05-26-2024, 12:12 PM
(05-25-2024, 03:14 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Fire everyone from top to bottom in the FO, Managers, and Coaches (majors and minors).
Just a big 'ol cesspool of nepotism and cronyism that will never win or produce star players.
You can point to money disparity all you want, but when was the last time we developed a genuine homegrown star player? 2008 with Cueto? 2007 with Votto? That was 16 years ago. Sure MAYBE we could point to EDLC in a few years because he's exciting as hell when he's hot with his combination of speed and power, but ultimately he's currently a career .240 hitter that strikes out 230 times per 162 games and is on pace to make >30 errors this year.
When was the last time we said "oh man, this Reds team is will coached, we are good at the fundamentals?" This is what happens when you spend years and years just hiring your friends who failed at their jobs elsewhere to your FO and hiring your children and your friends children to run things.
Even if we had $200m/yr to spend on payroll we'd be the Mets, not the Dodgers. Need a full clean sweep of the organization. Preferably with new ownership as well otherwise I don't think anything will ever change. We haven't won a postseason series since 1995, 28 years and I am comfortable in saying this year isn't the year that will end that streak. Only 4 other teams have at least 10 year streaks and the second longest after us is 18 years and at least those 18 years' last appearance was a World Series.
I think they've made some commendable changes.
The big one is development of starting pitching. I always felt that this team's biggest flaw organizationally (outside of a high school lunch money budget, of course), was the inability to develop quality young controllable starters. It's way too risky and expensive for almost any club to shop for in FA, much less the Castellini-owned Reds.
Now, even the most hardened critic of the organization has to admit, they have loads of good to solid young starters. They also just happen to have more coming up through the minors relatively quickly.
The seasons where we pine for the Robert Stephensons of the world are over.
To me, this was the biggest piece of the puzzle for the Reds as an organization, and they've found a way to make it fit. St Louis built their reputation on having an seemingly endless supply of young arms. That's how a team in a market like this becomes a consistent winner.
The hard part is getting the ownership to figure out that spending money will make them money if they're smart about it. Maybe get them to hand out with the Brown/Blackburn family for a week or so. They still retained their beloved nepotism while managing to bring the Bengals into the present day NFL. They went from perennial cartoon villains to heroes in just a few years (with the help of a certain quarterback, obviously).
Imagine the Reds making relevant FA signings for 5 straight seasons like the Bengals have. Imagine them aggressively addressing specific needs the very second that FA opens up in the fall.
This is wandering a bit, but just think about the past 5 Bengals offseasons. Every single one since Burrow arrived. By the time the FA and the draft are over, the fanbase is foaming at the mouth waiting for the opening kickoff. Every year there's optimism, even Super-Bowl winning optimism in the last 2. That's an entire offseason of merchandise and ticket sales. It's almost half a year of making money before the product even get onto the field because the fans eat it up.
That's all a fanbase can reasonably ask of an organization. Have the Reds ever really given us that? Maybe in 2013 they did, but that's about it.
How many much more merchandise do you think the Bengals sell now compared to pre-2020? Season tickets had and may still have a waitlist. The team value and profile are undoubtedly in a much better place.
Why can't the small-time fruit-mongers figure this out? Spend to make. Quality proven offensive talent doesn't carry the same risk as pitching. It should be plug and play, and this ballpark should make it even easier to attract. Stop signing guys like Moose and Candelario. You aren't swimming in Ohtani waters, but guys like Teoscar Hernandez should be perfectly within budget.
They even have in-house stars like Elly to build around, as the Bengals have with Burrow are the receivers.
Even in the 2010-13 era when they had a loaded home-grown group, it took them forever to acquire a legit leadoff hitter. It was the one piece they really needed. They got Choo for one year then turned back into a turd right after.
I feel like the in-house development is on a solid track. They just need to figure out how to effectively use FA to finish off a roster. Time is always of the essence, as the young guys will eventually leave, but dawdling around while a team is close is just a waste. You might as well sell off the young guys while they still have several years and big value if you're going to be that cheap and lazy.
