Although the price is admittedly ridiculous.

But I think you are a little off…

1. I do agree on Dickerson, he is looking over matched and his confidence is undoubtedly is way down right now. A stint at AAA would do some good. Problem is who can you call up? Gomes? He isn’t hitting the cover off the ball. Wes Bankston? He’s never had much MLB success. Drew Stubbs? Ht isn’t hitting. So short of a trade, I guess you have to let Chris suffer his growing pains.

2. I think it’s pretty obvious that Edwin has been hurt all year. Kind of ironic his two ailments are the exact same from Spring Training. Oncew he is fully healthy and does a good rehab assignment, I think he will be fine.

3.Coco is overpaid. We all know that. But after the disaster bullpens of 2006 and 2007, we had to overpay to get someone to handle the 9th inning. Coco has been pretty solid, a lot of closers who have not pitched in 5 days would come in and give up a lead in the 9th in a tie game. It happens.

4. Janish has done a nice job as a back-up infielder. No he wouldn’t start on any other team in MLB, but he is a nice guy to have, he can be a later Defensive Replacement guy, and while he doesn’t have much power, he seems to have improved the handling of the bat. No other teams aren’t shaking when he comes to the plate, but would you rather have the cheaper, younger Janish, or a Juan Castro type? Every time has a light hitting reserve infielder.

5. No argument on Lincoln. His 2 year 4 Million dollar contract means he will have to figure things out. At the time I dont think any of were excited at the two year deal, and that contract will probably haunt Walt. All we can really do is hope he figures it out.

6. Laynce Nix may be a retread, but personally I love watching the guy hit. He does a great at bat, and he crushes the ball. Right now he is our best lefty bench bat, and is playing like he should play left field more often.

7. No argument on McDonald either. Its obvious he doesn’t belong on a MLB roster. His defense is an adventure, and on offense he doesn’t seem to have a lot of power, but he does have some speed. Again, short of a trade, I don’t think they will be doing anything with him for now.

I think it is somewhat unfair to say the relief pitching is suspect:

This guys have been great:
Herrera 7.2 IP 2.35 ERA
Weathers 6.1 IP 0.00 ERA
Massett 9.2 IP 1.86 ERA
Rhodes 8 IP 0.00 ERA
Cordero 8 IP 3.38 ERA

Burton was bad at first, but has been improved 2 out of the last 3 outings.

As discussed above Lincoln has been the blackhole of the the bullpen. Pretty much every team has one guy like this, so until he figures things out, you use him in blowouts and mop up. Not much else you can do. About the only thing the pitching staff needs to improve is bases on balls, other than that we are doing pretty well.

We all know this team is not hitting. Thing is, we can yell for Jonny Gomes all we want, but he isnt exactly blowing up AAA, so I don’t think it’s fair to say he is an answer. The best result for everyone is for Walt to go out and get a left fielder. Some available guys could include Josh Willingham, Austin Kearns, Eric Byrnes, Ryan Church, Scott Hairston, etc. I imagine Willingham and Hairston would be easy to get right now, Kearns and Byrnes make too much money, and Chruch would require a MLB ready starter.

That when he’s with Kelch, he seems much less like the crotchety old man of recently, and more like he’s enjoying the game like he was when Joe was around. I’d love see him do more games and them give Brantley the boot, but sadly that won’t happen.

You seem to forget that ‘09 was a throwaway year before it began. Sit back and have a cold one brother. They’re not going to be competitive for much longer.

it’s gonna take some time. realistically, imho, arroyo/harang/koko will be traded for younger prospects before this team legitimately competes for a division title. its gonna take a couple/few years to develop a decent lineup. the offense is woeful as is, no doubt about it.

again, who amongst us wouldn’t trade Volquez/Stubbs for Lincecum/J. Hamilton?

dammit.

It really makes you wonder

I have virtually no doubt that Bruce and Votto are both gonna be absolute monster hitters in the middle of our lineup. They’re young, we have them for at least the next five years, and they can absolutely be the staples of our lineup. BP is one of the best 2Bs in the league, albeit a misused one who thinks he’s better than he is. Those three are staples in the lineup for the foreseeable future. If Stubbs can put up a .750-.800 OPS and his defense is as advertised, he’s another big plus. Frazier should be an above average bat with solid defense at either 3B or LF, and given our plethora of other solid prospects that play those positions, I’m pretty confident somebody else can emerge as an above average regular at one of those spots. Catcher and shortstop are question marks for the foreseeable future, but if we can put great defense on the field at those positions then a lack of offense is acceptable. Janish and Cozart both seem to fit the bill at SS, and got all we’ve heard about Cozart not being able to hit, if he can hit anything like he has in the minors so far when he hits the majors, he’ll be a pretty good player. He’s got some pop, makes contact, and seems to be able to hit for a decent average. His eye could stand to improve but it’s not awful, just not good. If he puts up a .280/.330/.450 line in the majors with plus defense, he can be a very valuable player. Catcher is a question mark, but I think we should at least be able to land somebody adequate to cover the position between Hanigan and Mesoraco.

The pitching staff is where this team really shines. Harang, Volquez, Cueto is an awesome 1-3, with a good amount of depth to fill the other two spots in the rotation. We’ve got loads of good arms for the pen. Coco (for the next two years), Burton, Roenicke, Viola, Bray, Stewart, Fisher, and some other guys who should at least be solid major league relievers.

That’s a team that will pitch well and play great defense, with enough good bats in the lineup to be an average offense. Hopefully Walt can manage to gain some salary flexibility to bring in an impact FA/trade at LF/3B/C/SS, and he’s generally been a guy good at filling holes on teams close to contention. I don’t think our Reds will be a powerhouse any time soon, but two or three playoff appearances by 2015 is a reasonable goal, and that would be a team that could succeed in the playoffs.

But fundamentally the song remains the same…we need more offense, a full time LF and a consistent 3B hitter…good to see Rosales come in withe a bang..but it appears the MLB pitchers are already figuring him out. Could use a RH bat pretty darn soon. It is early but could a trade be on the not so distant horizon,,,somebody has got to want some of our young pitchers and somebody has got to have a RH OF power hitting guy who doesn’t fit with their club….don’t know who,,,but the more things stay the same the more things stay the same

Wonder if Franklin Gutierrez might be available for the right prospect, he’s 26 and may be coming into his own. i don’t know who’s out there but Walt should get someone and get them sooner than later.