Cincinnati Reds Links 8/15/2015 Bryan Price Joey Votto

Earlier this week, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports got a head start on the offseason by naming several managers who may be on the hot seat as the season nears its conclusion. He divided the at-risk managers into three groups: the interim managers, the "Playoffs or Bust" managers, and the disappointments.  Unsurprisingly, the Reds own Bryan Price fell under the disappointments category.  However, Rosenthal notes that, as rumors of a post All Star Game shakeup proved unfounded,  "Now that the Reds officially are rebuilding, an offseason change might not happen, either."  Which makes sense to me, since Price is under contract for 2016, so if the Reds don't expect to compete, there's not really much of a reason to pay him not to manage, as well as pay the new manager.  But then again, this is the same team that fired Dusty Baker after a 90 win season and three postseason appearances in four years, so who really knows what they'll do.

Rosental also drops this nugget in the same piece:

The Reds, according to sources, declined to trade players such as right fielder Jay Bruce and closer Aroldis Chapman at the non-waiver deadline in part because they could not get the young position players they wanted in return.

This suggests that the Reds did not hang on to Bruce and Chapman out of a belief that they can compete during the lives of their current contracts, and that the Reds did try to acquire young controllable position players (and not just hoard still more pitchers) at the deadline, but that teams were loathe to part with bats.  Stay tuned this winter, because it should be an interesting offseason.

In other news, if there's one thing that never, ever gets old, it's reading articles from national writers heaping praise on Joey Votto, his attitude, his work ethic and his talent.  So here's another one, this time from Tim Brown of Yahoo. As always, there are some great quotes from Votto in here, particularly regarding his thoughts on the team as it begins the difficult rebuild process, as well as his thoughts on his own approach to playing games that maybe aren't as meaningful as some he's played in the past.  Whether you consider Votto to still be an elite hitter or not, it cannot be denied that he's one of the most thoughtful players in the game.

This past Thursday, MLB announced it had hired an executive search firm Korn Ferry to assist teams in making hiring decisions as well as to help candidates prepare for interviews.  In a statement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated his office's desire to "develop more opportunities for minorities and women throughout our game, both in senior and entry level positions."  As the Sporting New points out, "Across the majors, there were 65 women in club vice president roles last season — 17.3 percent of the total positions. People of color held 14.4 percent of vice president positions."  Clearly there is room for improvement there.

Tim Healy of Sports on Earth has an article on the transition from amateur ball to the professional lifestyle for recent draftees.  On of the players he interviews is Cincinnati native and current Boston Red Sox prospect Andrew Benintendi.  It's an interesting look at what has to be a difficult transition for many players.

Finally, official MLB historian John Thorn reminds us that we are approaching the 50 year anniversary of one of the most impressive pitching accomplishments in Cincinnati Reds history.  On August 19, 1965, Maloney Held the Chicago Cubs hitless for ten innings at Wrigley Field in the first game of a double header.  The Reds won on a Leo Cardenas home run in the tenth inning, and Maloney stuck out 12 and allowed 10 walks, one of which was intentional, and struck Ron Santo with a pitch.