11-11-2022, 05:31 AM
(11-08-2022, 04:29 AM)guyofthetiger Wrote: Moose definitely was a worse contract than Votto. Nobody will want him. Reds will stay in the basement for 2023.
They don't have to. The Reds have good young Pitching and if they are smart they will play Defense to go with that Pitching so that errors do no force Pitchers to get 4 or 5 outs instead f just 3, and some Double Plays to really help out.
As for The Moose. Reds have to pay him 18 Million as is, but how much can they save in a trade. Can they get a team to pay 9 Million of his contract. Then the Reds pay him 9 Million to play elsewhere, but Reds save 9 Million. If No. is a team willing to pay The Moose 5 Million or 4 Million. Yes, the Reds would look like they are paying The Moose 13 or 12 Million to play for another team, but they still get down from the 18 Million and save 4 or 5 Million.
The Reds should go Money Ball and be willing to dump any of The Moose Contract. No reason to pay him all of the 18 Million if some team is willing to take him and pay some of it. Some team might want a possible 3rd base or 1st base or DH and pay 5 Million more or less for him. The Reds should really be shopping The Moose to every team in MLB. What Reds get in return does not matter, and Reds should not ruin a trade by asking for top players or top picks. The idea is to dump payroll.
Again, the Reds have to pay Votto huge contract one more year due to end of 10 year no trade contract made after his MVP year. So OK, you sell tickets to Joey Votto Day and try to get some money back on a possible sell out stadium for that. Keeping both Votto and The Moose is too expensive. Dumping The Moose and getting a team to pay half his salary or a quarter of his salary is the only financial answer, since no team would be willing to pay The Moose 18 Million. If Reds could get back anywhere from 3 to 9 Million, do it, because otherwise they are stuck with the entire 18 Million.
Once The Moose is dumped, The Reds could be good in 2023. Good Young Pitching, Defense and some up and coming hitters. The Carnival 3 ring circus promotion of a Joey Votto Day as if Col Tom Parker snowman of selling Elvis. The Reds should play better, have more fans, and make more money in 2023. I'm not saying World Series, but I am saying a good team that fans can respect and the owners start to make more money again.
The Bottom Line is The Reds had the worst Attendance since the early 1980's. However he Reds won the World Series in 1990 and that was no accident. Bob Howsom came back and drafted players such as Barry Larkin and Eric Davis looking ahead to the future, and so must The Reds now. Dump however much of The Moose Contract as possible, have the Joey Votto 3 ring circus day for a sell out stadium, but enjoy the good young pitching and keep making good drafts. In 2024, with no Votto or Moose contracts, the sky is the limit.
I'll add The Reds should not listen to people on MLB Network talking about who the top free agents are. I've heard them, and they are talking for teams in New York and LA. Cincinnati does not have the money to spend like those cities. In 1975, only a few players in MLB made one hundred thousand a year, so Cincinnati could be dominate. The 1994 strike season up to the 2020 covid no fans season and the 2022 lock out / strike season changes everything. The Reds will never again have the money for a 1975 team. However they can be like Tampa as I have said last few years. Tampa would never make the expensive Votto or Moose contract. What Tampa does to make play-offs in same division with New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore is what Reds could do. Field this good young pitching staff and a good defense and win games with less than half of what New York or LA spends in payroll. I have seen teams spend the most in payroll and not make play-offs many times.
The Reds have a good, exciting bunch of young Pitchers. Most Reds pitchers bring it at around 100 MPH but have some good other pitches. Hunter Greene, Ashcraft, Lodolo. Just saying their names gets me excited for 2023. This is why I do not want to see one more good young player traded just to pay Votto and Moose. Dump and Save however many Million they can in a Moose trade, and get some Votto money back on JOEY VOTTO DAY of a sellout stadium. Who knows, Votto might even put up OK numbers his final year. I would not trade Super Sub Farmer unless he is asking for too much money. Year in and year out, Farmer fills holes at shortstop, catcher, outfield as injuries and things happen, so he is of great help to a Reds manager.
Dump Moose, and there is no reason Reds should not be better and also make more money in 2023. I would watch Reds Games to see Greene, Ashcraft and Lodolo pitch. I also think Reds will be better with MLB getting rid of the shifts. Fans do not want to see great shifts of ground outs and fly outs. Fans want to see more hits, and third basemen make Brooks Robinson plays and a good double play combo like Concepcion and Morgan. The shifts were robbing fans of seeing baseball as it use to be, great defensive plays and more hitting. We lost the art of a shortstop going deep to 3rd or over 2nd to make a play. Fans will enjoy seeing that again, now with the shifts gone. One of the most boring things ever was players looking at the shift cards between batters because that was just dull. MLB going back to how defense should be played, this also has me excited for Reds 2023, because Reds in my lifetime from Cardenas to Concepcion to Larkin have often had Defense. Instead of moving a 3rd base to short and a short to 2nd base, just let these players show they can play their position. The shifts deprived the Fans of The Golden Glove play that Fans came to enjoy from 1800's to 2000's.
Yes, I think Reds will be better not looking at shift cards all game. Play your position and then come in and grab a bat. Greene, Ashcraft, Lodolo....I want to see the 2023 Reds, THIS could be a good team with maybe World Series a few years down the road, but a Good Team NOW in 2023.
1968 Bengal Fan
