Acevedo On the Reds

by JD Arney on Aug 9, 2005 11:53 PM EDT in News

I found this to be interesting, especially in light of Wily Mo Pena's recent comments.

Weight matters because it's the reason Acevedo is with the Rockies and not the Reds, for whom Acevedo pitched 2001-2004. Saying he wasn't in shape, Cincinnnati sent him to the Minors at the end of Spring Training. But the Rockies, who obtained Acevedo for right-handed reliever Allan Simpson on April 9, have yet to mention what the scales say about Acevedo, who might or might not weigh more than his listed 221 pounds.
[...]
"Everybody knows I'm Dominican, and Dominicans work their [rear ends] off all the time," Acevedo said. "We are that type of people, we hustle. Especially when we are here, we hustle more because we try to be consistent in this type of game.
"I'll continue to prove it, because I'm a professional. It's the way I make my living for my family. It was such disrespect for me, what they said."
[...]
Acevedo, 27, is happy now after an angry period that when he struggled to a 0-1 record and 11.70 ERA in Spring Training with the Reds. Acevedo said he pitched better late in camp and didn't deserve to be sent down, but the Reds disagreed.
"Scales don't lie," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien said at the time. "This is not meant as a criticism, but it's a fact that he was not as prepared coming into camp as some of his competitors. Frankly, some others beat him out for the job."
Acevedo said after arriving with the Rockies, he was told that someone from the Reds, he's not sure who, told the Rockies he was a "lazy worker, keep an eye on him." However the Reds' assessment was meant, Acevedo took it as an insult.

It would be easy to shrug off any of these stories if they were singular in nature. But you put all of them together and it tends to point to a very ugly front office.

I could care less if a player weighs 800 pounds, as long as he's producing. There was some evidence that Acevedo would have made a decent reliever, but the Reds made a decision to cut bait solely on supposed attitude issues and weight. In retrospect it looks like a terrible decision, as the Reds have had a historically bad pitching staff.

Winning ballclubs don't make decisions based on intangibles. Losing ballclubs do all the time. Dan O'Brien looks to me like a loser.

(Via)

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Weight

Yeah that makes three. I don't think most baseball players understand the concept of staying in shape - heck look at Tony Gywnn and his disappering stolen bases. But having two players gotten rid of because of weight and another sent down would seem to point to a franchise wide problem of fitness.

by Pinski on Aug 10, 2005 3:21 AM EDT reply actions

Good reliever

Hindsight is 20/20. I was hoping he'd be in the Reds bullpen this year, but I understand why they traded him away.

"Players have two things to do. Play and keep their mouths shut." -Sparky Anderson

by boohiss on Aug 10, 2005 9:52 AM EDT reply actions

Weighty matters ...

I don't find his numbers to be all that impressive ... 3.92 ERA in relief, 4.80 ERA in three spot starts. Reds, as they are playing now, would probably cream him. I know - who's to say, but this is not a slam dunk O'Brien blew it case at all. Weak sauce.

by Billingsfan on Aug 10, 2005 10:15 AM EDT reply actions

Corky

Shoot I remember when DanO cut Corky Miller because he said he looked "unprofessional"

by bobestes on Aug 10, 2005 10:27 AM EDT reply actions

Acevado sucks

He sucked and you are complaining about releasing him? Meanwhile other guys here suck just as bad and you want them released? You can't make upyour mindwhenyou type these articles out, honestly. Acevado would have been here and had a 8 plus ERA and wouldsuck just as bad as LAST year. If you don't show up in shape, you need to leave, its that simple.

by GOCARDSGO32 on Aug 10, 2005 10:41 AM EDT reply actions

Kearns

Should have been cut to right?

by Pinski on Aug 10, 2005 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Gwynn

And you would have cut Tony Gwynn under the same flawed logic right?

by Pinski on Aug 10, 2005 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Are you actually

comparing Jose Acevedo to Tony Gwynn?

"Players have two things to do. Play and keep their mouths shut." -Sparky Anderson

by boohiss on Aug 10, 2005 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Uh ...

They weren't out of shape. Gwynn was just big and Kearns was sent down to lose weight. Acevado on the other hand showed UP like that, and then bitched that other ptichers were doing worse ... he needed to go. Too badthey didn't need to trade him for shitty Simpson.

by GOCARDSGO32 on Aug 10, 2005 3:46 PM EDT reply actions

Weight

Kevin Mitchell, Cecil Fielder, Rob Stratton, Mo Vaughn, Dacid Wells, etc.

There is a difference between being fat and being out of shape. Needless to say, it doesn't seem to matter with some players.

Acevedo always had attitude problems and when you're a marginal player that can make a big difference. Barry Bonds can be Barry because he's a superstar, but i do think a league average player needs to win all the hearts he can in order to separate himself from the other shlubs.

Making decisions based on "intangibles" is stupid, but only when it comes to superstar players. If a player can be easily replaced, as was our boy Jose, then send him packing if he's a jerk.

Acevedo had one good year in four while playing for Cincinnati. I think that's enough chances.

by Pete on Aug 10, 2005 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Acevedo

I wasn't upset when the Reds cut Acevedo loose. I thought I made my point clear in the above post, but I'll try it again.

If this was a lone incident then it would be easy to shrug it off as a non-event. But Dan O'Brien does this crap time and time again. He doesn't seem to communicate well, he cuts bait on players for bizarre non-performance based reasons, he refuses to call up players who've played well in AAA, etc.

"Scales don't lie," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien said at the time."

Is that the kind of crap you want the GM for your favorite team saying? Very professional. There's no reason to discuss a player who's been traded. None. And yet DanO runs his mouth. Remember how much the players hated Bowden, and how he was going to restore civility in the front office? It hasn't happened. This shows that. Calling Danny Graves to release him shows that. Wily Mo's confusion shows that. Rich Aurilia being told he'd start shows that.

Dan O'Brien doesn't know what the hell he's doing.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. --Oscar Wilde

by JD Arney on Aug 10, 2005 4:13 PM EDT reply actions

weight

is all relative. Being in game shape is another thing. Look at Babe Ruth, Kirby Puckett and Tony Gwynn. Any one out there who wouldn't take one of them? Now think about John Kruk.

"Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball." ~Manager Joe "Skip" Riggins, Durham Bulls

by Caleb on Aug 10, 2005 6:42 PM EDT reply actions

Intangibles and Character

Winning ballclubs don't make decisions based on intangibles. Losing ballclubs do all the time.

Was over here stealing content :) when I noticed this story, and saw the above comment. As a fan of the Houston Astros, I have long known that the club will make an issue of character and intangibles. That is simply the way it has been not only under Drayton McLane but under John McMullen before him.

And you know what? For the most part, I'm right behind it. Sure, it hurt when Houston traded Carl Everett, as clutch as he was in '99 for us, but in the years since I have been genuinely glad that that guy was not on the team I followed.

I don't know whether it's a thing that the Astros dreamed up, or if some Astros message board started it, but you'll see "Root For the Good Guys" here and there in reference to the team. And for the most part it's true: the players ARE good guys. And at least for me, that makes it easier to cheer for and follow the team.

And in those instances when the fornt-office may have been overeager to make its character-intensive point (as with Julio Lugo, and just maybe, Adam Seuss), well, it makes for good conversation, and good blogging. If I can put up with "Halliburton Plaza," I can deal with any questions about the propriety of Martha Lugo's testimony, and Julio Lugo's exile, to the point of rooting for him in Tampa if necessary.

And through all this, of course, the Astros have managed to win.

Not to say that Acevedo might not have been shafted; a single-minded morality can become the crutch of a mind unable to make decisions based on other criteria, no?

C-I-A-B-A-DOUBLE-T-A Ciabatta, Peace out

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by rastronomicals @ Red Reporter on Aug 13, 2005 12:51 AM EDT reply actions