09-30-2018, 08:08 PM
(09-28-2018, 12:23 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I don't think Bengals fans are that miserable.
I mean, success would be nice, but NFL misery, with the exception of the Browns, really cannot possibly compare to MLB misery or even NCAA misery.
Like...as frustrated as the Bengals have been over the years, 2003 was kind of a renaissance for us. And it rejuvenated in 2011. We haven't had a truly miserable season since like 2010. And then we immediately rebounded with Dalton and Green and have been relevant ever since.
We haven't won any playoff games, but we've been in the playoff battle every year except the last 2 since 2011. That is not a very miserable experience.
The NFL, by its nature, is a league built around parity. And yes there will be teams that are always great, but no team stays down for decades at a time unless they're the Browns.
The Reds, on the other hand...
Baseball is completely different because there is no salary cap. So small market teams basically cannot compete unless they happen to draft and develop multiple elite level talents within 5 years of each other. And then, you have until they become free agents to do something with that success.
If you can't develop players, you're basically ****** in baseball, unless you're one of the big market teams that can just buy other teams' successful developments.
Like....the way the Reds are right now, they are going to lose Votto in the next few years. They have absolutely no pitching to speak of and can't really afford (or choose not to afford) any free agents that could actually turn this team around. They have a pretty good offense but can't go anywhere because of their complete inability to develop pitching.
They have a few intriguing prospects in the minors, but the last 5 intriguing pitching prospects (Stephenson, Reed, Romano, Garrett, Mahle) have been extraordinarily frustrating to watch as they bumble their way through the majors, having 1 good start every 4 or 5 games just to renew hope that they may one day be good. Castillo is a legitimate pitcher and is exciting to watch but he's basically the only starting pitching the Reds can even remotely count on going into 2019.
And then the fact that all contracts are fully guaranteed for some reason means that if you make one mistake or if one of your big signs gets injured you are in the trenches for YEARS. Look at what Homer Bailey's contract is doing to the Reds. They can't cut him because he still gets paid every cent of his contract regardless, so then they feel compelled to get something out of him, but you obviously can't because he's trash.
The same thing happened with Brandon Phillips, Devin Mesoraco and will likely happen with Joey Votto. You want to sign these guys for their good years, but then you're forced to pay way too much for their terrible years as well.
And that is a systemic problem. It basically means whoever can eat more bad contracts and continue to sign players is inevitably going to win out in the end. If they could have just cut ties with Homer and recouped half his contract 2 years ago, they would have done that in a heart beat.
And then you have NCAA where, unless you root for one of like...15 colleges...your best hope is watching your team win a weak conference and then get smashed in their bowl game.
When I compare my feeling as a Reds fan to my feeling as a Bengals fan? Man....there is just no competition at all.
Nicely written! It really breaks my heart to see what the Reds have become. It seems to be a mixture of a broken system in baseball and a horrible ownership group for the Reds. The Bengals could very well be a playoff team this year, at least there’s a legitimate chance. There is absolutely zero signs that the Reds can become a playoff team even in the next 5 years. Votto has had a great career but his contract will become a Bailey type anchor too. It felt like a legitimate effort this offseason for the Bengals to win, I don’t get that vibe at all from the Reds.
