Reds looking for new leaders

he seems like he has the ears of all the young pitchers. and that’s probably a good thing.

Every good team, or business, needs leadership. Not management, leadership from within the ranks.

Votto and Bruce, in time, may have that ability. Its way too soon to tell. BP is a good Vice President, he’s totally the Guy Behind the Guy. In my minds eye I’d love to have a gritty catcher who was full of spit and vinegar to set the tone for on the field aggressiveness.

But who sets the tone in the clubhouse?

Arroyo’s too cool, i see him as a Just Doing My Own Thing type of guy. I dont see Harang as vocal enough. Odd….but I see it as a Weathers and Gomes clubhouse.

If there’s a checklist:
Veteran.
Productive.
Winning background.
Strong character.
Has respect of teammates, manager and coaches.
Starter.
Effective communicator.

Does AGon fit? Anyone else on the club who does?

The Reds have become a bunch of sissies.
We have lost Adam Dunn and Ryan Freel and have Willy Taveras, Norris Hopper, and their Dior handbags as replacements. Seriously who on our roster would you want with you in a bar fight? Exactly. Gone are the days of tar chewing, tough as nails , Jason LaRue and Ryan Freel. Sean Casey would even throw a punch for a brother. But now we have Bronson Arroyo’s pretty blonde hair and Jay Bruce’s boyish rosey red cheeks. If any of our pitchers throws high and tight they don’t need to worry because they’ve got Gonzalez, Phillips, Hairston, a 60 ft running head start.

Jonny Gomes has to make this team either that or Jeff Keppinger needs to take cage fighting lessons. Otherwise we can enjoy 162 panty wearing games. Frankly we all know this is going to be a losing season…but that doesn’t mean we can’t raise hell.

JinAZ points to a post from Tom Tango that says that the Padres have just put a price tag on intagibles:

…Cliff Floyd is all about heart, determination, and grit.

[He] is forecast to be a league average hitter. And a league average hitter who cannot (or is not expected to) play the field is the very definition of a replacement-level player. Indeed, the GM of the Padres agrees with this assessment, as his stated role is also the very definition of replacement-level player. That replacement-level player, with ordinary heart and determination, will cost you 400,000$. Cliff Floyd however is going to cost 750,000$.

When people say that you can’t measure the intangibles, remind them that those intangibles are being paid for with tangible dollars. And the value of those intangibles, as determined by MLB, is $350,000. If it was worth more, then some team would have paid more. They didn’t.

This is why, if Jonny Gomes can make the team, he’d be awesome for that role. Intangibles definitely have a value, but you a pay player for production first and then tack on a small amount for the intangibles. Gomes low salary means that he can simply be a replacement level player and still provide value to the team. This makes so much more sense than paying someone $6 million because they can create havoc.

He is good and old, then when he gets injured he can be fiery and tell other people what to do…and pull the “if I wasnt injured card” when critiquing players…or even the “in my prime” and the ever popular “when I played with”

Plus he isnt a sissy. as opposed to what Brumfield thinks above. The guy strikes out looking and you think he is going to rip out the umpires eyes. Hairston would eat Freel for breakfast. Mouth cancer and DUI`s are not synonymous with badass, but they are synonymous with the name “Dale”

This is a great question that will be worth the attention as the season progresses, but on a team like this one, with few returning leaders, we may not find that person until the need arises. That is, we may not know who will rise to the challenge of leading these men in the clubhouse and on the field until some crisis comes along. Personally, I’m hoping for (this sounds weird) a little May swoon to which Votto steps up and takes action in the clubhouse. I don’t know why I feel compelled to put it on him (it doesn’t really matter who does it), but it would do this team a world of good for a lot of years of one of the young talents steps up beyond his years to lead.

Nope. Abreu reportedly signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Angels today.

two year deal

maybe we could get this guy.

Not a lot of range, but with enough gloves he’d get to plenty of grounders. And if you aren’t motivated by slathering fangs, what will you be motivated by?