Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are set up well at 2B for 2010

chinmusic — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:14:54 +0000

28-year old righty swinging Brandon Phillips is the best player on the Reds right now. He played in 153 games for the Reds last season and he was 161 for 584 (.276 avg, .776 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 20 homers, 98 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Since coming over in a trade (robbery) from the Indians four years ago, Phillips has averaged 82.5 runs scored, 22 homers, 86.3 RBIs and 26.3 stolen bases per season. Phillips is also a very solid defensive 2B for the Reds. He played in 151 games at 2B for the Reds last season and he made 9 errors while showing above average range.

33-year old switch-hitting Aaron Miles will likely be the top backup infielder for the Reds this season. He played in 74 games for the Cubs last season and he was 29 for 157 (.185 avg, .466 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Reds hope that Miles will rebound and hit more to his career norms of a .282 batting average with a .678 OPS. Miles made 2 errors in 35 games at 2B for the Cubs last season while showing good range.

35-year old righty swinging Miguel Cairo will compete with Miles for the top utility job in the infield in 2010. He played in 27 games for the Phillies last season and he was 12 for 45 (.267 avg, .705 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Cairo played in 5 error-free games at 2B for the Phillies last season while still showing good range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: A

The Cincinnati Reds acquire Aaron Miles from the A’s

chinmusic — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:52:22 +0000

The Cincinnati Reds have acquired 33-year old switch-hitting infielder Aaron Miles and either a player to be named later or cash for 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Willy Taveras and 26-year old righty swinging 3B Adam Rosales. Miles will probably be the Reds’ top infield back-up at 2B, SS and 3B if he has a good spring. Miles played in 74 games for the Cubs last season and he was 29 for 157 (.185 avg, .466 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Miles has now played in 717 games in his major league career and he is 629 for 2,234 (.282 avg, .678 OPS) with 284 runs scored, 16 homers, 175 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.

The Reds are probably doing cartwheels because they got rid of Taveras who was a complete bust in his only year with the Reds. He played in 102 games for the Reds last season and he was 97 for 404 (.240 avg, .559 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 1 homer, 15 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. 26-year old righty swinging 3B Adam Rosales was the player the A’s wanted in this deal. He played in 87 games for the Reds last season and he was 49 for 230 (.213 avg, .620 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers and 19 RBIs. Rosales played in 105 games in his two years with the Reds and he was 55 for 259 (.212 avg, .605 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. It was worth trading Rosales to help the Reds rid of Taveras.

The Cincinnati Reds sign Orlando Cabrera

chinmusic — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:16:03 +0000

The Reds have signed 35-year old righty swinging shortstop Orlando Cabrera to a 1-year, $4 million bucks. Cabrera played in 160 games for the A’s and Twins last season he was 186 for 656 (.284 avg, .705 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 9 homers, 77 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,732 games in his 13 years in the majors and he is 1,818 for 6,618 (.275 avg, .720 OPS) with 882 runs scored, 114 homers, 761 RBIs and 197 stolen bases. This was a great signing for the Reds as Cabrera is a good hitter who has won 2 Gold Gloves in his career. He is a huge upgrade over Paul Janish who will go back to coming off the bench for the Reds in 2010.

Fred Norman pitched his best baseball for the Cincinnati Reds

chinmusic — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:30:33 +0000

Little lefty starting pitcher Fred Norman was lucky enough to pitch for the Reds during the time of the Big Red Machine. He pitched in 231 games (196 starts) in seven years with the Reds and he was 85-64 with 1 save, a 3.43 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. The Reds brought out the best in Norman because he did not pitch too well for anyone else in his major league career. He pitched 9 years for teams other than the Reds working in 172 games (72 starts) in which he was 19-39 with 7 saves, a 4.08 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Norman was a unsung hero for the great Reds’ teams of the 1970’s.

The Cincinnati Reds need Joey Votto for the whole season in 2010

chinmusic — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:23:03 +0000

26-year old lefty swinging Joey Votto is probably the Reds’ best hitter so they need him healthy and focused the whole season in 2010. Votto played in 131 games for the Reds last season and he was 151 for 469 (.322 avg, .981 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 25 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Reds are putting a lot of faith in Votto as they don’t really have a back-up for him on the major league roster. Votto needs to improve his defense some as he made 10 errors in 130 games for the Reds at 1B last season.

22-year old lefty swinging 1B Yonder Alonso is one of the Reds’ best prospects and they would likely give him a call if Votto got injured and Alonso was playing well in the minors at that time. Alonso played in 84 games in Rookie+A+AA-ball last season in which he was 86 for 295 (.292 avg, .838 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 9 homers and 52 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: B+

The Cincinnati Reds sign Miguel Cairo

chinmusic — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:49:53 +0000

The Reds have signed 35-year old righty swinging infielder Miguel Cairo to a minor league deal. Cairo played in 27 games for the Phillies last season and he was 12 for 45 (.267 avg, .705 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 1,227 games in his major league career and he is 893 for 3,361 (.266 avg, .672 OPS) with 432 runs scored, 28 homers, 320 RBIs and 128 stolen bases. This was a good little signing for the Reds as Cairo should be able to help them off the bench in 2010 if he makes the team.

The Cincinnati Reds sign Jose Arredondo

chinmusic — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:05:18 +0000

The Reds have signed 25-year old righty reliever Jose Arredondo to a minor league deal. He is going to have Tommy John Surgery right before spring training starts but the Reds have their eyes on him for the future. Arredondo pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Angels last season and he was 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He has now pitched in 95 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 12-5 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has only allowed 89 hits in 106 innings in the majors while whiffing 102 batters. This was a great move for the Reds as Arredondo could come back throwing heat in 2011.

The Cincinnati Reds are looking solid behind the plate in 2010

chinmusic — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:37:36 +0000

33-year old righty swinging Ramon Hernandez and 29-year old righty swinging Ryan Hanigan give the Reds an outstanding pair of defensive catchers. Hernandez will be the starter because he is the better hitter of the two. He played in 81 games for the Reds last season and he was 74 for 287 (.258 avg, .698 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 5 homers and 37 RBIs. Hernandez has more power than he showed last season and he will likely hit 15-20 homers in 2010 if he can just stay healthy. Hernandez only had 1 error and he didn’t have any passed balls in 55 games behind the plate for the Reds last season. He also threw out 25% of the runners trying to steal on him in 2009 and Reds’ pitchers had a 4.41 ERA with him behind the plate.

Ryan Hanigan would be an all-star type of catcher if he just hit a little bit more. He played in 90 games for the Reds last season and he was 66 for 251 (.263 avg, .692 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 3 homers and 11 RBIs. The RBI number (11) is the one of the main reasons that the Reds brought back Hernandez instead of giving Hanigan a shot at starting in 2010. But, he is an outstanding defensive catcher. He only had 1 error and 3 passed balls in 88 games behind the plate for the Reds last season. He also threw out 40% of the runners trying to steal on him last year and Reds’ pitchers had a 4.27 ERA when throwing to him.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: B

The Cincinnati Reds sign Aroldis Chapman

chinmusic — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:24:26 +0000

The Reds have signed 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Aroldis Chapman to a 5-year, $25 million dollar contract with a option for a sixth season valued at $5 million bucks. Chapman really brings the heat often throwing his fastball in the high 90’s. The Reds will likely start him in the minors but they won’t hesitate to call him up if he is dominating down there. This was a good gamble for the Reds who need pitching but they have a lot of holes on the major league roster that could have been fixed with the kind of money they gave Chapman so they need him to be a force in the very near future.

George Foster was the silent assassin of the Cincinnati Reds in the 70’s

chinmusic — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:45:47 +0000

The Big Red Machine was one of the best collections of players in major league history and starting LF George Foster often gets lost when talking about those teams. That is a shame because he was a dominating player especially in 1977 when he won the MVP of the National League. Foster played in 158 games for the Reds in 1977 and he was 197 for 615 (.320 avg, 1.013 OPS) with 124 runs scored, 52 homers, 149 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. In fact for a three year span (1976-1978) he might have been the best hitter on the Reds. In those three years, Foster played in 460 games in which he was 539 for 1,781 (.303 avg) with 307 runs scored, 121 homers, 390 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Foster played 11 years for the Reds appearing in 1,253 games in which he was 1,276 for 4,454 (.286 avg, .870 OPS) with 680 runs scored, 244 homers, 861 RBIs and 46 stolen bases. Foster is #6 all-time in OPS for the Reds, #6 in homers and #9 in RBIs. Foster might not be a Hall of Fame player but he was great with the Reds.