Anyone worried about Harang?

[Doppelgänger]

Injuries I think

[redsrbetter]

I think he is in the Nationals organization along with all the other ex-Reds. Funny thing with him though is that Leatherpants never drafted him. He came from the Yankees organization.

[Kingdom]

dave-o williams, what a legend
krivies had something for crappy ex-pirate pitchers... josh fogg, arroyo now, dave williams

if he was there a little longer, he could have brought denny neagle out of retirement and sign todd ritchie

[love_that_reefer]

He's not playing anywhere this year, Claussen that is. Must be hurt.

[Kingdom]

And I'm sure Sean Lowe is available.

[Slyder]

I guess Krivsky didnt pull the trigger to get Jared Burton, David Weathers, oh ya some dude named Edison called, and I guess Jocketty didnt get hosed for 1 year of Mulder, Andy Benes, Heathcliff Slocumb, among others. Every GM has craptacular signings and considering what Krivsky started off with he didnt do that bad of a job. Its not like Basketball where you can go from outhouse to penthouse in 1 year (unless you get lucky and sign a bunch of MRs to multi year deals for 5+ mil per).

[CincyRedsFan30]

CRF,

I don't think Krivsky built a poor pitching staff.

Take what he started with: (guys in bold are still with the team)

Rotation:
Harang
Milton
Dave Williams
Claussen
Paul Wilson

Bullpen:
Weathers
Mercker
Chris Hammond
Coffey
Shackelford
Balfour
Wagner

And compare it to now:

Rotation:
Harang
Volquez
Arroyo
Cueto
Bailey

Bullpen:
Cordero
Burton
Affeldt
Weathers
Bray
Majewski
Lincoln

Tell me this pitching staff isn't significantly better. I know you are waiting for Jocketty to find diamonds in the rough. And I am right there with you in hoping he does. But you have to give Krivsky some credit here.

Team ERA is 12th in the NL, so it's very much below average. Also the fourth most Runs allowed in the NL, and only one Run away from the third most allowed in the NL.

The starting pitching (as I've continued to highlight as the biggest area without depth over the last couple years when Krivsky was GM) is particularly wretched.

Compare that to the team Jocketty helped build in St. Louis: SIXTH in ERA (definitely above average pitching talent) and the sixth FEWEST Runs allowed (and very close to being a couple slots higher there).

And that doesn't even consider what Krivsky did to the offense; currently tied for eighth in the NL (middle of the pack). Although they aren't considerably higher, the Cards offense has performed a little better too, and even with Bruce, the Reds have been unable to overtake their offense.

Plus, I'd wager that their offense distributes their Runs more evenly than the Reds, and gets it done in the clutch with HITS far more often. They remain second in the NL in hits, behind only the Cubs.

Jocketty Methodology. Coming to a ballpark near some of us.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I guess Krivsky didnt pull the trigger to get Jared Burton, David Weathers, oh ya some dude named Edison called, and I guess Jocketty didnt get hosed for 1 year of Mulder, Andy Benes, Heathcliff Slocumb, among others. Every GM has craptacular signings and considering what Krivsky started off with he didnt do that bad of a job. Its not like Basketball where you can go from outhouse to penthouse in 1 year (unless you get lucky and sign a bunch of MRs to multi year deals for 5+ mil per).

Except you can retool pretty fast. The Marlins have proven that several times in recent years; winning World Series titles, dismantling the team and then quickly building another collection of high-skill talent. They haven't fixed their pitching this time around, but they have loaded up on high-caliber offense.

And the Cards had a "down" year last year, but Jocketty appears to have left them with a rich assortment of high-performers for this year. Why the Cards dumped him as GM I'll never know.

[Slyder]

Except you can retool pretty fast. The Marlins have proven that several times in recent years; winning World Series titles, dismantling the team and then quickly building another collection of high-skill talent. They haven't fixed their pitching this time around, but they have loaded up on high-caliber offense.

And the Cards had a "down" year last year, but Jocketty appears to have left them with a rich assortment of high-performers for this year. Why the Cards dumped him as GM I'll never know.

Marlins are the exception to the rule. Its something in the water that every spect they touch turns into a stud. Most teams arent that lucky/successful with firesales.

And the Cards also have one of the best pitching coaches in baseball to bail out Jocketty and get "good" half/full years out of people who the rest of the time sucked (IE Weaver).

[redsrbetter]

CRF, you just explained why Jocketty is a better GM than Krivsky. I can't argue that. Jocketty's track record is leaps and bounds above Krivsky's. But keep in mind, he has been at this for a longer period of time.

Anyhow, that wasn't what I was asking. You said that Krivsky built an abysmal pitching staff. I still say you are wrong. Ok, so he may have nothing to do with getting Homer Bailey or Harang. But he built around those guys. He basically got Volquez for free. If you look at how he got Hamilton and flip him for Volquez you will see that. Daryl Thompson is likely our best minor league prospect not in the majors right now. Krivsky got him. He picked up Cordero in the offseason (and took him away from our divisional foe). You have to say that Arroyo was amazing his first season as a Red and he is still better than the likes of Milton, Williams, Claussen, and Wilson.

And as Slyder just pointed out, Dave Duncan is the absolute best pitching coach in the majors. I think your point is that Jocketty can find gold where others can't. I think you are correct in that assumption. On top of that, I know he is very good at deadline trades. That will also bode well for us. I can't wait to see the magic turn on with him.

I fully expect him to get a has been player from somewhere and for everyone to get bent out of shape over it. But you will see through the mist and realize that Jocketty must know something about said player that others do not. And we will reap the benefits. Those times will be fun. But I still cannot contest that Krivsky put together a bad pitching staff.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Marlins are the exception to the rule. Its something in the water that every spect they touch turns into a stud. Most teams arent that lucky/successful with firesales.

And the Cards also have one of the best pitching coaches in baseball to bail out Jocketty and get "good" half/full years out of people who the rest of the time sucked (IE Weaver).

I'm not denying that Duncan's great, but if he is all that, why doesn't he fix the pitching EVERY year? It's CERTAIN players that Jocketty seems to acquire most of the time that suddenly become viable options. Pure skill there.

And redsr, I think I highlighted pretty concisely why Krivsky built an abysmal pitching staff. They have one of the lower-end team ERAs in the league, and give up a lot more Runs than the other pitching staffs.