A day late but I figured I should say something about the EdE move, for posterity if nothing else.
It sucks. I mean, I'm guessing that my opinion isn't going to come as a shock to anyone who's been reading this site for long, but it is what it is. It's so incredibly obvious that Krivsky and Narron are ignoring the real problem with the team this year that there's not a lot to do but laugh.
I seriously can't even really get pissed off about this. It's just passed beyond anything reasonable and gone so far into the absurd that I am starting to feel numb about it all. Encarnacion has struggled this year, but he's coming off an age 23 season where he hit .276/.359/.473 with 15 home runs. Pretty damn fine season for a 23 year old. And yeah he's slipped a bit this year, but it happens.
The Reds are probably a little better than their record (they really are only deficient in the one area they mostly seem to be ignoring), but even so they aren't going anywhere this season. If Krivsky seriously wanted to make a run for the playoffs Mike Stanton wouldn't be on the roster. Rheal Cormier wouldn't have been on the team on Opening Day. Calvin Medlock wouldn't be repeating AA. And I could continue with stupid bullpen mistakes but we all know how deficient Krivsky has been in that area.
The point is the Reds aren't going to be a serious contender for the NL Central this year, so there's no reason not to stick with your long term future at third base. If this decision was made in a vacuum maybe I could see it, but when you pair it with Narron benching EdE earlier this year for idiotic reasons and Narron playing guys like Rich Aurilia over EdE last year it just seems obvious that Encarnacion isn't getting a fair shake. It's sad that he's struggling, but it's not altogether surprising. It can't be easy to perform at such a high level knowing damn well that your club's management isn't behind you at all, and that at the drop of a hat you could be sitting on the bench. Or in AAA.
Wayne Krivsky acts like a cornered animal once the first pitch is thrown on Opening Day. The guy doesn't know what the hell he's doing when baseball is actually being played, and he's really pretty overrated when it comes to offseason moves. Fans of the guy can crow all they want (justifiably I'll admit) about Bronson Arroyo and Josh Hamilton, but Krivsky hasn't brought one decent reliever to town since he started. That is pathetic. And that's what everyone should be focused on right now. But instead we get a demoted Edwin Encarnacion, as if that's going to solve any of the Reds problems.
I'll actually give the average Reds fan credit on this one. I don't think they're going to be buying what Krivsky is selling this time around. Not with all the booing I've been hearing lately every time a reliever implodes. If the Reds struggle on this west coast trip, as they usually do, Cincinnati is going to start thinking football awfully damn early this year. But at least the Reds are teaching Edwin Encarnacion a lesson. Or something.