With all of the attention recently focused on the all-time great Reds and best Reds of the decade, I'm feeling a little disconnected from reality after rooting for a team that hasn't had a winning season since 2000.  So what brought us down this decade?  Or more specifically, who?   Below is my highly subjective list.  My cutoff was 300 PAs or 200 IP (higher threshold for pitching due to the variability).  I looked only at performance and tried to divorce the player's salary or expectations from the list.  So who do you think was the biggest stinker for the decade? 

1. Jose Acevado.  304.3 IP, 222/97/58 K/BB/HR, 5.59 ERA, 5.86 RA, 5.17 FIP.  Like Jose Rijo, Acevado is related to Juan Marichal.  Like Eric Milton, Acevado gave up a historic number of homeruns.  One of those facts is more relevant than the other.
   
   
2. Juan Castro.  .237/.276/.353/.628, 61 OPS+, .269 wOBA, -4.6 WAR.  Easily the WAR "leader" here, I can't get too worked up about Manos given that he accumulated it over several years and rarely played as a regular.  Plus, TotalZone is particularly harsh on Castro.  FanGraphs has him at about a zero WAR for his Reds tenure.  Negative rating or no, the Fiastro defines the Narron legacy as well as any single event in my mind.
   
   
3. Ryan Dempster.  204.3 IP, 150/108/40 K/BB/HR, 6.39 ERA, 6.61 RA, 5.27 FIP.  Maybe the most infuriating player on the list.  Dempster had two decent years with Florida before coming to the Reds in a trade for Juan Encarnacion and others in July 2002.  After 1.5 years of injurious suckitude, Chicago took a free agent flier on Dempster, patiently waited for him to rehab, and then enjoyed about 12 WAR since.
   
   
4. Brandon Larson.  332 PA, 570 OPS, 49 OPS+, .258 wOBA, -1.4 WAR.  Why it's important to look at a prospect's age as well as his performance. 
   
   
5. Eric Milton.  370.3 IP, 231/103/73 K/BB/HR, 5.83 ERA, 6.23 RA, 5.34 FIP.  Signing a flyball pitcher coming off a flukishly good 14-6 season was not a good idea.  Paying him so much that you made the Yankees flinch made it an awful idea.  Milton's K/BB ratio was actually tolerable, but by his nature he allowed a lot of HRs and balls in play.  It didn't help that two statues were playing in the outfield. 
   
   
6. Corey Patterson.  392 PA, .205/.238/.344/.582, 50 OPS+, .238 wOBA, -1.0 WAR.  I was originally going to make my cutoff 400 PAs but lowered it to include Two-Pitch AtBaterson.  Talking about the worst Reds of the decade without him would be like talking about the worst U2 albums and not mentioning Zooropa.  It might not be the worst, but it has to be in the discussion.  Anyways, it's pretty rare to have that low of an OBP.  Including Patterson only five players have had an OBP lower than .250 in as much playing time.  Two of the other four turned the trick before joining the Reds.
   
   
7. Willy Taveras.  437 PA, .240/.275/.285/.559, 48 OPS+, .247 wOBA, +0.4 WAR.  Offensively it's about a wash between Wee Willy and Corey.  Taveras had a better OBP and SB numbers (25/6 versus 14/9), but Patterson had much more slugging.  TotalZone likes Taveras' fielding much more than RZR (14.1 RZR/150 games), though both WARs give Taveras an advantage (per Fangraphs: -0.3 for Taveras, -1.2 for Patterson). 

After 3 weeks of voting and 10 years of suffering, we've finally come to the point where we can reveal the Cincinnati Reds All Decade Team for the two thousand and aughts.  But before we get to that, let's take a look at some numbers for the Reds in the Aughts.

The Reds finished the decade with a dismal 751-869 (.464) record.  With an average record of 75-87, they managed to have a better record than only 7 teams during the decade (Can you name all 7?). They scored 7442 runs during the decade, tied for 21st in the Majors (9th in the NL) with Kansas City.  The surrendered 8248 runs, which was the 2nd most in the NL behind Colorado and 6th most overall.  Their run differential for the decade gives them an expected pythagorean record of 732-888.  So, even with as bad as they were, they were still "lucky" for the decade.  Yeesh.

Some other numbers:

• 46,971,462 people purchased tickets to see the Reds play during the decade (at home and on the road combined).
• The Reds hit the most home runs in the NL during the decade (1909).
• They also allowed the most home runs in the Majors at 2025 - over 80 more than the next closest team.
• The Reds hit just 227 triples during the decade, the fewest in the NL.
• Only one team struck out more than the Reds' total of 11,878 and that was the Milwaukee Brewers (12,268).  Oddly enough, they were both the top two teams in reaching on catcher's interference (Brewers - 14; Reds - 11).
• The Reds had the fewest sacrifice flies in the Majors and were 9th in sacrifice hits.  It's gotta be the little things, right?
• Defensively, the Reds were a mixed bag.  They turned the 5th most double plays in the league, but also committed the 3rds most errors.
• The Reds were one of nine teams to not turn a triple play during the decade.  The did hit into 2 of them though.
• Reds pitchers finished 12th in the NL in strikeouts, 9th in walks, and 8th in hit batsmen.
• Reds catchers surrendered the most passed balls in the NL (140) and their pitchers had the 2nd most wild pitches (565).
• Winning percentage-wise, this was the second-worst (arbitrary) decade in Reds history.  The Reds were 664-866 (.434) during the 1930s, and that's even after they went a combined 179-125 in 1938-1939. 
  
• This has been the worst 10-year stretch since 1947-1956, when the Reds went 710-828 (.462).  However, it only the 19th worst 10-year period in the team's history. As bad we had it this past decade, nothing matches how bad it was from 1928-1937 when they went 629-903 (.410). 

View the 25-man roster after the jump, if you aren't throwing up in your trash can already.

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We round out our All Decade team with a a couple of pinch hitters, one from the right side and one from the left side.  Unlike past polls, the numbers listed below are only for that player as a pinch hitter, which is why some of them are so lousy.  You can take the player's entire batting numbers into account, if you'd like, but I figured I'd only show them as pinch hitters in this instance.  Lefty pinch hitters and the ballots are after the  jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base | Third base | Shortstop | Left Field | Center Field | Right Field | Utility Players

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The Reds had quite an interesting mix of right fielders during the past decade.  There were a couple of old guys, a couple of phenom prospects, a couple of perennial backups, and a guy looking for redemption.  As far as depth of position goes, right field might be the deepest position the Reds have had this decade, which also makes it a tougher decision for all of you.  This may be the first position that I'm not certain who you'll pick.  Ballot is after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base | Third base | Shortstop | Left Field | Center Field

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In February of 2000 the Reds traded for Ken Griffey Jr. and locked up their center fielder for the next decade to an 8-year deal.  Or so they thought.  Injuries and declining play meant that Griffey only started 36% of the games in CF for the decade.  Does he still deserve to be the starting CF on the All Decade Team?  That's for you to decide!  Ballot after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base | Third base | Shortstop | Left Field

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Of all of the positions on the All Decade Team, this one should be the clearest no-brainer.  One person started 53% of the games in LF during the decade and had the best offensive numbers.  The Reds did have some decent other hitters in LF, but none of them had the playing time to match up in my opinion.

Ballot is after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base | Third base | Shortstop

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All of you people who have been saying, "Wow, this has to be the worst position ever," here's the list you've been waiting for.  It's kind of funny that coming into the aughts, the Reds were riding basically 48 straight seasons with 4 starting SS, all of pretty good quality.  Since then, well, not so much.  Good luck finding a worthy starter in this list.  I really have no idea who is going to win this one. Voting is after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base | Third base

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During the aughts, the Reds had 39 different players play at least one game at 3B, including Javier Valentin, Jason Larue, Dmitri Young, and Wily Mo Pena.  There was also a fan favorite, a fan whipping boy, and a guy that is more famous for a single swing on another team than anything he did with the Reds.  Who do you think is the starting 3B for the Reds All Decade team?  Vote in the poll after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base

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