"We're better than it looks"

[CincyRedsFan30]

That seems to be the undeniable message Castellini, Krivsky and Narron all have uttered in recent days, yet it is starting to seem more and more as though that might not be the case.

I can understand they have tried to be patient and didn't want to rush to judgment on this season but is it not clear to EVERYONE at this point that the team in its current form simply doesn't have enough talent to win?

What are they hoping to accomplish by repeating that same, tired message over and over? Are they trying to convince themselves they are better than it looks? Do they really believe it? Are they simply overwhelmed and out-classed in their positions and don't know what to say at all?

One thing is for sure; it's pretty clear the three have had some "group meetings" recently and have all come away from them with the "we're better than it looks" idea implanted in their minds.

The "status quo" message Castellini utters seems to tie in to the notion they actually BELIEVE the manager and GM have done an adequate job this year. That's pretty scary.

I thought those statements indicating intertia and a fear of change were gone with Lindner but it starting to seem his ghost still haunts the aisles and walkways of GABP and the front office building.

We all know how the Lindner Era went.

[AtomicDumpling]

Right now the Reds are the worst team in all of baseball in terms of wins and losses. There is no denying it.

However, I think "We're better than it looks" to some small degree. I don't think we are the worst team in baseball. I think there are 3-5 teams worse than we are. LOL

Even though we are losing all our games it seems like most of the losses have been close games or in extra innings. I think with a little good fortune or less bad fortune or better managing mixed in we could have won a few more games.

But obviously we are nowhere close to being a contending team. We are much worse than last year. The current administration has this team going in the wrong direction. Our only hope is the minor-league prospects brought in by the previous front office will save our butts in 2008 or 2009.

[missionhockey21]

The Reds situation is like this:

We have a kitchen table with pizza dough, sauce, the good fresh mozerella, peperroni, mushooms, oregano, hummus, cottage cheese, zucchini, squirrel meat, and rat poison. We could make a pretty decent pizza if we use the first six ingredients. However, the Reds are taking their dough, putting hummus as the sauce, cottage cheese instead of mozzarella, zucchini and squirrel meat as the toppings and topping it all off with a sprinkling of rat poison. This team is not this bad, we know the pyth. record, we know all the games we gave away due to the pen or the one run games lost. We've been flipping a coin and guessing wrong everytime. I am not saying this team is a playoff contender, but had we been using the right guys in the right spots in the lineup, learning from past mistakes in the pen, and not keeping pitchers in so long when they are so close to letting it snowball out of control in... we might be a lot closer to .500 than we currently are.

[redram38]

When you are consistently starting players like Castro, Connine, Hopper and you have only one player (Hamilton) out right now, it should be no surprise that this team stinks. The current leadership seems to love bringing in the fossils to try and SAVE THE DAY. Changes are needed and needed now. This team is finished for this year so play the young guys and see what you have. We have a worse record than the freaking Royals. How much worse can it get. And how much longer before the Fans just stop carring. I LOVE THE REDS, but I really dislike this team and more so the teams leadership. They have taken my summers most enjoyable thing and turned it into a nightmare. I don't live in Cinny but if I did I am not so sure I would pay my hard earned money to go see this night after night. I know baseball is not only about winning but just enjoying the game, but the way we lose games has just been unbearable. Sorry to vent but after yet another loss I had to do that, or hit the dog, and I really like my Dog right now :-)

[missionhockey21]

When you are consistently starting players like Castro, Connine, Hopper and you have only one player (Hamilton) out right now, it should be no surprise that this team stinks. The current leadership seems to love bringing in the fossils to try and SAVE THE DAY. Changes are needed and needed now. This team is finished for this year so play the young guys and see what you have. We have a worse record than the freaking Royals. How much worse can it get. And how much longer before the Fans just stop carring. I LOVE THE REDS, but I really dislike this team and more so the teams leadership. They have taken my summers most enjoyable thing and turned it into a nightmare. I don't live in Cinny but if I did I am not so sure I would pay my hard earned money to go see this night after night. I know baseball is not only about winning but just enjoying the game, but the way we lose games has just been unbearable. Sorry to vent but after yet another loss I had to do that, or hit the dog, and I really like my Dog right now :-)

Your dog finally got Barker to end his daily campaign to chop his balls off ending soon... so the last thing he needs is for that to start up.

Miracle runs can be made, and I don't think its happening with this bunch but the least the franchise could do is to make some attempts at respectability, before calling it quits for real with with a great firesale that I am sure is to come. I know that sounds silly, but these wins are soul crushing and it doesn't seem to bother anyone but the fans. I've mentioned this before but there is this tri-man love affair going on between Castellini-Krivsky-Narron. R-Cast loves Krivsky and Krivsky loves Narron, so by the principle of transitivity, R-Cast loves Narron. I am sure the axe will come eventually, but we all saw last year that Narron wasn't capable and they have let this snowball out of control and Castellini still acts like the end isn't near. I mean the logical side of me wants the #1 draft pick, then again I want to enjoy the season and this is torture for all intents and purposes.

[redsrbetter]

The thing that gets me the most is that Castellini used to be a fan just like us. A season ticket holder who when purchasing the CEO reigns struck me as a guy who shared the same feelings as we all have about Lindner. CRF said it, we are steadily approaching a repeat of those dreadful days.

Castellini seems to want to be so optimistic for this team and carries such love for Krivsky that he can't set that aside and look at the big picture. He is trying to be the light in the tunnel when the light is no longer exists.

I am at the point where I wake up every morning and have apathy when I come to the forums in anticipation of a Narron firing. Yet now I simply believe the only fire that we are going to see is going to be a firesale. Which likely means Dunn and Griffey are gone. Or maybe they are locked up as franchise players for even longer and guys like EdE, Phillips, and Hamilton are traded. I really am not sure what they are going to do, but the latter thought would not surprise me due to the FO love for vets.

[ButlerBulldogs]

they are definitely better than worst in the league, but is that what we strive to be?? better than last overall, i would hope in the playoffs were the goal, but what do i know! I am tired of the rhetoric and ready for some changes to be made, everyone at first was in love with Castellini, but i am seeing a worse team than when Mr.Chiquita himself ran the reds

[mntwinsfan]

Well at least your better than the Royals! If your team does not spend to get the big time free agents your club will be like this. The Twins are in kind of the same situation. An owner who won't pull his head out of his butt! Polad WILL NOT get us a big time power hitting RF. Cuddyer then could play 3rd base. Only diference is we make the big trades that sets our team up for many many productive season. Liriano,Boonser and Nathan ring a bell? For AJ Piezerinski. LOL Best rape job in baseball history!

If I was looking over the club, why not trade Dunn? His value is tremendous. See what foolish team would want Jr. DH in the american league could give Griffey maybe an extra 3-5 years.

Just my thoughts.. I wish I was a Reds fan.. All the action here is great.

Go Twins!

[Porkopolis]

If I was looking over the club, why not trade Dunn? His value is tremendous. See what foolish team would want Jr. DH in the american league could give Griffey maybe an extra 3-5 years.

I don't think Dunn will end the season as a Red. I believe the club is actively shopping him as we speak. As for Griffey, ownership will not allow the trade of the one man who might actually sell some tickets the rest of this season. Jr. would have to bring instant excitement for the deal to be okayed--and he'd have to approve the deal with his 10-5 rights.

[harangatang]

The message is absolutely correct. The Reds are playing way under where they should conversely to last year where they played way over where they should've been.

[CincyRedsFan30]

The pythag. record seems to be trending quickly to their actual record.

At the rate their going, the pythag. record will be just as bad as the regular record soon enough.

So I'm not so sure they're better than it looks or certainly not to a degree that they can make blanket statements that seem to indicate a potential major shift in their record from bad to good.

[missionhockey21]

Yeah but we all know some of the flaws with the pythag. record, like while it does help to indicate what one might classify as a lucky or an unlucky team... it's clear that this team is having problems beyond luck like poor management skills and players obviously not playing to their perceived potential. I am not saying to discount it, I am just saying as with any team who wins and losses... players can either perform outside, at them or below expectations. As much as some were hopeful, myself included after the starter's hot debuts, this team obviously needed a strong presence within the clubhouse to end the bleeding and I really think Narron has done way more damage in that regard than just poor lineup construction or bullpen use. Of course this team on paper really isn't a .500 team, but they are not the worst in the league at all.

I am hoping to comment on this further tomorrow as this thread is full of some good discussion points, but I just wanted to get that in there.

[AtomicDumpling]

It seems like we only score runs when we are way behind. When the pitchers turn in a good game the hitters turn in a bad game. It is rare for us to do well in both facets in the same game.

[ButlerBulldogs]

if you look at our hitters #'s, they are good, but like a post above said, it happens when it doesn't matter....dunn, phillips K when it is close, but hit a 500 foot bomb when it is 10-4

[Fishercat]

The thing is, I can actually see, statistically, where they would get that idea. If you look at BP's adjusted standings (real-life, pythagorean, EqR (Equivilent Runs), and AEqR (Adjusted Equivilent Runs), the Reds don't come out nearly as bad.

Real Life: 18-33
Pythagorean: 22-29 (rounding)
EqR: 25-26
AEqR: 23-28

Of course, I trust the fans watching from day-to-day just as much as the stats, so the fact that you scoff at the notion is good enough for me. But the more optomistic projections place them as an almost .500 team, and the culprit could be anything including the talent on the field, which doesn't change. But the data is there.