My Off Season Guess On 2021 Reds Team

[kevin]

With Bauer and Disco and Iglesias gone and Galvis gone, Lets look at it.

No Fans in the seats in 2020 short Covid Season. Reds lost money. Now that may not mean much to Yankees or Disney owned Angels, but some teams like Cincinnati are in a Great Depression 1930s situation.

In Covid 2020, as some teams cut Minor League Players due to no Minor Leagues, Small Market Cincinnati and Tampa picked up and added these cut Minor League players. Reds are also working the Rule 5 List adding young players. YOUTH is the name of the game as Reds will be forced to cut back on Free Agent Spending until Fans come back and Money starts to come back in.

Garcia looks to be good with the glove at SS and THAT is the main thing. Votto, Moose and Suarez. The Outfield is loaded and they still need to see who plays and who doesn't. I think THIS is THE YEAR that Stephenson becomes the every day Catcher and this young man looks like an All-Star Catcher for many years. I know Barnhart has good D and so did Johnny Edwards when replaced by Johnny Bench. You can't let Stephenson rot on the vine and he was a high draft pick. This is a Star and Bat and Glove the Reds NEED in this offense. I look for Stephenson to be the new young STAR that excites The Fans.

We come to Pitching. So far Gray and Castillo still here. The bullpen still has Garrett and Sims. Iggey gave up a lot of homers for a one inning closer. I think he led MLB in closer homers, so his trade is not a huge surprise and Reds dumped some Covid Payroll right there.

2 players Reds have come in huge in a 162 game season. Farmer can play every position including Short and Catcher. Reds just resigned him. Lorenzen can start or relief pitch, and can play great D in outfield and is a good hitter and base runner. I think he is a better starter than reliever and we now need starters. Given a long starters warm up, he looks OK, and I'm not sure the short reliever warm up is enough for him. FARMER and LORENZEN will be MORE NEEDED in a regular LONG Season.

The Covid Economics means Reds need to get Dayton, Louisville and all Farm Teams UP and Running and bringing in Money and Fans and Developing Youth who missed a whole season to Covid 2020. THAT is KEY to Reds. They should have enough to field a decent Reds Roster. I think Covid 2020 hurts the Reds greatly on Money, but I think The Reds are making all the right moves not to go broke.

I think the TALK in 2021 will be this Stephenson, who may end up best Reds Catcher since Bench. It is His Time, Get him in there.

Once again. Many teams scrapped their Minor Leagues in Covid 2020 and have to Start Over in The Minors. However The Reds and Rays signed these Minor League players all along and their Minor League teams should be Great. Do not Rush Them. The Reds have enough for a 25 man roster as they let these Minors develop for success in the years to come. THAT move by Reds in Covid of Adding, not Dumping the Minors is Best Thing Reds could have done.

The Reds also have their biggest salary ever in long Votto Contract. I'm sure now they wish they didn't, and it takes many Millions to pay Mr Votto. Now with Covid Season Money losses, it just kills the Reds on signing Free Agents, so good thing Reds have been loading up The Minors.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

My only problem with Stephenson is that he looks very raw behind the plate. Farmer looked more relaxed and natural as a catcher than Stephenson did. That's probably why it took him 5 years to make it to the bigs after being the 11th overall pick in 2015. I hope he figures it out soon.

[kevin]

(12-14-2020, 04:45 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: My only problem with Stephenson is that he looks very raw behind the plate. Farmer looked more relaxed and natural as a catcher than Stephenson did. That's probably why it took him 5 years to make it to the bigs after being the 11th overall pick in 2015. I hope he figures it out soon.

Just as it was time to switch from Johnny Edwards to Johnny Bench,  it is time to switch from Barnhart or Farmer to Top Pick Stephenson.  Stephenson can flat out Hit, and will be an All-Star Catcher many years to come.   Many didn't want Don Blasingame replaced by Pete Rose in 1963, or Woody Woodward replaced by Dave Conception in 1970, or Dave Conception or Kurt Stillwell replaced by Barry Larkin in 1987.   NOW is the Year to get the Bat of Stephenson in the line-up and I look for him to become an All-Star Catcher many times. 

Catcher is a spot you need depth to play some and to warm up pitchers. Barnhardt is needed and Farmer can play Catcher, First, Second, Short, Third, All Outfield so he will Sub many positions and get many at bats helping THE TEAM that way. Still, it is Time to get Stephenson in there as the #1 Catcher playing most of the games, but getting a break now and then as Corrales or Plummer gave Bench. This Stephenson is a STAR rising on the Reds, and they did not draft him high to let him rot on the vine. Had it not been a short and strange Covid 2020 season, we may have seen more of him in 2020. In 2021, he has to Start most of the games. He is 24, and the Time Is Now. Plus, the Reds need a New Star, because the Reds don't Hit very well, very Low batting averages, too many no hit innings.

[samhain]

I think the Reds will make more deals later in the winter. Gray might fetch a nice return, as could Senzel. Gray is a potential ace on a reasonable deal, and should get a really good big-league ready prospect in return. I'd take a deal of Brandon Marsh plus another player for him and pencil Marsh in as the Reds CF for the next 5 years.

I think they will add a SS. perhaps it will be Grigorius or Seimen on a one-year deal until Garcia is ready. Either way, I think Garcia's offense is too weak to survive a season at this point. He needs a lot of at bats and seasoning at AAA.

Get to 2022, have Lodolo and potentially Greene and Santillian ready to fill in the rotation spots they lost this year, and field a strong roster. 2021 is just a rough deal for them. They'll be crunching a budget after covid losses and waiting on some players not quite ready to enter the bigs. I think a mini-rebuild for 2022 would be a wise strategy if well-executed.

[grampahol]

Tough telling, but I think we'll see Stephenson and maybe Garcia at SS even if his bat is unproven . I'm about ready to move on from Senzel not because I doubt his value, but the guy is hurt every year come hell or high water. If he hit 300+ it would be another story, but he doesn't.  They really do need to find Votto's replacement at first even if he's still paid a small fortune . He's been a very good ball player, but his star is dimming still. Too bad he spent so many years on bad teams. 
I think it was time to move on from Iglesias even though I still think he was a very good reliever. A few lousy outings made him look much worse than he ever was in the long run. 
Still much to consider as the off season progresses..