The 2019 Reds payroll will be the team’s highest ever, owner Bob Castellini tells Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer. We already knew that the Reds planned on spending more next season, though Castellini’s comments suggest a fairly notable increase over this season’s $101.34MM Opening Day payroll. The team’s previous payroll high was $115.3MM on Opening Day 2015, and that total jumped to over $118MM by the end of that season. However, Castellini also referenced increased organizational spending, which suggest he may not be referring exclusively to player payroll. Regardless, Cincinnati will be shopping for multiple arms this winter, as Castellini notes that “We know we have to bolster the whole pitching situation. Are we talking about one starter or two? Two bullpen guys, three bullpen guys?”
More from Cincinnati and the NL Central….
- MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took note of the fairly substantial drop in attendance seen at the Great American Ball Park this year, while Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that 2018 marked the Reds’ slowest year at the turnstiles since 1984. Elsewhere around town, however, Cincinnati’s minor league soccer team FC Cincinnati is busy setting attendance records as they prepare to make the jump to the MLS in 2019, according to Sharon Coolidge and Patrick Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Losing the attendance battle to a minor league soccer team might be discouraging, but it’s also a clear indication for the Reds that a hunger exists in the city to support a winner.
- The Cardinals are hoping to get their middle infield combo of Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong healthy this offseason with a little R&R. Wong will avoid surgery on a balky left knee that led to some hamstring soreness later in the year, as per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. DeJong successful underwent surgery last week to remove a plate that from his left hand that was inserted to aid the healing process after he broke it in May. He’ll be in a cast for a few weeks, but should be healthy enough for offseason workouts before too long. DeJong struggled to regain his power stroke after returning in July, though that isn’t an uncommon short-term issue for players recovering from a broken hand. St. Louis hopes to get this tandem healthy, as they’re both signed to fairly modest long-term deals. Wong is signed for two more seasons with a $12.5MM option for 2021, while DeJong signed an extension in March.
- In Cubs news, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat took an early look at the questions Theo Epstein and company need to address this offseason. The Cubs fell from first in runs scored to eighth in the second half, but exactly where in the lineup they’ll look to upgrade is as of yet unclear. Perhaps the easiest way to improve the offense is to get Kris Bryant’s shoulder back in good form, as the former NL MVP was in and out of the lineup for much of the second half with shoulder soreness. For now, the plan is to avoid surgery and hope that a longer offseason than usual helps the healing process.
The Cubs could really be in a good spot next year if they sign Harper. The lineup could be:
Almora
Harper
Bryant
Baez
Rizzo
Schwarber
Contreras
Happ
P
The lineup looks real good 2-5. Subs: Zobrist and Heyward if two in the lineup really struggle.
And the rotation:
Lester
Hendricks
Quintana
Darvish
Hamels (maybe)
Just need a healthy Morrow and Strop in the bullpen.
2019 could be a great year. Brewers better watch out.
Happ or Schwarber or both will be gone
I hope so! Even though their value is diminished!
Schwarber to the Yanks?
Why do we need him? We have enough outfielders as it is.
And dh’s
Baffles me why people are so eager to bail on schwarber. The guy has, what, 2 full seasons under his belt…. and with dipsh** maddon and his ever changing lineup at the helm he’s been pretty much relegated to solely platoon status…. despite posting stellar OBP numbers and belting 56 hrs the last two years in 850 ABs. I find it odd how people lament over his batting average… especially seeing as the people who do are likely the ones thinking WAR is a good, actual, concrete, scientific number (I refuse to call it a statistic because it is anything but… it’s a horribly misused guesstimation of the unquantifiable). Then the SAME PEOPLE want Harper. WHY!! Schwarber has just as much power. Both are mediocre at best fielding their position…. but schwarber has a better arm. It must be the batting average…. oh. Wait. Inconsistent Harper hit what… .249 this year… and two years ago wasn’t it in the 230s…. sounds like a guy they already have… for a fraction of the price…. SCHWARBER! My sister’s neighbors were talking about wanting Harper and it makes absolutely 0 sense to me.
IF they are to add a big position player fee agent it will likely be, and I’d much rather have, Manny Machado. Russell has had 3 full seasons and almost 4 full seasons to prove himself and he’s been a disappointment. It looked like he was turning a corner BA and OBP- wise this year but then liberal drama happened and he’s likely out the door now…. for yelling at his wife and calling her names…. smh. More importantly he just hasn’t progressed as expected and machado is already a Bona fide top tier player.
So if they add anyone of significance it’s Machado…. NOT overrated and likely waaaaay overpriced Harper. Again, tell me what Harper brings to the table schwarber doesn’t already provide. I feel like people just talk about Harper as much as they do because the media has hyped him up to insane levels. Did he have a stellar MVP season, what, 3 years ago. Sure. But before then and after that season….. meh. Since his MVP season he’s been SO hit or miss. He’s been a .267 hitter with a .390 OBP and averaged 32 hrs the last 3 years. Schwarber could easily do that…. he definitely has the potential. I mean the dude hit 30 and 26 hrs the last two years respectively… as a platoon player never getting 500+ ABs. If Schwarber got every day ABs I bet he’d be a 40 hr player almost annually. Definitely a 35+ hr hitter. Finally, schwarber made about $600,000 this year. Harper is projected to get a stupid long contract averaging over $30M per season. And yet cubs fans who lamented paying soriano not that long ago $17m/ season…. to hit his career numbers. AKA doing as expected… want to “upgrade” with Harper… no thanks.
As for happ. Let with schwarber… give the dude time people. 2018 was his first full season. The people wanting to bail on these players were likely the same people who said “trade that bum Baez” after his debut season and after the 2015 season. He was only in MVP talks most of the second half this year and is one of the better fielding middle infielders in the game… definitely the most fun to watch. Not to mention her can play pretty much anywhere on the field. Only person I can understand people giving up on is Russell. That’s it though.
But no, people want Harper for dinner reason and have $50+M wrapped up in 2 corner outfielders in heyward and Harper…. neither of which have or will live up to their deals. Unless Harper’s .249 BA and 34 hrs is really soooo much better than schwarber’s .238 BA and 26 Hrs in 122 fewer ABs than Harper. But yeah… pay the same player $30m or more a season for the next 8-10 years…. or keep the same player and pay him in his first year of arbitration an estimated $3.1M next year. Hmmm. Tough decision.
If they sign anyone, sign machado.
C contreras
1B rizzo
2B Baez
3B Bryant
SS Machado
LF Schwarber… EVERY DAY, maddon… god da** it
CF Almora…. EVERY DAY, maddon…. god da** it
RF…. Platoon of Heyward and Happ with Heyward getting the bulk solely because of money reasons… not ability.
That’s a stout lineup assuming contreras and bryant bounce back and just flat out unfair if schwarber takes a step forward and hits about .265 with an OBP around .375-.380…. he hit .238 with limited a .350-.355 OBP this year. If his BA bumps 15-20 points…. do the math with his OBP.
Then with them likely bringing back hamels their rotation is looking like it will be
Lester
Hendricks
Hamels
Quintana
Darvish
Good God. That could be lethal if everyone is 100%…. and if it was 2013 that’s an all star rotation. But it’s not. It’s 2019 next year. Still could be a very potent rotation.
Only “hole” on this team then would be their closer. But it’s not like their bullpen is trash. Believe they had the best or one of the best bullpen ERAs this year.
I hope they avoid Harper! We have enough strike out artists now! Just say NO to Harper! He isn’t that good! Check the numbers!
I just did and they asked me to tell you that you’re out of your mind.
What numbers did you check? Overrated. Young, can hit, sure, but even old head stats like .avg matter. Obp inflated because walks, not to take away from it, just saying.
Isn’t the object to get on base, drive in runs? No such thing as inflated OPB
Career numbers that actually matter (AVG does not matter. It is a useless stat by itself. It tells you nothing of import)…
ISO .233
wRC+ 140
OPS .900
BB% 14.8%
Soft% 14.4%
Hard% 35.6%
If you think that is overrated maybe baseball isn’t the sport for you.
So votto getting on base, like harper, with no one able to drive him in does what? Still can’t hit .249, with a 1.3 war, and think that bolsters a roster and breaking bank, right?
Btw hard ground balls to 2nd is a real thing for leftys,called rolling over,maybe play instead of read. My point originally was overrated for money he’ll prob still get.
I did play. Hard hit balls, more often than not, tend to go for a hit. You’re being incredibly disingenuous. You can dislike Harper, but he is in no way shape or form overrated.
Are you trying to insinuate that Joey Votto is overrated?
Harper’s not worth a half billion dollar contract. Stats are for people sho don’t know or watch baseball.
he’s also not going to get half a million because nobody’s giving him 50 million a year for 10 years… thanks to Albert Pujols no GM is going to be that stupid for a while
and people who dismiss the value of stats in baseball, which has been all about various stats for about a century, should not expose themselves to the outside world, they will not enjoy it…
So now it’s Harper’s fault that there’s no one batting after him to drive him in?
Did you say stats are for people who don’t watch baseball? Is that sarcasm please tell me that’s sarcasm
Wut?
lol, I meant to say quarter billion.
Not discounting stats, but if you have to dig deep into stats to prove Harper’s worth his pending contract, you don’t understand or watch the game. He’s a good player, but he’s not consistent enough at the plate to garner that kind of money. I’d much rather have a Machado, Arenado or Trout.
That’s… not digging deep.
If you can’t support your position without using all information available, it’s not a valid position. If only the most superficial of stats supposedly prove your point… well, you just know you’re wrong but are trying to blame the math for your misconceptions.
If you’d rather have Machado that’s fine (Arenado and Trout aren’t available, so who cares what your opinion on that comparison is),that’s fine. Just be prepared to back the position up with facts.
don’t pretend the ‘nerds’ somehow know less about the game then the ‘jocks’ when they’re the ones who’ve put more effort into understanding it. It’s a trope that lost it’s charm years ago. Us intellectual fans watch the game as much as the worst of the neanderthals, we’re just more actively engaged with it.
Stays matter, but they only tell half the story. For instance, if a guy is a .l320 hitter, but he isn’t clutch and most of his hits come in extremely low leverage situations, and when the team is getting m u rdered, is that average of .320 really all that valuable to your team?
To say OBP is inflated due to walks is one of the least educated comments ever made. You lost all credibility with that comment.
@ChiSoxCity
Baseball analytics is based on stats. Stats have always been part of baseball and those in baseball know baseball and I suspect watch baseball too.
So looking at stats is “digging deep”? Huh?
As a cardinal fan you’re making us look bad. Don’t be an idiot. BA is totally irrelevant. Pull your head out of your ass
OBP inflated because of walks. That’s a new criticism I haven’t heard.
Pujols was 34 when he signed that deal too. Harper turned 25 today (October 16th) he wont get 350mil let alone 500mil. It would have to be more than 10 years. 4 opt outs. Full no trade clause. 500mil over 13 years 38.461mm aav. Not gonna happen. Cubs need to avoid him at all costs. They Yankees get him after trading Ellsbury and cash to the Padres lol.
No one in return.
Judge , Harper and Stanton right to left.
11years 330mil 3 opt out options
3rd, 5th and 8th year
No trade clause
If you checked the numbers you’d note he’s, what, a career .279 hitter with an OBP around .380-.390 and averages maybe 30 HRs a season… 35 in good years. Cubs already have 2 guys like that in bryant and rizzo… bryant who is still early in his career could possibly get even better. Schwarber IMO still has the potential to be at least a .250-.260 hitter with a .360-370 OBP and be a 35+ if not 40 HR hitter year in and year out….. if he were ever to be given every day ABs. Currently he’s a .240-.250 hitter with about a .350-.360 OBP and 30 hr power……. as a platoon player. Is a 20-30 point bump in BA from Harper that much better than Schwarber. Defensively they’re equals imo… schwarber possesses the way better arm though. Schwarber costs a couple million/ year through arbitration. If Harper gets what the media wants him to get, why the media cares and is infatuated with Harper had always mystified me, he’ll cost AT LEAST $20-25m. Not only is Schwarber almost as good….. but he costs a fraction of what Harper would cost. To me the choice is insanely simple if you just apply logic and common sense… a rarity in today’s world.
If they feel the need to piss away more money by all means… do it. It ain’t my money. I just hope they go after the more logical choice between the two free agents everyone is clamoring over and get Machado… NOT Harper. An infield of contreras, rizzo, baez, machado, and bryant is a perennial all star infield at every position. An OF of Schwarber, Almora, and Heyward/Happ/Zobrist ain’t half bad either.
In the end though…. I’d rather see them spend money on a closer. Edwards, strop, potentially Morrow, and cishek are all stellar setup men in their own right. None in particular are stellar closer material. Morrow would be if he could stay healthy…. but he can’t and apparently never will. Craig kimbrel is a free agent….. cody allen is coming off a bad year but has been stellar in the past. Jeurys Familia… David Robertson…. zach britton… all these dudes are free agents. I’d rather see them go crazy on compiling the nastiest bullpen in baseball.
Montgomery
Britton
Cishek
Edwards
Strop
Morrow
Allen
Kimbrel
Never going to happen but that is one hell of a bullpen. Cubs have the money to do it too…. they have the money to do whatever they want honestly. Especially with a new tv deal on the horizon. Kimbrel, Allen, and Britton could all probably be had for about $35m/season between the 3 of them…. about the AAV the media has hyped up Harper and Machado possibly recieving.
This 2019 cubs team is more impressive to me than one with machado or Harper on it:
C Contreras
1B Rizzo
2B Happ/Zobrist
SS Baez/Russell
3B Bryant
LF Schwarber
CF Almora
RF Heyward
SP Lester
SP Hamels
SP Hendricks
SP Darvish
SP Quintana
LRP Montgomery
LRP Britton
RP…. Chatwood… if he’s not released
RP Cishek
RP Edward’s
RP Strop
RP Morrow
RP Allen
CL Kimbrel
That’s 9 relievers. With Maddon as manager this is almost a requirement since he rarely allows his SPs to throw more than 95 pitches or go longer than 6 innings. This means of course there would only be 3 bench players… a backup catcher, Caratini, and two reserves…. Zobrist and Happ/Russell/La Stella (if they let Russell go).
This would mean Maddon would HAVE to adopt the “crazy” idea of “every day starters” at most of the positions.
Regardless…. the problem this year imo was just a freak year in which everyone other than Baez and I guess Zobrist had bad years… lester years than years past at least. If Schwarber keeps progressing in what effectively will only be his 3rd full season next year, and if Contreras finds his 20+ power, and Bryant’s shoulder is 100% all year next year and he returns to being a .290 hitter with 35 HR power…. and Rizzo just bes Rizzo…. and Baez doesn’t regress…. this is still a nasty offense. Schwarber, Rizzo, Bryant, and now apparently Baez ALL have 30+ HR power. If Happ got every day ABs I wouldn’t be shocked he he had it too…. and if contreras rebounds 30 isn’t out of the question for him either. I mean he hit, what, 21 in under 400 ABs in 2017. This team is loaded with insane potential for power numbers. And if they bring hamels back that rotation should be pretty formidable…. at least adequate/”good enough”…. not what you’d like to describe possibly the most expensive rotation in baseball…. but it is what it is… and again – it ain’t my money. So to me that leaves the bullpen… which was pretty stellar in 2018 actually. But it’s the easiest area to improve because at most, a reliever can be had fairly easily on only a 4 year contract, making them not a long term liability if they flounder. I’d stick it out with the same offense one more year, bring back hamels, and go ape s*** in signing the best relievers on the market to form the nastiest bullpen in baseball…. no one else coming close. Hell… just sign kimbrel and britton and they’d still probably equate the AAV of what Machado or Harper will get… maybe a little more. I’d rather have that duo than the sole player of machado or Harper… definitely over Harper.
Most likely happ or schwarber will be moved with Hayward. The money has to come from somewhere
Heyward is going nowhere.
Nobody is taking on that contract for corner guys that aren’t elite bats. They are all flawed. There value is not there. Plus Heyward’s NTC throws a major wrench into thinking about trading him.
It is a partial no-trade now but the Cubs would need to pay 2/3 of his salary to trade him. Might as well keep him while he’s still useful.
Or they could once again have the best record in the NL and be heading home four days later.
Happ?? Lol. Dude, do you watch any of these games? He’s not good. I also think Schwarber will be moved for pitching.
I think we should move Bryant to 2nd and I think we should try Schwarber at 1b.
Almora cf
Harper rf
Bryant 2b
Rizzo 1b
Machado 3b
Baez SS
Shwarber LF
Contreras C
Replace Rizzo with Schwarber in 2020
Trade Ian Happ for Rasiel Iglesias.
How much can cubs seriously spend this offseason after overspending on darvish, likely picking up hamels option and still having to pay on Hayward‘s boat anchor contract and others?
Pre arbitration they’re currently at $131Million. If you assume $30Million in arb raises (I personally expect a few arb guys to be non-tendered so that number will probably be lower) they’re at $161Million. If we assume they’ll go past the luxury tax threshold of $206Million but leave $10Million for in season moves to stay under the additional 12% surtax for being $20-$40 million over, they would have roughly $55 million to spend. A
After looking again, the spread sheet I referenced assumed buyouts for some guys so maybe it is closer to $35-$40. Point being, they have money, they will spend it and they will have something of a roster makeover. If they’re willing to pay the additional 12% surtax they’re opening up a whole new world.
And what do you do when Bryant, Baez, and Hendricks start getting paid in arbitration and when they, along with Rizzo, become free agents in 2022?
Thanks for the informative outlook…but does it include future payroll raises beyond next year? Everyone is getting raises and plus extension money for Baez, Rizzo, etc…just so you know I’m not trying to argue lol just another outlook
pt57 and cards81, great points, not much committed to payroll after 2019 and I would assume some younger guys will get some arb years bought out. It’s all a larger piece of the puzzle. I was more or less putting 2019 in a theoretical vacuum. They’ll have money to spend this offseason and they’ll spend it. Money will not hold them back from making necessary changes if that is the route they decide to go.
You let them go to the Yankees and Dodgers and rebuild
The Cubs will have tv revenue to dip in fairly soon. Losing players to the robber barron teams is not an inevitability anymore.
Who are the nontender candidates?
Russell, LaStella, Edwards, not big arb raise candidates, but those dollars can go to bull pen pieces and other bench options.
Not much room for bullpen== Monty, Cishek, Morrow, Strop, Duensing, Kingsley, Smyly all signed through next year (or have options).
Carl’s Jr. is not a non-tender candidate.
Maybe Kintzler will turn down his player option ($5 million) thinking he can get more.
What on earth has he done to be considered a guaranteed spot?
Edwards? First of all, he still might be pre-arb this winter. What has he done not to be considered a spot? He has been good the last three seasons and he still has some upside in him if he can get a little control back. He was wild toward the end of the season but supposedly he was dealing with a forearm strain.
The Cubs need to keep Edwards and use him as a bridge to Strop. That’s it. No 8th or 9th inning stuff… he can’t handle pressure.
Kintzler doesn’t deserve $5, let along $5 million.
Quite a bit if they aren’t that concerned with a luxury tax hit, to be honestly. They’re a highly profitable franchise, especially these days with the success they’ve had recently, so it’s not like the owner is likely all that unwilling to spend
Whether they want to ignore the luxury tax is another matter, it’s more of a question of will then can when it comes to spending
Like many other owners their financial limits are not tied to just baseball. The Ricketts have built an amazing neighborhood cash cow, they are on the verge of having their own TV network, and have many other revenue streams in and around the park including many cash generating concerts where they don’t have to share any money with other teams. I feel that they can go all in for another three years (the point when Bryant, Schwarber, Baez, Russell can become free agents) and see what happens. They can tie an opt out to Machado or Harper to that and if the Cubs have to tear it down after a stretch of seven or eight consecutive contending season (with one championship) then that’s still a pretty good business model. They certainly are not going broke anytime soon.
Don’t get why so many worries over payroll. With new TV deal soon, the Cubs basically can spend as much as their hearts desire! The luxury tax limit doesn’t matter as Theo explained before. They anticipated this with Harper et al becoming available.
I also thought that as a Cardinals fan…new tv deal…ballpark village…attendance is great…I don’t think it’s as easy as people think…idk though lol…but you would think that when you are getting a billion dollars for tv rights 300 million wouldn’t be that much to spend on the team…it’s confusing to say the least
Almora – league min
Harper – 30m
Bryant – 17m – ARB2 (estimate)
Baez – 8m ARB1 (estimate)
Rizzo – 11.2m
Schwarber – 5m ARB1 (estimate)
Contreras – league min
Happ – league min
Lester – 27.5m
Hendricks – 9m ARB2 (estimate)
Quintana – 10.5m
Darvish – 20m
Hamels (maybe) – 20m
Bench:
Heyward – 22.5m
Zobrist – 12.5m
that is 192m right there even before the RP core and the rest of the bench……have fun trying to squeeze all of those $ in there.
They have the money and they will go over. But in my opinion they won’t get Harper or Machado
I read something that suggested Ian Happ, and Kyle Schwarber will be dealt off elsewhere.
That would be in the comment section of every Cubs article for the last 2 seasons
Not so much the articles themselves, though
Machado would be a much better fit than Harper, and probably a little cheaper as well. I’m praying Theo stays away from Harper. Of all the positions, outfield is the last one we need to address. Lets spend some money on some relievers/infielders before we even bring up Harpers name again. Just my opinion though…
Harper would be the wrong choice. They might be better off going after LeMahieu. Great bat and with him and Baez up the middle they’d have a seriously solid infield.
At ss? Offensively speaking sure. But you already have a 3b, just get him healthy. Solidify bp/sp arms and they’ll be fine. Think they might be frontrunners for harper though. LV connection that’s been stated because harper/bryant
play him at 2nd
Machado can’t play SS no matter what he insists, so I’m not sure why the Cubs need a 3b….
Because Machado would be a better fielder at 3B. Bryant can play LF. Wait, that’s Kyle’s position. Gasp!
Personally I’d rather get Harper, who’s defense in rf would likely be pretty good. Hopefully they can find some way to move heyward by just eating some of the contract, and swapping heywards bat for Harper’s is a big straight upgrade
Makes a lot more sense to me than moving an already good 3b for what would be less of an offensive upgrade overall
wong needs surgery. better now than during the season
You absolutely try to sign Harper at almost any cost. In doing this you must tie his first opt out to 2022 (after the 21 season) the same year Bryant becomes a free agent (and Baez, Schwarber, Russell, etc). Harper and Machado are the two biggest impact players available this year.
On numerous occasions Theo has stated it is hard to stay in one place for over ten years. He’s creeping up on that in Chicago. That may coincide with this timeline as well.
You go all in for another three years and see what happens. You can tear it all down at that point if you wish.
And if you do sign Harper, guys like Schwarber and Happ with three + years of control become a little more marketable.
You do not pass on a talent like Harper, overrated or not, if he is available. Nor do you pass on Machado, LeMaheiu, (Darvish), etc….if you have a chance, take it.
This guy just used the words “Schwarber” and “marketable” in the same sentence. I love it. Now tell me how “marketable” Addison Russell is too
first you tell us what fantasy you have about Schwarber that somehow makes him not marketable. He’s quite a likeable guy and in spite of the rumors flying around the internet, actually a pretty decent player when you use facts…
The number one priority is a lead off hitter
Probably a second baseman or center fielder
We are stuck with Bryant so hopefully he can improve as he has no trade value anymore
Schwarber Happ Caratini Edwards and Montgomery will be gone
We need Contreras to play like the first half
Can’t give up on him yet
There’s a very good reason nobody pays you for baseball analysis…
@ElectricEddie…..”We are stuck with Bryant…he has no trade value anymore”……….please, MLB Trade Rumors is one of the few sites that allows fans to comment still. ESPN, CBS Sports, mlb.com have all turned them off. It is literally statements like that which keep the stupid police gamefully employed.
You started off well with the lead off hitter—-then got another bingo with, especially, center field. Then you throw all your credibility out the window with the stuck with Bryan statement. Tough, injury marred year? Yes. But I’m sure that 29 other teams would be happy to be stuck with the Cubs best player.
I literally laughed out loud when I read Bryant has no trade value
And scary because it seems like a thought driven post….not a troll. You can almost see the medication wearing off as he went through the entire roster,
Long time reader, first time commenting…had to create an account just to find out what planet you are from. “We are stuck with Bryant”…you’re joking right? Please tell me you’re joking.
A minimum of twenty-five MLB teams would love to be “stuck with Bryant.”
Thirty… all thirty would take him.
Want Fowler. Back
Why is no one talking about the Reds?
Because they’d rather watch futbol.
It’s Fussball Club Cincinnati. Also everyone is a little down after 4 very bad seasons. The Reds have claimed they are going to spend money finally this off season. The only Reds don’t typically go after high profile FA’s. It will be interesting to see if they try to be players in free agency, or if they try to improve via trade. Hopefully they don’t stand pat, or 19 will be a long season.
They are like the White Sox of Ohio. Nah I’m kidding they need pitching though and I wonder if they may try to sign Patrick Corbin
Oh yeah buddy? The White Sox are building a monster. We’ll see how true your statement is this time next year. The clock is ticking for the Cubs as well. I’ll watching Theo spend himself out of a job trying to keep the aging Cubs relevant the next few years. Who knows, we might even get Maddon after the Cubs foolishly (inevitably) let him go. 2021 Chicago White Sox World Series Champs has a ring to it.
I don’t dislike the Sox so don’t be offended. It was a joke because of how good the Indians have been as of late. And I don’t know about next year. Moncada has to figure his swing out first and they will need to wait on Kopech. Giolito is still a question mark. But bringing Jimenez up should bring a spark and who knows of Cease will be ready or will they wait until Kopech is back? And then they need to start spending
probably because they lost 95 games and don’t honestly look to be any better next season…
All the Reds need is pitching. If the owner spends even a little bit on the rotation, they’re an immediate playoff threat.
But they need a lot of pitching. In that division they may need to wait a bit. I don’t think any of the top three and i’ll even throw Pittsburgh in there are gonna slow down anytime soon
yeah, every team that just started a full blown tear down just needs pitching…
they won’t get nearly enough of it to make a difference, since all the difference makers are going to get more money from richer teams and don’t want to play for a small market rebuilding one
Cinci’s got about 3 more seasons minimum before they stand a chance at being relevant in the Central again, and that’s only IF they don’t waste a few high draft picks.
I think we should move Bryant to 2nd and I think we should try Schwarber at 1b.
Almora cf
Harper rf
Bryant 2b
Rizzo 1b
Machado 3b
Baez SS
Shwarber LF
Contreras C
Replace Rizzo with Schwarber in 2020
Trade Ian Happ for Rasiel Iglesias.
Sadly this is not the worst fever dream proposed here…
Hey how about them cubs. Is it cool to start talking about them yet? For a club that invented baseball they sure had a great season
If Schwarber had a full season of plate appearances he would have hit 45 – 48 home runs. His defense was very good this year and the Cubs will not go after Harper.
I would personally like to see us sign Harper. I actually would like to see us keep our core intact including Hap and Shwarb. Of course we need another starter and a guy or two in the pen. Hope we keep Chavez and Strop out there. Really wish we could part ways with Heyward somehow and of course Chatwood. We can always put Baez at short and have Zobrist for 2b next year with Russell probably gone. I like this lineup
Almora cf
Rizzo 1b
Bryant 3b
Harper Rf
Baez Ss
Shwarber lf
Zobrist 2b
Contreras C
Pitcher
Happ, Bote, La Stella on the bench