The Reds have brought in some players that will improve their talent on the field so now they have to start winning or the manager has to go.  Narron has managed 4 seasons in the majors and he’s never finished higher than third place.  He has a career record of 260-290 (.473) and that just won’t get it done for the Reds.

The Reds have brought in a lot of veterans to fill out their bullpen in 2007.  Look for 34 year old righty Dustin Hermanson to get first shot at closing games for the Reds in 2007.  He only pitched in 6 games last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.05 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.  He missed most of last season with a bad back but he’s looked pretty good this Spring and he did save 34 games in 2005 for the Chicago White Sox so he was a gamble worth taking for the Reds in 2007.

37 year old righty is David Weathers is 2nd in line for saves in Cincy.  He was 4-4 with 9 holds, 12 saves, a 3.54 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 67 games for the Reds in 2006.  He held batters to a .226 batting average last season but he allowed 12 homers and walked 34 batters in 73.2 innings last season and those are some of the reasons why he’s not going to be the closer this season.  He should have enough left in the tank to have one more solid season in 2007 for the Reds.

39 year old lefty Mike Stanton keeps rolling along and he should be pitching late in games for the Reds in 2007.  He was 7-7 with 15 holds, 8 saves, a 3.99 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 82 games for the Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants.  Look for Stanton to have enough left in the tank to be somewhat effective for the Reds this season.

Soon to be 40 year old lefty Rheal Cormier still has something left to offer the Reds.  He was 2-3 with 14 holds, a 2.44 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP in 64 games for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Reds.  Look for Cormier to help give the Reds good matchups late in games in 2007.

26 year old righty Todd Coffey will be pitching a little earlier in games this season for the Reds.  He was 6-7 with 15 holds, 8 saves, a 3.58 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in 81 games for the Reds in 2006.  Batters hit .274 against Coffey (lefties .347), so look for the Reds to play matchups with their bullpen and use him more against righties which should help him bring his ERA and WHIP down for the 2007 season for the Reds.

27 year old righty Gary Majewski had a rough season because his arm appeared to be injured when he came over from the Nationals in a trade last season.  He was 4-4 with 8 holds, a 4.61 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in 65 games with the Washington Nationals and the Reds.  If Majewski is healthy he will pitch well in 2007 because he’s a solid major league reliever.

23 year old lefty Bill Bray also came over from the Nationals in the same trade that Majewski did.  He was 3-2 with 2 holds, 2 saves, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP in 48 games for the Washington Nationals and the Reds.  Batters hit .284 against him (lefties .333) and he will have to do a better job missing bats if he wants to stick in the majors.

36 year old lefty Eddie Guardado will miss the first half of the 2007 season after having elbow surgery last season.  He was 1-3 with 2 holds, 13 saves, a 3.89 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in 43 games for the Seattle Mariners and the Reds in 2006.  Batters hit .297 (righties .324) against Guardado last season but he still whiffed 39 batters in 37 innings proving he still has a little bit left.  He will help the Reds when he returns from injury.

The Reds have released starting pitcher Paul Wilson and relief pitchers Kerry Ligtenberg and Brian Meadows.  Wilson was released because he pitched awful but the other guys were just caught in a numbers game.  Wilson was still trying to regain his skills after missing a lot of time the last couple of seasons due to a surgery he had in 2005.  From 2003-2005 Wilson compiled a 20-21 record.  He was getting ripped in Spring Training as he pitched in 5 games (2 starts) and he was 1-0 with a 8.10 and a 2.18 WHIP.  But allowing 29 baserunners in 13.1 innings is no way to make a team out of Spring Training.

Kerry Ligtenberg and Brian Meadows just weren’t going to make the Reds because too many pitchers were in front of them.  Ligtenberg was 1-0 with a save and a 1.69 ERA in 5 appearances.  Meadows was 1-0 with a save and a 3.38 ERA in 5 games. 

The Reds rotation looks top-heavy this season but some young arms could make it better in 2007.  30 year old righty Bronson Arroyo was acquired last spring in the Wily Mo Pena trade with the Red Sox and it has really worked out well for the Reds.  Arroyo was 14-11 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 35 starts for the Reds in 2006.  The only weak spot in Arroyo’s game was giving up the long ball as he allowed 31 homers last season but part of that was because of the Tee-ball field that the Reds play there home games in.  Batters only hit .243 against Arroyo and he whiffed 184 batters so his stuff was solid for the Reds all year long.  Look for Arroyo to win 15-17 games in 2007 with a sub-4.00 ERA.

Soon to be 29 year old righty Aaron Harang had by far his best season of his career in 2006 as he was 16-11 with a 3.76 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 36 games (35 starts) for the Reds.  Batters hit .269 against Harang last season but he didn’t walk many batters (2.15 per 9 innings) so that limited the damage.  Harang also whiffed a career high 216 batters last season and that was because of his aggressiveness in the strike zone.  Look for Harang to win another 15 games with an ERA of 3.75-3.99 in 2007.

31 year old lefty Eric Milton was 8-8 with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 26 starts for the Reds last season.  Milton gave up 29 homers in 152.2 innings last season and batters hit .269 against him.  Milton has been a huge disappointment to the Reds since signing him on December 27, 2004.  He is 16-23 in his two seasons for the Reds with a 5.72 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP and he’s allowed an amazing 69 homers!  Milton is a flyball pitcher in one of the smallest parks in baseball so he will be lucky to win 10 games and keep his ERA under 5.00.

28 year old righty Kyle Lohse was 5-10 with a 5.83 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP in 34 games (19 starts) for the Minnesota Twins and the Reds.  Lohse allowed 15 homers and a .298 batting average against him in 126.2 innings.  Lohse did pitch much better for the Reds than he did with the Twins and he still has good stuff.  Maybe he will be able to focus better in the National League which is historically the easier league to pitch in.  Look for Lohse to win 10-14 games with an ERA in the high 4’s in 2007 for the Reds.

30 year old righty Victor Santos was brought in to compete for the #5 spot in the rotation.  He was 5-9 with a 5.70 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP in 25 games (19 starts) for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006.  Santos doesn’t seem to be a good fit for the Reds small home park as he allowed batters to hit .321 with 16 homers against him last season.  Don’t expect much from him in 2007.

Soon to be 28 year old righty Kirk Saarloos was acquired in a trade with the Oakland A’s in the off-season.  He was 7-7 with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP in 35 games (16 starts) for the A’s in 2006.  Saarloos allowed batters to hit .308 against him with 19 homers in 121.1 innings last year so it seems like he might not be the best fit in Cincinnati.  But he is the favorite for the #5 job when camp opened.

24 year old righty Elizardo Ramirez was 4-9 with a 5.37 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in 21 games (19 starts) for the Reds in 2006.  He allowed batters to hit .293 against him with 14 homers in 104 innings.  Chances are that Ramirez will refine his skills in AAA before he gets another chance for the Reds, but he has decent stuff so he will be back.

26 year old righty Matt Belisle was 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP in 30 games (2 starts) for the Reds last season.  He has been a starter for most of his career in the minors so he will battle for the #5 job in the rotation for the Reds.  He does a good job of keeping the ball in the park which can not be said about some of his competitors for the job.

24 year old lefty Bobby Livingston will also throw his hat into the battle for the #5 spot.  He got blasted in 3 games for the Seattle Mariners last season as he gave up 9 hits, 10 earned runs and walked 6 batters (5 innings pitched).  He was 8-11 with a 4.59 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP in 23 games (22 starts) in AAA ball.  Look for him to begin the season in AAA.

Soon to be 21 year old righty Homer Bailey is the next great hope for the Reds rotation.  He was 10-6 with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 26 starts in A+AA ball.  He whiffed 156 batters in only 139 innings and only allowed 99 hits.  The Reds don’t want to rush him, but his time is coming soon.

It appears that 31 year old Ryan Freel will finally get a job all to himself in RF for the Reds.  He played in 132 games last season and he hit .271 with 67 runs scored, 8 homers, 27 RBIs, 37 stolen bases and a .762 OPS.  Freel will need to improve on defense in RF as he made 5 errors in only 42 games there last season, but he did show outstanding range because of his speed.  Look for Freel to have his best season ever now that he can settle in at one position.

28 year old Norris Hopper is a Ryan Freel clone.  He played in 111 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he hit .340 with 54 runs scored, 36 RBIs and 28 stolen bases.  He came up in September last season and he played in 21 games for the Reds and he hit .359 with 1 homer, 5 RBIs, 2 stolen bases and a .896 OPS.  He played in 13 games in RF for the Reds and he didn’t make an error while showing good range.  Look for Hopper to have a good chance of landing a back up job with the Reds.

Chris Denorfia also will get some PT in RF.  He played in 15 errorless games for the Reds in RF last season and he showed good range there.