Here is Part 1 of the post season blogger's roundtable. Other parts:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 is still to come, and it'll be at Redleg Nation.
Joel: mkay...so, let's start with a little game
Joel: keep 'em or drop 'em
sweaver: Drop 'em all! We can finish fifth without them!
sweaver: Sorry, I'm channeling Branch Rickey
Joel: true enuff...
RHM: but I would miss them...well, some of them...
Joel: first on the list: Ramon Ortiz
JD Arney: drop
sweaver: Drop Ortiz. Too expensive for the outcome
JD Arney: unless he'll go to the bullpen, then keep
sweaver: He's not a multi-million dollar guy at this point
Joel: what is his value? and is it only in the bullpen?
sweaver: Maybe $1-1.5 Mil
sweaver: 9-11 and a 5.36 ERA is not impressive.
sweaver: K/W not good, K/9 not good....
JD Arney: he's not a good starter, he's made that pretty clear
sweaver: He can eat you some innings in middle relief
RHM: I don't think he eats
RHM: (that's a skinny joke, btw)
sweaver: Maybe black beans and rice
JD Arney: he's pretty horrible with his first 15 pitches, so maybe not even as a reliever
JD Arney: 1.270 OPS against
Joel: a follow up then is do you think the Reds will keep him?
sweaver: He's 33 next year, so he's not a good breakout candidate
sweaver: I don't think so, but who can tell with O'Brien
JD Arney: i think they'll keep him
RHM: I'd be surprised
Joel: doesn't he have an option for like $4+ million or something?
JD Arney: i generally try to figure out what the worst case scenario would be, and that's my prediction
JD Arney: works pretty well with DanO
sweaver: Yep, he has the option
Joel: hey, JD, does the D stand for despondency?
Joel: :D
JD Arney: it might
Joel: okay, next person....Jacob Cruz
RHM: Keep
JD Arney: drop
sweaver: Keep....minor league deal again
Joel: why drop, JD?
sweaver: He's a good guy for the bench
JD Arney: i really like the guy, but I'd rather see Chris Denorfia doing his job
Chad -- RN: I like him, he knows his role and doesn't mind playing it.
Chad -- RN: If he could catch, he'd be really valuable
RHM: Why not let them fight it out rather than award it to CD?
Joel: but Denorfia can't be the left-handed bat off the bench
sweaver: Denorfia needs another job...fourth outfielder, that Wily Mo did last year
sweaver: Cruz is the 5th OF/pinch-hit guy
JD Arney: why do we need a left handed bat off the bench? the team is lousy with left handers, one of them is almost always sitting on the bench
sweaver: Pinch-hitting for pitchers, dude
sweaver: Once Pena is traded, the lefties won't always be on the bench
Joel: who's left-handed on the bench? Cruz, Valentin, ...?
sweaver: He means Casey, Griffey, Dunn, whoever is out of the lineup
JD Arney: yeah, basically
JD Arney: and true, one of the four outfielders will be traded this offseason more than likely which will change things
JD Arney: but cruz is a pretty terrible pinch hitter anyway, its not as if he's doing anything special, other than being a nice guy
Joel: but most pinch hitters are terrible hitters, that's why they end up being pinch hitters
Chad -- RN: Wasn't he a pretty good PH two years ago? Small sample sizes....
Joel: Lenny Harris is awful
sweaver: He's not bad.....I mean, if he was better, he would have played regularly
sweaver: I think Cruz is the new Terry Crowley
Joel: but I think that Cruz is a positive guy to have around for the price (400K)
JD Arney: he'd have to be a lot better to play regularly over one of the four starters
RHM: I think you're hyperbolizing. He's not terrible. I do worry about the fact that he can't seem to run for himself, though.
JD Arney: .236/.324 isn't good, and I think it might be terrible. I'd be willing to call it mediocre, since I'm feeling generous.
Joel: that is true, he was pinch run for more often than I can count....that's two players doing one job
sweaver: Well, he's not fast. Never was.
JD Arney: I think if the guy was a jerk we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
sweaver: And he's not worth more than 400K. But he is worth that
RHM: And you think that the fact that he's a good guy is worthless?
sweaver: If he was a jerk, he'd be out of the game. As it is, he might be a hitting coach someday
JD Arney: thats a really good question RHM, and I really don't know. I guess I don't think it's worthless, but I don't know how valuable it is either.
sweaver: Look, the Reds have to rebuild around young players. Those are Dunn (25), Kearns (25), Lopez (25) and Pena (23)
sweaver: But they will never trade both Griffey and Casey. Probably neither
sweaver: Also Encarnacion (22)
RHM: So what does that mean for Cruz?
Joel: yeah, what she said
sweaver: LaRue is 31, Casey 30, Aurilia 33, Griffey 35, Freel 29, Valentin 29.
Chad -- RN: Trade Casey. Please?
sweaver: We sympathize, Chad
sweaver: but it's a dead horse
Chad -- RN: It's been dead for a while, but I keep flogging it.
sweaver: You can have some veterans on the bench, as long as you don't bet the farm on them
Chad -- RN: I only mention that every other day at RN, of course.
RHM: He's got a heck of a work ethic, humility coming out his ears, and the respect of everyone around him even though he's not a superstar.
RHM: Doesn't sound like someone too bad to have around your young core to me.
Part 2 is here.