starters.

Above all, has Arte Moreno finally wised up, and will be smarter with his money.

Spending is nice. Spending smart is even better.

Here's my shot at the issues you raised.

 

I'd be wary of the hip surgery on a speedster, that one is pretty risky.

 

I don't think Murphy is a difference maker.  He's more of a bench guy.

 

Doesn't Zobrist also play left field in addition to the infield.  He could cover a lot of positions and virtually play everyday.  Keep Cowgill, I think he will bounce back to some degree, and he's a great defender and backup to give Trout  a blow.

 

I agree with the Kubitza/Cowart duke out, but I want to know exactly what Freeze will cost for no more than the next two years before deciding.

 

Cron got better defensively in September, he's probably good enough for now.  Giavotella, love him offensively, we need a good backup in case he flails defensively, someone a whole lot better than Featherston.

 

I agree on Gott with what you said.

 

I think Arte will be real open to supporting Eppler financially after the Dipoto mess.

 

Good questions by the way!

Edited October 6, 2015 by tomsred