I'm starting a band called The Ricky Karcher Experience.
Reds
- Thread starter mrschwump
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Some of us here have been giving Nick Krall praise for the job he is doing. Dating back to the last trade deadline I've had nothing but praise for the work he has done restocking the farm system. Working with some of the worst contracts in Reds history that he had no part of handing out and one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, his job is one of the toughest if not the hardest GM job in the league. He doesn't have the Dodgers, Mets or Yankees budget that can absorb many mistakes and move on sooner.
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Reds take the series 5-4, 3rd series win in a row. Diaz 16th save this year, 21 saves in a row. Hope they make it a sweep tomorrow before the series in Houston. Brandon Williamson 1st career win!
What have you done for me lately? Karcher, Duarte, et al will keep the Cincy-Louisville road hot for the remainder of the year.
Weird game, KC's really bad while Reds showing signs of playing to the competition level.
Have to think there might be a couple of DFA's in the mix. Myers maybe? Casili? I don't profess to know the ins and outs of League service time, options, DFA's, etc. The only thing Casili has brought to this team is he caught Hunter Green's best couple of games. Maile's had a better bat. Does Barerro, Hopkins, Benson all go back to make room? There's definitely a logjam that needs to be fixed.
As much as I want Hopkins to get his chances and at 26, he's paid his dues. If he and Barrero can't even get on the field with the injuries to Fraley, Myers and Friedl before that, AAA is likely best them to get consistent at-bats. Barrero could have used it anyway and Hopkins, just letting his bat get cold playing sparingly. Fairchild has actually been pretty decent the last week or so, Benson has been playing well too earning his roster spot and of course Friedl. So starts to go around the outfield are few right now. Also Steer getting LF action and Fraley shouldn't be out too long.
If this site is close to correct which it is usually on the more optimistic end of injury time frames, the Reds could be getting back Derek Law, Votto, Myers, Senzel, Fraley & Santillan in less than a week.
2025 Cincinnati Reds Injuries - MLB
Full Cincinnati Reds injuries for the 2025 season including date of injury, player's position and injury status. Find out the latest on your favorite MLB players on CBSSports.com.
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He was promoted to Chattanooga last June. Hopefully he isn't long for getting the call to Louisville and at some point debut for the Reds in 2024. Both Phillips & Richardson have been pitching well in AA in 2023.
Krall takes no blame for the decisions of ownership and past GM's but I suppose the case to criticize him might involve waiting a year or two too long to seemingly complete the shake-up of the roster. After all he was promoted in 2018.
The optimist in me would counter that he saved many of the younger prospects the embarrassment and mental anguish of a 100-loss season. The truth is often somewhere in the middle.
There are no perfect General Managers but the Reds have someone in Nick Krall. I agree that saving some of these guys from the 100 loss season has been huge and created a winning mindset that this team really hasn't had for years now. Coming up together, it's all new and can put the losing in Cincinnati behind if all goes right.
I don't entirely blame decisions after his promotion on him when oftentimes he was just a puppet on a string with 3 executives all being Reds GMs including him, Dick Williams & Walt Jocketty having a part in the Reds misery over the years. Once they cleared out the way, Williams getting out of town and Krall being able to do his job it is starting to pay dividends. Walt was great for St. Louis and the Dusty teams though it wasn't built to last. I believe the Reds had to go for it 2021 after making the postseason in 2020. Barring some key injuries that season, 2021 could have been an incredible year. Haven't agreed with a lot of the decisions, perhaps some of that was more anger and impatience over years of losing but there have been some awful contracts no doubt. Never was huge on Moustakas before Cincinnati but no one in their wildest dreams could have imagined it going that bad.
Krall has made extremely difficult decisions to trade Reds fan favorites who were All-Stars in this organization and 1 year later sitting in contention to win the division in mid-June. As far as I'm concerned, going forward is all that matters. What he has done loading up the farm system as the #5 rated in all of MLB is incredible. The Tampa Bay model is in place so long as they stay committed, don't get impatient making hasty decisions trading for rentals at this time and let these young guys develop.
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Much to agree with here. I think Jocketty was gone by 2018 but who knows what the inner communications within the organization looks like with people like the Castellini's. Dick Williams is different. He's the son and nephew of minority owners now and also during the Big Red Machine era. An insider then and perhaps even now.
Also hard to gauge how long Krall's commitment to the rebuild has been although it's essentially done as of now.
In addition, there was no guarantee a former player, who's also the son of management, would be the right guy to lead these young men on the field in David Bell. This is his first managerial job but no way did I feel this team was ready to compete in 2023. I was totally wrong. But frankly I couldn't care less about rankings. What matters in this city is production and the near future. We seem to have an abundance of such things nowadays.
Steer goes yard again! Another fine Reds rookie on a team with plenty of young, cheap options.
This article reads like Dick Williams' parents wrote it but also gives a perspective to the previous GM's and their challenges.
redscontentplus.com
Thoughts on Dick Williams departure and what comes next for the Reds
Reds fans received surprising news this morning that President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams is resigning to return to the private sector. By all accounts, this was a decision made by Willia…
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McLain 3-run bomb. Big boy territory on that one. India big fly too! Enjoying the offensive production tonight. Hope it carries into Houston!
Nope, can't forget him but I'm sure everyone is watching anyways instead of waiting on an update in this thread lol
Jocketty may still be around as an executive advisor to Bob though the Reds.com FO page, could not find him listed anywhere. You put it best, who the hell knows the people on the inside when it comes to the Castellini's. https://www.redlegnation.com/2022/0...stellini-and-walt-jocketty-coming-back-oh-my/ As far as David Bell, fans want to bring nepotism into it when looking for a reason to ditch him but it is ignorance seeing how well the Reds are playing 1 year removed from the 100 loss season. Has experience as a manager within the organization with the Mudcats at the time as well as the Bats. Gained even more valuable experience on the Cubs, Giants & Cardinals staff. Being a first year MLB manager then has its risk but that's water under the bridge now.
Rankings are a gauge for the depth of prospects in this organization. The number itself doesn't guarantee anything though it gives me hope with the talented prospects filled in the pipeline and we're starting to see that production take place in 2023.
Ranking all 30 farm systems
Many have come at the king. So far, they’ve still all missed. The Orioles retain the top spot in the MLB Pipeline Farm System Rankings for the fourth consecutive time between preseason and midseason lists. Since Pipeline began ranking systems in 2015, only one other organization has claimed No. 1
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5. Cincinnati Reds
2022 midseason rank: 4
2022 preseason rank: 15
2021 midseason rank: 10
2021 preseason rank: 20
Jumped from 20th and up to 4th at one point. Think it is safe to say Krall maximized the talent in return on the trades. Reds curb stomped Minnesota in that Mahle trade. This is why I trust Nick Krall building up the farm system and has it where Cincinnati can copy the Rays small market approach reaching down in the minors for the next man up to fill holes. Obviously they can't afford to keep everyone but the Hunter Greene extension was a great start.
Frankly the book is still open on Krall and Bell but I'm really liking what the near future brings. And yeah Steer alone was a steal for Mahle yet they got a lot more in that deal with CES on the way. Although it would not surprise me to see EDLC getting sent back to Louisville to work on the breaking balls and to get Barrero more work in CF.Jocketty may still be around as an executive advisor to Bob though the Reds.com FO page, could not find him listed anywhere. You put it best, who the hell knows the people on the inside when it comes to the Castellini's. https://www.redlegnation.com/2022/0...stellini-and-walt-jocketty-coming-back-oh-my/ As far as David Bell, fans want to bring nepotism into it when looking for a reason to ditch him but it is ignorance seeing how well the Reds are playing 1 year removed from the 100 loss season. Has experience as a manager within the organization with the Mudcats at the time as well as the Bats. Gained even more valuable experience on the Cubs, Giants & Cardinals staff. Being a first year MLB manager then has its risk but that's water under the bridge now.
Rankings are a gauge for the depth of prospects in this organization. The number itself doesn't guarantee anything though it gives me hope with the talented prospects filled in the pipeline and we're starting to see that production take place in 2023.
Ranking all 30 farm systems
Many have come at the king. So far, they’ve still all missed. The Orioles retain the top spot in the MLB Pipeline Farm System Rankings for the fourth consecutive time between preseason and midseason lists. Since Pipeline began ranking systems in 2015, only one other organization has claimed No. 1
5. Cincinnati Reds
2022 midseason rank: 4
2022 preseason rank: 15
2021 midseason rank: 10
2021 preseason rank: 20
Jumped from 20th and up to 4th at one point. Think it is safe to say Krall maximized the talent in return on the trades. Reds curb stomped Minnesota in that Mahle trade. This is why I trust Nick Krall building up the farm system and has it where Cincinnati can copy the Rays small market approach reaching down in the minors for the next man up to fill holes. Obviously they can't afford to keep everyone but the Hunter Greene extension was a great start.
As far as I'm concerned, both Bell & Krall are doing their job well and trust where the team is going with them at the helm.
Another player that the Reds need to call up is Encarnacion-Strand. He is hitting .350 with 17 homers and 56 rbi's in 44 games at Louisville. I know they have said that both Cruz and Strand earlier in their careers played briefly at time in the outfield. They have also said that India and Steer have played in the outfield earlier in their careers. I just believe hitting .350 17 homers and 56 rbi's you can find a spot for him to play to see his power in the big leagues. There are also a couple of Starting Pitchers in the minor leagues and one is Connor Phillips at Dayton. This would helo the Reds Starting Rotation until Nick Lodolo is back from his Injury. I believe that Greene, Abbott, Lodolo, Phillips, Williamson, and Lively are going to be outstanding starting pitchers in the future for the Reds.
Not good. Reds need to make a move for a pitcher soon.
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I do believe when we look at the young talent and what they have done with the Reds this year that the Reds have done an outstanding job acquiring these outstanding players. I still believe if the Reds would have just kept 1 or 2 of the starting pitchers like a Castillo, Gray, or any of the Starting Pitchers that the Reds let go in these trades the Reds would be in 1st place currently in NL Central. We do need to put together a couple of packages to bring in 1 or 2 good experienced Starting Pitchers. Just like any sport it is Great to have the outstanding young talent but you still need 1 or 2 good experienced Starting Pitchers and a couple of good experienced Hitters. I believe our hitting, offense, and defense will be fine but the Reds do need to try and bring in 1 or 2 good Starting Pitchers for the Rotation. If the Reds could do that I do believe the Reds would make the NL Playoffs this year.
Cruz needs to be the one sent back to Louisville for sure when Law & Santillan come back. Excited for Law to come back, he was decent for the Reds. Tempering my expectations for Tony after being out since early last year. Likely between Duarte or Legumina to make room for both.
Both no doubt have had 2 of the hardest jobs in baseball but still work to do. We'll see how this next window to compete in turns out any differently than other winning Reds teams under Castellini before making any final judgment. Results on the field still need to show for as Cincinnati continues to build back. I could see this being one of those years Bell is Manager of the Year, even under .500. Girardi back in '06 was NL Manager of the Year due to the drastic improvement he made in Florida after a fire sale though they still had a losing record of 78-84, 4th in the NL East.
I don't see how they can justify Wil Myers on this team any longer. Unfortunately about to come back and notice how much better the Reds were playing with dead weight like him out of the lineup. I see why Padres fans were pissed off with him now. Even his Rookie of the Year his numbers weren't anything special. He had 2 decent seasons in San Diego with 28 & 30 HRs, 2 20+ SB seasons and 1 season over 90 RBIs.
IMO, the odd men out likely are using options on Barrero & Hopkins as sporadic as their playing time has been. Seems like it would be detrimental to Benson who for once in his career starting to put things together and hope he stays with the Reds. Would be shocked if they finish the year with 3 catchers but hate to see any of them have to go. Maile having a nice season and Casali won me back with is experience paying off in Ricky Karcher's wild debut.
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I suppose you could make the case if Cincinnati kept Castillo and let his contract run out this year since he had 1 year left of team control, the Reds would probably be ahead of the Pirates since only Levi Stoudt from the trade has actually pitched for Cincinnati in 2 games. The contracts of Votto, Moustakas and Griffey's deferred salary would have made it impossible to add anyone worth it for 2023 if Cincinnati went all in considering how much they actually spent over the offseason even with those traded players off the books. Would be without Marte & Arroyo who will be great for the Reds. Marte likely as soon as next season. Castillo signed a $108 million contract which would have prevented Cincinnati from keeping hardly any other quality players or making trades/FA signings that would leave for the same contracts if they were any good to begin with.
Gray is too much of a wildcard. Never know what you get from him year to year. The 3rd lowest ERA in MLB this year or an ERA over 4.00 on the IL for months the next. The Reds could not afford his $12.5 million salary this year. The Mahle trade for Christian Encarnacion-Strand & Spencer Steer will go down as one of the better trades in Reds history if CES is anywhere close to the numbers he is putting up in Louisville and with Steer's production.
Between Casili and Maile, it seems like Maile might have put together a season so far that might garner him some interest in a package trade deal. I like Casili in what he brings in experience helping the young pitchers, but he brings nothing offensively. I'm just not seeing what Barrero is bringing to the table yet. if they cut ties with him, It wouldn't be a big loss. Obviously the ship has sailed on him being the SS of the future. That's in EDLC or McClain's hands at this point.
Wouldn't give up on Barrero just yet, he's just 25 and the Reds young OF prospects are still a few years off. Barrero/Hopkins did struggle last night but I chalk that up to playing in a new ballpark for the first time plus Bell did neither a favor by playing them once a week/10 days. Wouldn't expect them to look like Mays/Clemente under those circumstances. Not to be overlooked, Jeff Pickler is the coach responsible for OF defense. Pickler is a weak link, was surprised he was retained.
If they just want to keep Barrero around and keep giving him chance after chance, that's fine, but there are guys in the pipeline that are moving past him and proving themselves much faster. I just think he's expendable at this point. He's not a game changer. If another team wants to have that patience with him then so be it, I wish him all the best.
Not trying to read too much into it but Bell did choose to throw Duarte on back-to-back nights (he did have a quick outing on Tuesday) over Legumina. Had a short leash for Legumina as well in his outing in the Royals series.
Looks like it is starting to click for Rece Hinds since the last week of May.
www.redsminorleagues.com
Reds MiLB Notebook: Rece Hinds is on an absolute tear - redsminorleagues.com
Rece Hinds has hit four home runs in his last three games and they've all been 430+ feet for the Chattanooga Lookouts.
www.redsminorleagues.com
I'm good with either one staying in the Reds bullpen if they decide to roll with them going forward. The Reds are in a good situation to have multiple options and a reliable bullpen since mid-April. Duarte deserves his chance after a good ST and pitched well for the Bats. Hoping Salazar gets his way back to Cincinnati at some point though it may be a some time until then after his recent game vs St. Paul giving up 4 runs.
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