Nick Krall - Reds have a little bit more to spend, not a ton

[*ochocincos*]

Looking at the acquisitions this offseason so far, they are ok but none really get the fans (or at least me) overly excited.

Those deals combined with the arbitration deals, Spotrac now lists the Reds at $90 mill payroll with $100 mill projected total allocations.

Nick Krall recently was interviewed saying "We've got a little bit (to spend), not a ton... We've looked at trading a draft pick to help saving some money as well."

Unfortunately, we won't be seeing them get up to $110-120 mill, I don't think.

Nick Martinez is the highest payroll eater at $21 mill, followed by Candelario at $15 mill.
New SP Singer is 3rd at $8.75 mill.

This season may be relying on these young hitters again like last year, and hopefully McLain's return will help that.

[StoneTheCrow]

I like sports. A lot. And I was born at exactly the wrong time for that in southwest Ohio.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Since he's not forced to defend David Bell's shitty managing, Nick Krall doesn't seem so clueless anymore. I give his off-season a B+/A-.

I'm of the belief that . . .
. . . Gavin Lux will be an upgrade over India even though India's career average of .253 is one point higher than Lux. I think that the comparison of their offensive production will be the main measure of this exchange even though they were involved in two different trades. Defensive comparisons is a pure mystery as India has a .978 career fielding percentage and Lux has a .974 total percentage with a .976 at 2B. India led MLB in errors as a Rookie with 15, led the NL in 2023 with 9, yet only had 4 last season in 132 starts. Lux had 9 in 2024 in 117 starts(138 games at 2B) and had 9 in 2022 in only 93 starts(missed 2023).
. . . Brady Singer is an excellent addition to an already damn good rotation, but they're still very young. Wade Miley will be a great unofficial assistant coach.
. . . Taylor Rogers will be in a contract year and only cost them Braxton Roxby, whoever that is.
. . . Scott Barlow pretty much clinches that the bullpen will be solid coming out of Arizona . . . how they go from there depends on themselves and Francona's usage.
. . . Jose Trevino can't be any worse than Maile. He's a career .236 average while Maile is .208. Plus there is something about playing for a team that traded FOR you. I'm hoping he and Stephenson can stay healthy all season. Good luck to Cruz. He was very up and down in his time here.
. . . Austin Hays is pretty much the exact type of player they were going to get in FA. Best case scenario, he earns a big contract somewhere else by rebounding after an off year and Hinds replaces him. 395 games in LF, 137 games in RF but only 8 games in right in the last two seasons where he's primarily been in LF.
. . . Sitting pat and not overspending in FA or on a trade for an outfielder was a great strategy, which is why I love the Hays deal. The newer playoff format has too many teams and fanbases that consider themselves still in it, so there are fewer players available for trades. That's why I knew that Taylor Ward was never available. There is no way that Mike Trout would want to be there if they traded away one of his friends and one of the very few Angels that can actually play at an MLB level.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Spring Training interviews
Andrew Abbott

Brent Suter

Brady Singer

Stuart Fairchild

TJ Friedl

Elly De La Cruz

Will Benson

Austin Hays

Nick Martinez

Hunter Greene

Matt McLain

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

I forgot to add that Gavin Lux provides a very important asset to the team . . . a steady left handed bat. Friedl, Fraley and occasionally EDLC were the only left handed hitters and Friedl and Fraley spent time on the IL, which is why we got to see so much of Will Benson. They were that desperate for a left handed bat in the lineup. So maybe the more accurate comparison shouldn't be the stats by India and Lux in 2025 but more about comparing Benson's poor 2024 stats and Lux' performance in 2025.

More interviews
Taylor Rogers

Rhett Lowder - Loved hearing how he's watching and learning from all of his fellow pitchers along with praise for Martinez and Miley.

Spencer Steer

Gavin Lux

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/headlines/elly-de-la-cruz-news-tweaks-batting-stance-949863

Quote:De La Cruz has opened up his stance a bit and is standing taller at the plate, with the goal of "being more in control with his forward movement," per Reds hitting coach Chris Valaika.

Standing taller at the plate at 6'5" is an interesting plan to help his struggle against the bottom of the strike zone.

Last Red I remember them talking about changing his stance by opening it up and making him stand taller was Aquino, who was 6'4". He went to (and failed in) Japan the next season.

Honestly the thing he needs to do is just drop being a switch hitter. He is a career .209/.280/.320 hitter as a righty. Drives me crazy to see guys stick with trying to switch hit while it clearly isn't paying off. Hamilton comes to mind '16-'18 where he just couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag while batting righty and while he wasn't great as a lefty, he was at least competent enough those years that you probably could have lived with it when factoring in his speed on the bases and defense in CF.

[*bengalfan74*]

(Yesterday, 02:43 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/headlines/elly-de-la-cruz-news-tweaks-batting-stance-949863

Standing taller at the plate at 6'5" is an interesting plan to help his struggle against the bottom of the strike zone.

Last Red I remember them talking about changing his stance by opening it up and making him stand taller was Aquino, who was 6'4". He went to (and failed in) Japan the next season.

Honestly the thing he needs to do is just drop being a switch hitter. He is a career .209/.280/.320 hitter as a righty. Drives me crazy to see guys stick with trying to switch hit while it clearly isn't paying off. Hamilton comes to mind '16-'18 where he just couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag while batting righty and while he wasn't great as a lefty, he was at least competent enough those years that you probably could have lived with it when factoring in his speed on the bases and defense in CF.

Exactly !! X 10,000

Biggest thing I'd love to see happen with him