While DJ LeMahieu played his high school ball in Michigan, a return to his old stomping grounds in the form of a Tigers contract “isn’t likely,” MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. Detroit figures to wait until closer to Spring Training to land a second baseman, so LeMahieu will likely be off the market by then, plus his desire for a multi-year deal probably also doesn’t fit with the Tigers’ plan to acquire a short-term bridge to prospect Dawel Lugo. The Nationals, Dodgers, and Athletics have all been linked to LeMahieu at various points this offseason, though it’s probably safe to count Oakland out of the running after the team’s acquisition of Jurickson Profar. In general, Beck feels the Tigers could wait until later in the offseason to address several needs, looking for low-cost veterans or potential bargains to fill holes in the rotation, bullpen, catcher, or on the bench. The Tigers may also have to hold off on dealing Nick Castellanos until after Bryce Harper signs with a new team, in order to take stock of a newly-shuffled outfield market.
Some more from around baseball…
- Is Adam Jones a fit for the Rangers? MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan believes so, opining that Jones’ right-handed bat would help balance out the team’s heavily left-handed outfield mix, plus Jones could provide clubhouse leadership to an increasingly young team. There’s certainly an argument to be made for such a signing, or at least for a player of a similar mold, should Jones himself be a bit too expensive for the Rangers’ liking or if he only wants to play for a team aiming to contend in 2019.
- Speaking of signing veterans, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski argues that the Orioles should see what they have in their young pitchers rather than acquiring an experienced innings-eater for the rotation. Barring a trade, Baltimore will have Andrew Cashner, Dylan Bundy, and Alex Cobb as its top three starters, which perhaps provides enough of a veteran base to allow the O’s to audition any number of young arms through the other two rotation spots.
- Nick Senzel is on pace to make his Major League debut sometime in 2019, though without a clear position to play in the Reds’ lineup, the team could deploy Senzel as a multi-positional threat, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale writes. Senzel was drafted as a third baseman and has spent much of his minor league career at the hot corner, though he saw more time at second base last season at Triple-A and even started one game at shortstop. The Reds also intended to use Senzel as a corner outfielder in Arizona Fall League play, though he was sidelined after surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow. The biggest priority for the Reds and Senzel is simply to make sure that the top prospect is healthy in the wake of an injury-shortened 2018 season, and to get him everyday at-bats no matter what position he fills around the diamond. Senzel could even be considered for some time in center field, which is the only open position the Reds have at the moment.
- Trading Kole Calhoun would help free up some payroll space for the Angels to go after pitching, though MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger isn’t sure how much the Halos could really save in such a deal. Calhoun is owed $11.5MM next season, counting both salary and a buyout of his $14MM club option for 2020, and it seems like the team would have to eat at least some of that given that Calhoun is coming off a replacement-level season. Los Angeles could also conceivably swap Calhoun for another player with a contract his team would like to unload, if such a fit could be found. Of course, the Angels are hoping for a rebound year from Calhoun and have him penciled in as their everyday right fielder, so dealing him would create another roster hole to be filled.
Cole has no trade value or ready replacement. Adell is still at least half a AAA season away.
Trading him just opens another hole. Best to hope he rebounds.
his approach with 2 strikes was better. i guess he just needs to be coached into cutting his swing down to manageable level. or so i hope.
i have hope fir Kole. 270 with 20 dingers kinda hope. he is a solid player.
He’s such an easy guy to root for. Plays his heart out on defense every night.
Always fun to see a non-prospect surprise and do well. Hope he bounces back
He’s the kind of player that managers want. Gives the team a 100% on every play. Unlike a couple of soon to be highly paid superstars **cough cough* Harper and Machado
Don’t the angels need more LH hitters not less. It’s really easy for opponents to manage against in the 789 innings when the entire lineup is RH.
Would scooter gennett fit on the angels?
If the shift is banned this year, Kole is a different player. So are a hundred other players.
Calhoun is a gold glove defender.
Does anyone else think that if the Reds use Senzel as a multi-position utility guy, it’ll screw with his development and it’ll be like the Phillies and Scott Kingery?
It didn’t hurt Kris Bryant, a far more apt comparison to Senzel than Kingery.
Bryant wasn’t moved all over the field though. Once he came up, he mainly played third base and in the outfield here and there, but not too often. Not like Kingery and what sounds like the Reds are going to do with Senzel with them moving all over the place.
For his first year, you are correct. But in his second year, Bryant started 55 games NOT at third base. Before going back to mainly third in his third year. Oh by the way, he won the MVP the year he bounced around. That being said, nothing has been done with Senzel yet, so its a bit early to judge. For that matter, it is far too early to judge the results of Scott Kingery as well.
Trading away an established veteran for an unknown quantity, even a celebrated one like Senzel, is not the best idea for a team that is setting itself up to compete in the tough NL Central. What happens if you trade Scooter Gennett or Jose Peraza and Senzel can’t hack it yet? The downside of trading Scooter is far worse than the downside of waiting on Senzel another year. Or letting cards fall as they may with a Peraza or Scooter or Suarez injury, which could happen, and then letting Senzel take the reins.
I just think it is far too early to criticize the Reds for something that hasn’t even produced results yet.
It is early to judge, but like Jbigz said, those players who come to the majors and are thrown directly into worrying about their defense while also getting acquainted to MLB pitching is fairly hard, and the ones who do succeed when they first come to the majors are few and far between. Also, Bryant only played third base and some corner outfield in 2016, along with 9 games at first base. So it’s not like they were starting him at third base for a few days, then moving him over to short, and then shifting him to the grass, and then have him go back to the middle infield to play some second base. But he had already faced MLB level pitching the previous year, and did pretty good against it.
“For his first year, you are correct. But in his second year, Bryant started 55 games NOT at third base.”
But that was the whole point. The question was if his playing multiple position when called up would hinder his development. Bryant being able to play mostly one position in his first year allowed him to make the transition to the bigs easier than had he played all over the field. A lot of guys can be overwhelmed when promoted to the major leagues. Having to worry about the different aspects of several defensive positions could exacerbate that.
Suarez did the same thing in Detroit and Cincinnati moving him from ss to third base back to ss then finishing with the reds as third base so it’s do able
Kingery wasn’t really moved around the diamond very often. He played 119 games at short, 10 games at third, 7 in the outfield and 4 at second. He also appeared on the mound in 1 game. .. So 81% of his games played came from shortstop. 67% of his innings were at short, 5.7% of his innings came at third
You’re right, he wasn’t moved around THAT much. The Phillies just stupidly played him out of position 81% of the year.
Correct. Scotty Jetpack is a 2nd baseman.
That’s 2 positions, and he only started playing third base often until 2 years into his career as well.
Bryant didn’t really move around until his second year.
He made 10 starts in the OF and one at first in his rookie sesson.
He played a few other games there, but totaled less than 100 innings in the OF.
He had 6 innings at first.
Bryant also played a good deal of outfield in college as well, which is also important to note. The position was not new to him.
Yeah, I feel like that’s defjntely not for everyone. Having to worry about your defensive positioning while getting your feet wet in the majors is probably pretty tough. Kudos to those who thrive at that role but those are few and far between
Yes, the kid is gonna have a hard time adjusting to the speed of MLB games. Why make it harder on him by juggling positions daily?
That was exactly what I was thinking when I read it.
I mean they could always trade him or their current third baseman to the padres. In reality, it could hurt his progression. All rookies struggle. I don’t care who you are, but not having to play a different position daily helps deal with the issue.
Michael Cuddyer went through a similar thing in the early part of his career. The Twins bounced him around a number of positions (both infield and out) and it took him a long time to finally settle into the majors. He didn’t really breakout until his age 27 season when coincidentally (or not) the Twins used him mainly as a RFer.
It would seem difficult to adjust to major league pitching while learning multiple positions at the same time. Teams should bring a prospect at one position, allow them to establish their bat then consider moving them around.
I feel bad for Senzel because he seems like he could be a great player but like Cuddyer with the Twins, the Reds seem to be wasting years of his career trying to figure out how to deploy him.
Reds are completely trashing Senzel’s potential. Just another idiotic move by an organization that strings them together like pearls.
Like most of the Phillies position players, Kingery is over-publicized and overrated.
Yes, Kapler was about the worst manager in 2018. No doubt he hurt players performances. But the only above average position player was Hoskins as a hitter.
As for Kingery being moved around – that was primarily because he wasn’t producing @ SS, same as happened with J.P. Crawford.
Yeah I’m sure a 23 year old 2B who put up an .889 OPS in AAA wouldn’t have gotten any love from scouts had he been in any other organization
Put $1,000 in escrow and in 2 hours I’ll look up a hundred guys in the last 5 years that dominated in AAA and couldn’t play in the majors.
I saw Kingery play some in in 2018. The young man was way over his head for that level of competition.
I’m sure a savvy baseball aficionado like yourself has heard the term – “a Triple-A player”, no?
Yeah I’m sure a 2nd round pick with a good pedigree would’ve been considered trash had he been picked by the marlins or the mariners but luckily for Kingery the Phillies took him. Cause if not he would’ve been looked at as a 4A player and would’ve never had a a chance to be a top prospect. Thank god for his luck.
They’re called quad A players, as in AAAA, as in between AAA and MLB. It’s too early to throw in the towel on Kingery. He still provided solid value on the bases and defense, so if he can OPS .750-.800, or ~100 wRC+, he’ll be an above average player.
Ever think he wasn’t producing @ SS because he only played a whopping 18 innings there in his professional baseball career before being thrown into the fire at the major league level? Literally 18 innings out of 2647.2 in his minor league career… It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how that could be a disaster.
It’s just an option the Reds are going to explore. If Senzel can maitian a quality bat while covering multiple positions, that gives the Reds enormous depth. It ads a ton of value when you can give days off to players like Suarez and Gennet without loosing a valuable bat in the line up.
Senzel has already logged a lot of starts at both 2B, and 3B in the minors, and college. I don’t think he will be hampered by being a utility guy to start off the 19 season. More than likely a permanent position will open up in short order.
I think it will be good for the Reds to have a guy like Senzel and Schebler trying to find an everyday spot.
The Reds seem a bit unfocused in their offseason acquisitions considering the fact that they know Senzel will be ready soon but dont have a position for him. If they spin off 1 or 2 of the current pickups especially for pitching it would definitely shore up their team.
You’d think his long term spot is the keystone. With Scooter an upcoming FA and Suarez Locked in for years it makes the most sense for him to play there long term.
The offseason is far from over and I suspect that the Reds FO have in mind what you describe. Scooter is trade bait, but he might not be traded until the market for Marwin Gonzalez and DK LeMahieu shake out.
Pretty sure the Reds aren’t starting Senzel on Opening Day. They’re bringing him up later in the season in order to get one extra year of control. Then they’re trading Scooter at the deadline.
That is true and probably not fair to judge the story before it is over.
I agree the orioles should not be in on any SP’s. While we only have 3 experienced MLB starters we have a glut of backend type guys trying to break into the bigs. Might as well let Hess, Ramirez, Ortiz, Rogers, Tate and possibly Harvey at some point fight for the last 2 slots. I could hear the argument for a bounce back candidate but It’d have to be someone with more upside than a back end arm. Idk who is out there that fits that mold. Better off seeing what we have.
I agree. I think Cobb and cashner are our rebound guys and hopefully can be traded for something at the deadline.
Bundy too. He’s long been a top prospect but let’s be honest he’s not going to be on the next winning orioles team. I’m hoping he has a good year and we can get some chips for him.
Calhoun for Teheran is starting to make too much sense to not happen.
hmmm. wouldnt you rather have defense and avg hitter with power plus the lefty in lineup?
besides until Adell is ready do we then have hermisillo only out there?
i say give Calhoun a chance.
i am hoping for kikuchi still. we will know the next few days.
Let us keep our right fielder at this time
The Angels might have to throw in a moderately decent High A-AA reliever, but not much else to make that an even and fair swap..
Even if it’s a platoon a Kole and Duvall platoon would work pretty well for the Braves, especially if they aren’t able to either sign Pollack (very unlikely), or more likely trade for a more prominent starting RF’er..
The problem is AA, the man NEVER tips his hand, when it comes to the Braves current negotiations..He thinks letting out any information whatsoever is basically the devil, and it’s beyond frustrating..
We simply won’t know what the Braves have in mind, basically until a deal is already in place. Regardless, whether it’s a FA signing or a trade, the Braves really need to address their hole in RF…And I TRULY hope their plan isn’t to bring back Nick Markakis..
If that’s their plan, then they really need to get Riley and Camargo a crap ton of reps in LF during ST to add some flexibility, so Kakes can stay fresh, and won’t flame out towards the 2nd half of the season..Love the idea of having Riley’s bat and power in the line-up as a plan B, in case they strike out on better options..
Meh, could be better, but that’s certainly not a bad back-up plan if all else fails..Riley def. has an excellent arm that would play up as plus for LF, but he’ll just need to work on his routes and accuracy with various throwing angles..
ElSeedy Minotaur. Recognize the writing anywhere. You’re usually talking up gay marriage, that you’ve picked a dog on MLB rumor threads amusing.
Calhoun for Teheran is fairly even dollar wise but Teheran was a much more valuable player in 2018 per bWAR. The Angels probably would have to kick in something small going back to the Braves.
While I can see the logic of such a deal, I’d much rather Atlanta pursue a better option.
No way Atlanta takes that deal, they’d rather just get Markakis back without giving anyone up.
Except if they signed Markakis then you’d have the addition of his salary, where if you swapped Teheran and Calhoun they basically cancel each other out. That would enable Atlanta to use the same salary that you suggested go towards Markakis instead to another improvement on the team (possibly bullpen?).
Look I’m not saying I’m for it, but I understand the logic behind a possible deal. I’m also very against going back down the Markakis road.
Right, I just used a comparable FA. I think Harper should be their goal.
I also think Teheran’s ceiling is higher than Calhoun’s.
Not sure who these young pitchers Melewski is talking about. We saw Ramirez, Hess, and Ortiz last season and they did not impress. Tate may get a shot for the O’s this season, but he was not all that good in AA last season. Who else is there?
Ortiz literally pitched 2 innings. Sorry that wasn’t impressive. He didn’t get a chance. Tate should compete. I don’t want to see Jeremy hellickson types back in the rotation. If we get a bounce back candidate with actual upside that’s fine. If not give me Tate, Ortiz, and Hess eating up innings behind the 3 starters we already have. Kremer could be ready at some point as well as Hunter Harvey. If it’s not Pomeranz or a guy like Shelby Miller on a 2 year bounce back deal I don’t want to see it.
Ortiz threw 99.2 innings in the minors. 86 SO and 3.70 ERA is not impressive. It’s mediocre.
I don’t care if he strikes anyone out. If a back end starter only K’s 6 per 9. What do I care? Mike leake strikes no out either. They’re mid-backend types. I’m excited to see any of these young guys now that we have an actual analytics team that can help get these guys the data. I think it’ll make a big difference in their developments. I think Kremer is the best near ML ready arm we have in the system outside of Hunter Harvey who can’t stay healthy. If Harvey is healthy I think those 2 will be guys
Who can stick in our rotation None are frontline guys. Could see Ortiz and Tate in the pen because they only have 2 plus pitches.
1 more yr of Cole. Selling low only creates a hole. Ride it out for now. He fixed his stance and showed improvement.
Why does everyone forget that Jose Peraza was and is more than capable in CF? Senzel when promoted after 2 weeks will take over the job at SS. Schebler is likely the guy who loses playing time unless both Puig and Kemp revitalize their careers here in Cinci, which certainly has that feel to it. In any case if they dont then their will be some pretty good platoons in the OF.
The real question is in the pitching. Can Roark and Woods get us over the hump? I dont believe so. We need an ace and I am hoping that we land Klueber. If so I believe that more than gets us over the 85 win mark and gives us a fighting chance to make the playoffs.
Also been seeing projections and wondering if anyones is noticing whether the absence of Finnegan in them is a mistake or whether he is gone from Cinci future. Does anyone know? I hadnt seen anything about him having any major year long rehab surgeries.
I think the reason the reds haven’t pulled the trigger is then still think we are a year away that’s the only thing I can think of
Good question about Finnegan, and even Cody Reed for that matter. I imagine they will fight it out for that 5th spot with Mahle in the spring. Provided they don’t swing another deal to bring in a 1 or 2…
Over the last 2 seasons, puig has been 20% better than the league average hitter, and has been worth 2.5 WAR/150 Games. Is he the player he was when he came up, hell no, but he doesn’t need to “revitalize” his career. Puig will play every day in CIN.
But I’m with you, Peraza should man CF, Puig in right, schebler/kemp/ervin in left. Pretty solid, i think.
I Like the approach they took with their pitchers in the second half, as they seemed to tailor their repertoires to focus on throwing their most effective pitches more often, which meant, for example, luis castillo throwing his 2 seamer much less in 2 strike counts. Maybe that can carry over.
They’re still buried in the central and so their plan, while okay, is still hard to really understand right now.
Where would you put Winker? He has the most upside of any of the guys you mentioned for the Reds outfield. Puig is the CF, Winker in LF, Kemp in RF. Schebler is the 4th OF. Gennett will be traded and Senzel will slide into the 2B. I didn’t know you had a copy of their plan. They have stated they still want to add to this roster. Let’s see their actual plan to the end, instead of judging a partially complete one.
Chuck I’ll take your word on Peraza in CF. It would open a spot for Senzel and give Cincy an option to deal a corner OF for an arm, starter or bullpen.
I believe Cincy wants to win right now with Votto still productive. If Cincy thinks they are a year away then they should be dealing Scooter immediately. They want to win and he is a big part of that push to the postseason.
Are the Rockies not in on Lemahieu? If not, who’s playing second base for them? (I know it won’t be Murphy. They’re putting him at 1st…)
More than likely, it will be either Garrett Hampson or Ryan McMahon at 2nd base to at least begin the season. The only real hope I see for DJ coming back is if he is forced to settle for a smaller one-year deal. The bat has really fallen off since he won that batting title, and in a lineup that struggled to produce outside of Arenado, Story, Blackmon, and one hot month from Dahl, no amount of slick glove work is worth a multi-year payday.
Could still see Desmond possibly taking some starts at 2B too. He’s certainly better than McMahon there who seems to be a positionless player at this point. Colorado spent a lot of bad money in their pen last year and is set to lose Ottavino. As an orioles fan I’d like to see a McMahon for Givens deal worked out. Not necessarily a straight swap but those 2 as headliners would seem to make some sense. Givens does us no good on this team and McMahon is blocked at every position he can play. He’d be blocked at no infield position in Baltimore because we have nothing but crap at all of them. Perhaps the Rox would have interest in Villar as well?
DJ LeMahieu, FA with coolest name..?
I certainly hope the Tigers aren’t making any decisions based on the expectation that Lugo will ever amount to anything. He’s not a great prospect and hasn’t shown much to suggest he’s the 2B of the future.
I’m not sure why all the hype is for lugo to be the 2B of the future. I see much more potential in two other tigers prospects to be groomed to play 2B. First would be Isaac Parades but the tigers could plan to have him play 3B and move Candalario to first and miggy all time DH after this season. And the other option for 2B is Kody Clemens(Roger Clemens son) he can be a power hitter but just got drafted this past year so he will need a few years before making to the majors
Lugo -had- hype when he was in the Diamondbacks system, but his career has taken a nosedive since coming to Detroit. He has or had talent but whatever happened to him since the trade has really sunk his hitting, which is important for 2B. He’s actually way better at 3B.
The hype is an attempt to justify that they got value back in return from the JD Martinez trade. At this point Jose King has the most potential of the 3 that came from Arizona. I hope that Lugo proves us wrong.
If Nick shows a good bat in spring training he will play second base. Scooter has value and trading him now makes sense. Reds have not worked out a long term with Scooter to date so why lose him for nothing. Reds aren’t done dealing.
If Senzel is effectively blocked, why not just make him the centerpiece for Realmuto or Kluber or any elite player they can win now with?
Because they aren’t winning now. They lost 95 games last year, and despite the moves they’ve made, they are still far from being better than the Cubs, Cards, and Brewers. Not to mention that after 2019, all of their new acquisitions are gone to free agency.
Senzel is their future, they aren’t giving him up. They will probably bring him up midseason to get an extra year of control out of him, then trade Scooter Gennett at the deadline.
I dunno, they seem to be making a lot of noise about trying to win now and yes I agree Senzel is going to be a good player, but Suarez and Gennett are also great players, so maybe he would be on the table if say, Kluber was coming back. Senzel clearly wasn’t thrilled with getting moved off 3B, so move him somewhere like Cleveland where he could.
The Reds seem to want to fast track their development and getting 3 years of Kluber could accelerate that development. Gotta admit, they do look like a Kluber and one more SP away from a contender. I actually kind of like them as-is too, but its nice to see they’re being aggressive.
You don’t move Senzel, or need to move Senzel. Trammell could be the centerpiece of a trade for Kluber. I hope they hold tight to their top prospects, and sign Keuchel.
I’d like to keep Calhoun. His defense is awesome. He had one bad year with the bat in 2018 and a mediocre one in 2017. He rebounded nicely last season after a rehab stint in Salt Lake. He makes plays and throws in right field that few could.
amen
I wonder if the reds would do a prospect swap. Maybe Senzel for Francisco Mejia, Logan Allen or Cal Quantril, and Buddy Reed.
Senzel is blocked by Suarez and hedges is blocking Mejia, padres have a glut of pitching, and OFs.
Padres need a 3B and reds have been looking for pitching.
As a reds fan I’d be all about it if it’s logan Allen his stuff is nasty and I think he’s underrated heavily and buddy reed can solve our centerfield problem and Mejia is still a really good player just have to decide where to put him
Senzel really isn’t blocked though. He could be the super utility for a yr and then in 2020 he’ll have a chance to play any of 3 different positions with Gennett, Puig, and Kemp being free agents.
Except 3B, where he’s played his entire life.
I’ve been saying this for a while
Mejia isn’t really being blocked by Hedges though… The chances of him sticking at catcher are very slim. Personally, I wouldn’t deal Senzel at all (very high on him), but if I was going to, I’d absolutely be going for Urias over Mejia.
Is 1 Senzel really worth 3 top prospects? I mean….prospects for prospects? Seems like neither team would be interested in this. However I don’t see how you could possibly say no and ask for more
Mejia’s bat is going to play no matter what position he ends up at. And throwing in a stud pitching prospect on top should make this a quick yes for the Reds. Urias is good but not better than Mejia
Personally, I’d rather sign a vet for 3b and let the kids play everywhere else.
The new wave of baseball people are driven by computer spewed data
Guys like He Man Gabe Kapler in Philly and all over baseball believe everyone can play everywhere and lineups just don’t matter.
Seeing as how the Reds are trying be competitive, does a package of Miner and Leclerec get net Senzel + for Texas? That would be fun to watch in Arlington.
I love Calhoun’s energy and great defense but what his bat has shown me is that pitchers adjusted to him and he hasn’t shown he can adjust back. His numbers have dipped big time the last two years. That being said it isn’t like he is a declining veteran and trading him would be selling low on him. Just play him
It’s clearly a mechanics issue with him. He needs a swing doctor for sure. He’s got talent but his production fell off a cliff out of nowhere, that’s almost always either injury or mechanics.
It’s a shift issue for him.
There are dozens and dozens of players killed by the shift. Line drive, pull hitting, left handed hitters are at the top of the list.
Restrict the shift, and he’s a comeback player of the year candidate. Don’t, and he’s going to have a hard time finding a job.
How about adjusting to the shift like a good hitter should do ? If you fall for the same thing again and again it’s your fault
Never expected the Tigers to go after a 2B. Niko Goodrum showed enough to have an everyday job last year and Lugo, and the 2 former Cleveland SS’prospects are also available to fill the middle infield.
Kole calhoun for jose martinez may make sense for cards and angels. Angels save money and get the betteroverall hitter. Cardinsls get a LH bat and 4th OF that can actually play defense.
Sounds good…….
Then the Angels can compete with the White Sox and Twins as to which team can squeeze the most DH’s onto their roster.
Lol, definitely true. I thought of that, but playing him in right may be the cost of saving 10 million per year.
Senzel is one of those good problems every team wishes they had. Personally, I like the idea the Reds have of making him a super utility if he can pull it off. I have already read one person concerned about that strategy messing with his development, but it’s just an option they should explore. I’m a Braves fan and I’ve fallen in love with the idea of Johan Camargo being our super utility. This means you can spell your corner stone players without loosing a quality bat in the line up.
If this doesn’t work then you consider trade options. Senzel is a concsensus top 10 prospect. The only kind of player you use him in a trade for is an elite MLB producer. The obvious preference would be for an ace.
Or you trade Gennet though 2b is pretty deep so you might not get quite the return you hope for. Still, Gennet is one of the best second baggers so it might make a deficiency unnoticeable.
Really, I don’t think the Reds should go all in but if they did, I think they would be really interesting to watch.
Because so many roster spots are now taken by pitchers, having a starter that can play multiple positions adequately is both invaluable and necessary to both teams and their manager.
ML rosters allow 25, with 12-13 taken by pitchers. During the season, the breakdown literally changes daily.
This only allows 4-5 position reserves each game. The backup Catcher takes one of them. In the non-DH NL this only leaves a manager 3-4 players a game to come off the bench to 1) pinch hit (at least once a game for the pitcher); 2) pinch run (seldom); 3) be inserted on defense; 4) respond to a pitching change – i.e. replace a RH or LH batter that struggles against a RH or LH pitcher……in short, matchups. To that we add 5) replace a starter leaving the game – ejected or injured.
None of the above factors much into rotisserie baseball, but it does make a huge difference in a ML game…..maybe even as much as pitch framing.
More and more teams are using starting players at multiple positions. This is not the same as having one utility guy. Dodgers lead MLB in this. If Reds can do this with Senzel, they’ll be a better team for it.
The days of most working Americans performing one function in their job has been changing for over 20 years now due to technological advances (the writers on this blog are proficient in using computer software and technology). MLB has changed the role of pitchers – used to be 10 on a roster; now the role of position players is changing in response. More to come…..
It would make a lot more sense for the Reds to put Schebler or Puig in CF (both of whom have experience there) and let Senzel play a corner outfield spot, than to hope he can handle the demands of CF.
I personally think that Schebler – Puig – Winker is the current OF configuration, with Kemp platooning with Winker. I’m not particularly fond of Schebler, though he may be the best CF of the group, I think Senzel can just play left while Schebler comes off the bench.
Winker and Puig are the only Outfielders that deserve an “everyday” role. Kemp is a platoon partner with Winker, and Senzel should play everyday – whether at 2B or LF. I’d trust Puig to handle CF better than Senzel.
Calhoun sprays the ball everywhere in spring training , then the regular season comes and he thinks he’s big papi trying to pull everything and swing for fences .. Just hit 275 with 10hr instead of 220 and 25 hrs.. and on top play platinum glove caliber Rf
Pitchers are working on things in spring training. So are hitters. In spring training, pitchers generally are not trying to get you out. It’s much easier to spray the ball.
In the regular season, things change. If Ted Williams had a hard time going the other way with pitchers throwing in the mid 80s., what chance do mortals have of doing it against pitchers throwing in the mid 90s.
I don’t know why people think it’s easy…. It’s not. It’s incredibly difficult. If the shift is banned, dozens and dozens of hitters will be marketable better. Calhoun will be near the top of the list.
I understand what you are saying , but I do think his approach changes drastically . I think he needs to let the HRs happen instead of trying to lift and pull everything and take a more On Base approach , look at the hitters behind him and let them do the big damage .
The problem is he can’t hit the ball hard when he goes the other way and the only way he gets it by the shift is hitting the ball in the air.
I hate the shift. Hitting is the hardest thing to do in sports. I’m surprised how many baseball writers don’t know this.
Anyway, I would say there is a better than 50 50 chance the shift will be outlawed this year. If that happens, everything changes.
Calhoun and Puljos become completely different hitters. And so do a hundred other players. I think the game will be more fun as well.
Senzel is a Zobrist type clone, a multi position guy. Probably better on the bases than Zobrist with 5 tool potential. He has been working hard toward this since 9th grade. Just needs to stay healthy.
Promote him to 2nd, trade Gennett this off season still, sign kueckle at his 5 yr 120(ludacris ik but its baseball), sign a couple of more mid market pen help and make a run at it in 19, very possible with the bats in the lineup to make up rest of lack in the starting rotation.