| Doug Benton. 21st June, 2005 - 1:11 am
 The Reds took America by storm in the 70’s with their famed line-up and had a return to glory with the nasty boys in the late 80’s and into the early 90’s. Now this team has fallen on hard times with limited help on the way. Sure, the team still possess solid hitters in Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Sean Casey, and Wily Mo Pena, but a couple of bats and no surrounding help leads to annual trips to the NL Central cellar.
It has been a very long time since the Reds produced a stellar pitching prospect and made the mistake of signing Eric Milton to a big money contract. Milton’s one flaw last year was that he had trouble keeping the ball in the yard. So Cincinnati thought his problems would be left in Citizens Bank Park instead of going with him to the launching pad known as Great America Ballpark. Now the Reds are left with an overpriced ace to go with bargain bin fillers to round out their suspect rotation. With a bullpen that has gone up in smoke since Danny Graves was told he wasn’t number one anymore, this team can’t even keep the game close enough to let their potent offense win the game late.
What the Reds must do is blow up their on-field product right now and start over. First, they must decide which slugger they want to build around and try to gain face value for the other hitters. Hopefully the value will come in young pitching talent that they can use to build a rotation for the future. I would keep Sean Casey because he is a great locker room guy, plays hard every day, and is a player this franchise can build around in the community.
Next, they should try to gain pitching value for Dunn, Pena, and Austin Kearns because these players come from positions where talent is available through the system. This pitching talent should be pitchers that have good command of their pitches because walks just put more people on base and extend innings to the point that it brings in the risk of game changing innings.
While this will take time, the Reds should get a manager they have confidence in and who is an excellent teacher. Dave Miley might be that man, but the Reds better make sure because stability in the managerial position is one of the key components for this rebuilding project. With patience and good discipline through the system, the Reds will start their long journey on the road back to respectability. |
