Fill In The Blank

[HafDawg2003]

In order to compete in 2006, the Cincinnati Reds need _____________.

Feel free to elaborate, if you wish. What does this team need to be for real the rest of the year? Consistency? A trade? Let us know.

[Slyder]

In order to compete in 2006, the Cincinnati Reds need _____________.

Feel free to elaborate, if you wish. What does this team need to be for real the rest of the year? Consistency? A trade? Let us know.

major changes in the pitching staff.

I think its well been documented theres only about 6-7 pitchers right now that have performed well enough to merit staying on the 25 man roster.

[Wally Mo Pena]

tops on my list right now are: smarter managing, one more good reliever, a healthy and effective eric milton, ending the catcher log jam, and getting quinton off the team so denorfia can play.

but i will point out that the reds are competing right now, so i could have really said more of the same.

[redsfan28]

to execute the following:

1) The immediate dismissal of Jerry Narron. That one move would light a fire under the butt of this team. Look what happened when the Astros fired their manager. They made a playoff run. I say that you lure Lou Piniella out of "retirement".

2) The following roster moves:
Demote pitcher Dave Williams

Designate for assignment pitchers Rick White and Chris Hammond

Designate for assignment CF Quinten McCracken

Promote pitchers Chris Michalak (4-0, 2.88 ERA in 6 starts),
Josh Hall (1-2, 3.38 ERA in 5 starts), and the activation of
Paul Wilson from the 15 day DL. Put either Michalak or Hall in the
starting rotation until Eric Milton is ready to be activated from the
DL. Put Paul Wilson in the bullpen as long or middle relief.

Promote OF Chris Denorfia from Louisville

Move CF Ken Griffey, Jr. to LF. Move LF Adam Dunn to 1B.
Put Ryan Freel in CF full time. Put Chris Denorfia in RF full time.

3) The immediate offering of RF Austin Kearns, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, and another prospect to be named (not named Homer Bailey) to the Florida Marlins in exchange for SP Dontrelle Willis. This would provide us the number one starter we have so desperately needed for years and would provide this team instant credibility.

[Wally Mo Pena]

narron isn't going anywhere, and hasn't done anything to deserve being fired either. That's ridiculous. He's made some bonehead moves, and i want better managing too, but that wouldn't light a fire under this team, it would kill it. There would be a mutiny.

c.michalak and josh hall aren't exaclty top prospects. Just because you can succeed for a short time in the minors doesn't mean you're a major league pitcher. after the two starts that claussen and williams just put up, i don't know where you think those guys are going to go.

[redsfan28]

Well, they are better than David Wells' stunt double and Chris "I shoulda retired two years ago" Hammond. Dave Williams is still garbage and will probably be gone when Milton comes back anyway.

And, as far as Narron is concerned, the manager is responsible for producing a lineup that, I don't know, ACTUALLY PRODUCES! He has screwed this lineup up on more than one occassion. The defense, which he is responsible for, is the worst in the league. He refuses to hit behind the runner. He refuses to bunt to move runners into scoring position. He not quite Bob Boone, but he's close. If we could get Lou out of retirement, I would personally escort Narron to the airport.

I was throwing out ideas that were more specific than just saying smarter management, etc. The Reds are competing, but its because of great pitching from Harang and Arroyo. This team still relies too much on the long ball. It doesn't manufacture runs like it did in the beginning of the season. Its defense is still horrible, which is totally unacceptable for a major league team that is in probably the most competitive division in baseball.

There is absolutely no reason why this team should have gone to extra innings against Washington and Philadelphia.

[Wally Mo Pena]

that is the most confused rant i've ever heard. defense is the manager's responsibility? since when, and why do they have infield and outfield coaches then? every manaer "screws" the lineup here and there, or seems to because the lineup doesn't score. to me the lineup he put out there yesterday was fine. and the day before and the day before. Maybe griffey could hit lower, but that's not a fireable offense.

and you want more sac bunting? this team gives up enough outs as it is! we lead the league in stolen bases, and if you think not hitting and running enough is our problem, we certainly don't see eye to eye. when in the beginning of the season are you talking about where we were manufacturing all these runs, when we were leading the league in HRs, or when we were second in the league in HRs?

and in case you hadn't noteced, phil just won 10 straight and 13 of 14. where people get the idea that the reds are so much better than all these other good teams is beyond me.

[redsfan28]

defense is the manager's responsibility? since when, and why do they have infield and outfield coaches then?

Everything the team does on the field is the manager's responsibility. He's the first one to be held accountable when the team fails in areas. The fact you don't realize that tells me you don't know as much about baseball as you say you do.

every manaer "screws" the lineup here and there, or seems to because the lineup doesn't score. to me the lineup he put out there yesterday was fine. and the day before and the day before. Maybe griffey could hit lower, but that's not a fireable offense.

Quinten McCracken should NEVER be in the lineup, even to give a guy an off day. Late inning substitution MIGHT be all he's good for.

You should NEVER hit Edwin Encarnacion 2nd. He is near the top of the team in RBI's. He should be hitting in the middle of the lineup.

Narron was hired by Dan O'Brien. That should be enough to warrant his dismissal.

and you want more sac bunting? this team gives up enough outs as it is! we lead the league in stolen bases, and if you think not hitting and running enough is our problem, we certainly don't see eye to eye. when in the beginning of the season are you talking about where we were manufacturing all these runs, when we were leading the league in HRs, or when we were second in the league in HRs?

Brandon Phillips manufactured 17 RBI's in one week, only 4 of them came on a HR. Ryan Freel manufactured runs with his running ability.

The old addage is "Get em on, get em over, get em in." This is the best AL team I've ever seen. It relies too much on the home run ball. When it doesn't come, they more often than not lose the game.

and in case you hadn't noteced, phil just won 10 straight and 13 of 14. where people get the idea that the reds are so much better than all these other good teams is beyond me.

I didn't say the Reds are so much better, I said that there was no reason why they should have gone to extra innings. They should have beaten them because they COULD have beaten them.

I'm tired of !

Show me, EXACTLY, how you would change this team. Then we can have a true debate!

[redsrbetter]

If I could only choose one upgrade to this team, it would be for us to have one more equivalent to Harang. I think Arroyo will continue to have success as a Red and Harang will be another huge asset. If we could get one more of that caliber we would be in far better shape. I think Milton will come back in and have a good season but that is only if his legs are truly 100%. Wilson is a good option for a reliever IMO. We all remember how tired he would get by the 5th or 6th inning last year which made all the difference.
I have full confidence in Krivsky's abilities as a GM. He has been incredible so far IMO. I believe he will go after a new SP from a team like the Pirates who know that their team is out of contention by the trade deadline. He would look to trade something like one of our catchers and maybe an outfielder. Something that would hurt to lose but would pay off much more. If this team is in contention, Krivsky will get it done.
Our bullpen is decent right now and I agree with you guys that White and Hammond need to start telling their wives to look at where they want to live after retirement. This means that we would need one more arm to come up since Wilson could go to the bullpen. Would that arm be Lizard or Williams? We could also add Lizard into our package for a trade since his numbers look decent and hopefully the gaining GM would not look too deep into his WHIP.

If I were Krivsky, I would be looking as deeply as possible to find a suitor for Valentin, Lizard, and Griffey. Griffey would be missed, but we have shown that we can play without him. Maybe we could look at the Yankees for a deal like this as Matsui and Sheffield are on the DL, Valentin would be an upgrade over Stinnett, and the Lizard would be a pretty good spect. But do the Yanks have something in their rotation that is like a Harang? I would think that Chacon would be close or maybe even Wang. But to trade that above package would mean Krivsky would need more.
This is just a scenario I just came up with and I think Krivsky should start looking along those lines.

The second thing this team needs to do is something that is needed right now. For some reason this team is not scoring any runs. This team is known to score a lot of runs and we just have not seen them do that lately. Something needs to be fixed in this manner asap. I think we really need Aurilia back. I am starting to notice how much this team needs him. Not how Narron uses him in the lineup, but they do need him in there somewhere.

[Wally Mo Pena]

if you're going to say the manager is responsible for the defense, then he's responsible for everything, that was my point. If he's responsible for everything, then he has the reds off to their best start in years, by most measures, and doesn't deserve to be fired. By saying he's responsible for the defense, you were just highlighting a weakness of the team to make him look bad.

ryan freel is in the dumps, it's not narrons fault that he can't get on base. Narron can't "manufacture" the runs for him. i think you have your numbers wrong for phillips, but i don't have time to check it out. even if that's right though, that's one player, not a whole team. The reds have hit a lot of HR all year, and that's a big reason our offense is what it is. That's not a bad thing. the white sox hit the most HRs in the AL last year, no one said that they were too reliant on the long ball.

You're just basing you're lineup thoughts on opinion. Why shouldn't ede hit #2? He and kearns are putting up almost identical numbers and both have high OBP with good slugging. Ede could hit 5th, and kearns second, but since they're pretty much the same hitter, what's the difference. You want him to hit 6th? what would be the point of that?

as for specifics, other than those i already pointed out, i think narron should use his bullpen better and not overmanage so much. He needs to use the righty lefty thing less and go with who's getting guys out except in rare circumstances. aIf he had used the pen better in the last nats game, people would have been available for the first phils game and we may have come back.

I agree quinton should be on the team, but that's krivsky's fault, narron has to keep his bench guys sharp, all managers do that. jacob cruz started some games last year, all bench guys start sometimes.

All i'm saying is that it's crazy to call for narrons dismaissal. He has the reds 8 games over .500 in mid may, first in the wild card, and they hit a rough patch and lost some close games. Hopefully guys like Dunn will start to hit again, and the reds will get back to winning. but just throwing things out there like the defense is bad and that's his fault, and the offense doesn't move guys around enough, as reasons that a successful manager should be fired is insane. He's not without faults, but that's crazy talk.

[redsfan28]

as for specifics, other than those i already pointed out, i think narron should use his bullpen better and not overmanage so much. He needs to use the righty lefty thing less and go with who's getting guys out except in rare circumstances. aIf he had used the pen better in the last nats game, people would have been available for the first phils game and we may have come back.

Then Narron is the second coming of Bob Boone. We all know how that turned out!

[Dunn#44]

In order to compete in 2006, the Cincinnati Reds need MORE PITCHING.
We have the offense we need more arms in order to be in the race all year.

[CincyRedsFan30]

We needs at least three or four pitchers and we need to start being more patient at the plate again so our offense starts hitting more like the dominating one it was earlier in the year.

McCracken, White and Hammond need to go as already mentioned.

[griffeyfan3]

In order for the Reds to compete in 2006, the Reds obviously need bullpen help. I can live with the starting rotation of Arroyo, Harang, Milton, Williams/Lizard, Claussen, but the bullpen has been bad with the exception of Coffey.

[Geki Ace]

A new manager, three new starters, three new bullpen arms, a better bench or somebody on the bench figuring out how to hit, massive amounts of steroids.