McCoy -- Reds should trade both Kearns, Pena for pitching
The 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball’s first professional team, traveled 11,877 miles — presumably by mule trains, railroads and paddle-wheelers — and won all 70 games they played, including by 130-8, 80-5 and 94-7, probably a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals.
When the season was over, the profits came to $1.39, which put a crimp in the postseason team party.
The 2005 Cincinnati Reds lost 89 more games than their founding fathers, but the bank account is in much better shape, despite the fifth-place finish and a downturn in attendance from disenchanted fans.
How does this get fixed? Does anybody have George Steinbrenner’s cell-phone number, or better yet, the numbers and password to his checking account?
Let’s pretend that Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called me and said, “I want you to be chief executive officer and general manager of the Reds. Fix that franchise, pronto, so that it is competitive in 2006.”
Hey, commissioner, you want to do something with the fishes and the loaves, too?
First, there is more money to spend than the $60 million budgeted for next season. Close to $40 million will arrive from television, radio and Internet revenue, plus the sale of the Washington Nationals.
Take at least $20 million, and boost the payroll to $80 million.
We need a franchise player, a star, a marquee player for marketing purposes. We already have one in Ken Griffey Jr. So when the Chicago White Sox or New York Yankees call and say, “Ken Griffey Jr.,” we say, “Can’t hear you. Bad connection. I’ll call you back in about six years.”
Did anybody notice what the Reds did without Griffey in September? After the All-Star break, the team was 28-20 through Sept. 4 — the day Griffey hurt his ankle and was done for the season. From Sept. 4 through the end of the season, without Griffey, they were 10-21.
So Griffey is the center fielder. End of story, end of discussion.
Left fielder? Adam Dunn. Sign him now to a five-year, $50 million deal. The guy is going to hit 40 or more home runs for the next 10 years, draw 100 walks, score 100 runs, drive in 100 runs.
Some folks want to move him to first base and trade Sean Casey. Have you seen Dunn play first base? Not good. And he doesn’t like it. While his glove in left field is fool’s gold, he is getting better.
Some fans howl that Casey doesn’t hit enough home runs to play first base. I’m still searching the rule book to see where it says, “A first baseman must hit 25 or more home runs.”
Home runs aren’t the problem. The Reds set a club record with 222 this year, and as manager Jerry Narron said when asked what it meant, “It means that pitching and defense win games.”
Casey is going to hit .300. He is going to hit doubles. What he did this year was hit .312 with nine homers, 75 runs and 58 RBIs while playing most of the season with a bad shoulder. And that bad shoulder most likely contributed to the 27 times he grounded into double plays.
Something has to give in right field. Neither Wily Mo Pena nor Austin Kearns were happy with the share program. Both said they and the team might be better off with a trade.
Trade one? No, trade both. The Chicago Cubs love Kearns and the way he tears down the Wrigley Field bricks with line drives. And trade Pena to Washington before that team is sold and GM Jim Bowden is replaced.
Bowden brought Pena to Cincinnati and adores him.
Pitching is what this team needs, and it might be able to pry a couple of good pitchers away from the Cubs and Nationals.
While Narron and his staff believe Ryan Freel is best used as Elmer’s Glue — plug him in anywhere and cement the lineup — he needs to be batting leadoff every day (37 steals last year). Put him in right field, and leave him there.
The biggest hole among the positions is second base, and there is an answer. Pick up the option on Rich Aurilia, put him at second and leave him there. The option is mutual at $2 million, a bargain these days for a good player, and if Aurilia is told he’ll be the regular second baseman, he’ll come back.
Playing off and on at third base, shortstop and second base, while batting anywhere from second to eighth, Aurilia led the team with a .343 average with runners in scoring position.
Shortstop is in good hands (well, sometimes those hands get clanky) with Felipe Lopez.
If defense wins games, third base remains a problem. Edwin Encarnacion may or may not be a future star, but he is only 22 and might have been rushed. His defense remains a slow work in progress, and while he showed power, he hit only .238.
Wonder if Joe Randa would come back? He is a free agent after the season, and his offense and defense are worth pursuing.
The catching tandem of Jason LaRue and Javier Valentin combined for 28 homers and 109 RBIs, a Pudge Rodriguez/Johnny Bench type season.
Valentin is a switch-hitter who hits much better left than right, while LaRue bats right, giving Narron a chance to mix and match.
While LaRue is arbitration-eligible and will be expensive, alternatives are few. No catcher in the organization is close to major-league ready, and trading for a good one is difficult.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. Pitching, pitching, pitching. That’s what it is all about. This team led the league in nearly every offensive category, but was at the bottom of the league in pitching.
Pitching, of course, is the most difficult commodity to acquire. Teams don’t trade top-shelf pitching. It usually is acquired through free agency, and the funds are limited, especially with the $25.5 million invested in Eric Milton, loser of 15 games.
Can we talk a team with a big, big park into taking him in trade? But Milton was much better in his last three starts. Probably, we’re stuck with him and have to try to fix him and pray he is better next year.
Ramon Ortiz? Gone. We don’t bring him back and use the $4.55 million on his option to try to do better. Randy Keisler? Gone. He flunked his test as a starter.
Brandon Claussen showed good signs and awful signs. Luke Hudson has great stuff if he throws strikes. Aaron Harang? A keeper.
The team needs to find two starters, maybe three. That’s a tough task.
And it needs a closer. David Weathers filled in admirably in the midseason, but got tired and wore out. Billy Wagner might be available and might be worth the investment. This team blew too many late leads.
Perhaps we’ll use the Bowden method — sign every mid-level free-agent pitcher we can get our hands on, throw ’em all against the wall and maybe Pete Schourek or Pete Harnisch will stick.
Maybe that won’t make for an undefeated season like the 1869 Reds, but at least it might make a profit of $1.40.
Hal McCoy covers the Cincinnati Reds for Cox News Service. He can be reached by e-mail at
hmccoy@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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Originally Posted by love_that_reefer
