Fay- The good, the bad and the finger

[missionhockey21]

The good, the bad and the finger
By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

I decided to do my end-of-the-year Reds awards while wondering if Bud Selig complied with Major League Baseball's minority hiring rules when he chose his son-on-law, Laurel Prieb, to head MLB's western operations:

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Ken Griffey Jr. Forget the .301 average, the 35 homers and the 92 RBI. This is the number that counts: The Reds were 24-19 after Griffey moved back into the No. 3 spot in the lineup.

"It's nice to put him in the No. 3 hole and build the lineup around him," Reds manager Jerry Narron said.

It's a shame that Griffey didn't get to play out the season, but the fact that he was Junior again from May through August is the best news for Reds fans in a long time.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: It's hard to argue with the leap Felipe Lopez made. He went from a guy the organization had nearly given up on to an All-Star. Sure, he still makes mistakes, particularly in the field. But his range is outstanding, and his offensive numbers are better than any Barry Larkin put up in his last eight years with the club.

MOST IMPROVED PITCHER: Brandon Claussen went from 2-8 with a 6.14 ERA last year to 10-9 with a 3.91 ERA this year. The biggest thing he proved down the stretch is he can be consistent. Ten of his last 11 starts have been very good.

WHO KNEW AWARD: Who knew Javier Valentin could rake like he has this year? Going into the weekend, Valentin's on-base plus slugging (.905) was the best of any catcher in baseball - 158 points higher than Pudge Rodriguez's.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Todd Coffey. The thing you've got to like about him is he's gotten better as the year's gone on. He's 4-0 with a save and 3.92 ERA overall. But over his last 24 games, entering Saturday, he had a 1.21 ERA. Another encouraging sign is he's starting to push the radar gun up to 94. He didn't have that velocity early in the year.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Eric Milton. Only 11 of his 33 starts, entering Saturday, were quality starts. If not for the contract, he would have never lasted the year in the rotation. The Reds better hope it was a one-year aberration.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT II: Ryan Wagner. Remember when Wagner had a 0.79 ERA on April 26 and everyone wanted him to be the closer? He was still 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA through June. But in June and July his ERA was 10.18. He decided his shoulder was hurt after weeks of insisting he was healthy. He didn't pitch the rest of the season.

GONE AND FORGOTTEN: Ben Weber, Jason Romano, Anderson Machado, Ricky Stone and D'Angelo Jimenez.

HERE AND FORGOTTEN: Chris Booker and Joe Valentine.

BEST DRESSED: Ramon Ortiz. Got to see it to believe it. Let's just say, it's not stuff you can get off the rack at Dillard's.

FICKLED-FINGER OF FATE: Danny Graves. The flip-off to fans just hastened what was inevitable, but it made his departure a much more interesting topic on sports talk radio.

BEST SIGNING: Rich Aurilia. He has been the best clutch hitter on the team. He has played second and third base almost flawlessly since getting displaced at short by Lopez. He hasn't always been happy, but it has never shown in his play.

BEST SIGNINGS II: David Weathers and Kent Mercker. Both have pitched well, but just as important, they've added levity and leadership to the clubhouse. Bringing them back for '06 gives the bullpen stability.

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[Wally Mo Pena]

he forgot most abused player: Adam Dunn.

Through all of the mayhem and turmoil of this season, Dunn has played just about every day, with no whinning, and showing no sign of injury or strain. He put up a .935 OPS overall while hitting everywhere from 2nd to 7th, with almost no consistency. while batting 3rd he hit .308, .481, .615, 1.097, but was passed over for just about everyone on the team, including joe randa and rich aurilia, neither of whom can boast career a OPS over .770.

he had a chair stolen, and an expensive one to boot. he had a Danny Graves jersey stolen, which meant a lot to him, so valuable that he said he would leave the team if it was removed. He did not, obviously, and publicly calling that bluff probably didn't go over too well either. But it didn't show in his play, and he didn't demand a trade (like aurilia), or suggest a trade (like kearns). He even suggested that he would like a long-term deal, but no one ever spoke to him about it. In fact, no one seems to tell him much of anything, but he still produces.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Isn't it amazing that Dunn can put up an OPS over 1.000 when batting 3rd? If they would just LEAVE him there on a consistent basis, he would probably maintain an OPS close to that one.

[Wally Mo Pena]

the reds always seem to have managers who are so concerned with bating right left all the way through the order. yes dunn is terrible against lefties, but so is kearns, so what's the difference? Guess who has the most HR off of lefties on the team? Griffey and Dunn.

And i'll even give it to the reds if they want to have a righty order and a lefty order, some teams do that and it works. But that still means Dunn should be 3rd in the order against righties which is most of the time.