SB Nation User Blog: JD Arney

Game 36 Thread: Reds at Mets Part 3

JD Arney — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:47:39 -0000

Tonight could go better, right?

Game 36 Thread: Reds at Mets Part 2

JD Arney — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:50:05 -0000

Matt Belisle is hard to watch.

Why Is Cincinnati So Racist?

JD Arney — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:15 -0000

So I just came across this and it was presumably brought on by this blog post about Ken Griffey Jr. potentially leaving and all I could think was how utterly predictable it all was.

I'm not from Cincinnati, not even from a suburb. You could maybe call Hillsboro, Ohio an exurb, but I think even that would be stretching it, as it's about the same distance from Hillsboro to Columbus (and Dayton for that matter) as it is to Cincinnati. That being said, I always identified with Cincinnati growing up, I consumed the Cincinnati media, and pulled for the Cincinnati teams, but I never really understood the racial issues and general idiocy of so many people who live there.

I don't think its at all a stretch to say that it really is worse in Cincinnati than it is in most other cities. Cincinnati is still the most recent city in America to have race riots. The Ken Griffey Jr. saga has always had racist undertones. No matter what you might think about Chad Johnson (and I've certainly given up on him, but not until I felt it was justified which was this offseason) there were definitely racist things going on there as well when it came to fan response.

For some reason, Cincinnati has a particularly toxic climate when it comes to sports, and this is a big part of it. And if you disagree I challenge you to listen to Cincinnati talk radio or read the Cincinnati.com or MLB.com boards or look at the man love for every white guy who plays hard in this city and tell me you don't see what I'm talking about.

**Obvious disclaimer, most Cincinnatians aren't racist, etc. etc. etc. and so on, but this is a real issue there and it definitely pertains to quite a bit of Cincinnati sports discussion. Also I realize this is probably outside of the scope of Red Reporter's usual fare, but that Daugherty blog post really got to me for some reason. So here we are.

Great Game, But ...

JD Arney — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:18:45 -0000

Um, WTF Dusty?

Can't really see the reasoning behind that in a game the Reds were winning 9-0. And it's not like the bullpen needs resting the day before an off day.

Venting Thread

JD Arney — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:45:07 -0000

What do you like least about the team this year?

As Krivsky tore down the offense to build the pitching, I've said all along that it's great if that works, but if it doesn't then I'd actually prefer to watch the Reds lose 9-7 than to watch them lose 3-1. They're both frustrating, but the latter much more so. And low scoring losses are just boring.

It's hard finding reasons to watch a team that lately seems hard pressed to put together more than 3-4 hits.

Two games, one run, eight hits, against a pretty good pitcher in Tim Hudson, and a not at all good pitcher in Jo-Jo Reyes. It's boring.

Now your turn. Plenty to choose from, what's irritating you the most so far this season?

The 2008 Cincinnati Reds Aren't A Very Good Baseball Team

JD Arney — Sat, 03 May 2008 03:19:15 -0000

Maybe the first month of the season has been a fluke, but as things stand right now I have to say that I'm more pessimistic than optimistic when it comes to the 2008 Cincinnati Reds. I'm pretty sure we're not going to be seeing a cover like the one above this November. Here's my reasoning:

- Paul Bako is going to get a lot worse. All the credit in the world to the guy for what he's done so far, but he's going to be 36 in June and he has a lifetime OPS+ of 64. He's never slugged over .358 in his career, and he's currently at .507 for the season. A lot of 0-3s are on the way.

- Brandon Phillips, Edwin Encarnacion, Joey Votto, and Jeff Keppinger have all been as good as we could have hoped, so I don't see improvement coming from those three.

- Aaron Harang probably is going to fall back to earth a little bit. I'm holding out some hope that he's on his way to a career year, but more than likely he's going to finish at his customary 3.75 or so ERA, which means he's been pitching over his head for the first month.

- Ken Griffey Jr. might be simply slumping, but he is killing the Reds hitting third. Griffey and then Phillips seems like it's an automatic two outs time after time after time.

- The bullpen, for being a Reds bullpen, has been great. Todd Coffey was really bad, but that problem's been fixed. I can't see it getting much better.

- The rotation, for being a Reds rotation, has also been great. I think Arroyo (assuming he's not hurt or anything) will get a lot better, but if the Reds aren't winning now with how decent the pitching has been than that doesn't bode well for the future.

- The roster construction this season is probably the poorest I have ever seen, which is pretty amazing given the past seven years. Any of the current problems would be excusable if they were singular, but when you add up the two lefthanded firstbaseman, the three catchers (Javier Valentin has had 6 at bats since April 17th), carrying Freel and Hopper, and then Freel and Hairston ... it's just too much. Pretty much every team is going to have weak spots, but the Reds seem to actively seek them out. Corey Patterson hitting leadoff and playing center field day in and day out is another great example.

This isn't the end of the world. A lot of smart people have been pointing towards 2009 as the Reds year to start contending again. But while I know that's always made sense, I still had hope that things might fall the Reds way in 2008. Not looking like that's going to happen.

All Kinds Of Wayne Krivsky Dirt From Hal McCoy

JD Arney — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:16:10 -0000

Hal McCoy has a pretty crazy blog entry up tonight with some parting shots from Wayne Krivsky:

“When I’m told before the season that I better win, I’m going to get all the pitching I can get,” he said. “Fogg was a $100,000 gamble, what we would pay him if he didn’t make the team. He made it so it cost $1.5 million and I still think it’s a good deal.

“When Homer Bailey didn’t make the team and Matt Belisle was injured, who did we have for our fifth starting spot? Nobody,” he said. “That’s where Fogg fit in. He made $3.7 million from the Rockies last year.”

And then there was the $3 million paid to outfielder Corey Patterson.

“I was told to get him signed, whatever it takes,” said Krivsky, who signed him for $3 million. Patterson was paid $4.7 million last year.

And Mike Stanton? “Stanton and the $3.5 million is on me,” he said. “And Juan Castro ($975,000), but I had something going with the Los Angeles Dodgers when I was let go. I told (new GM) Walt Jocketty to please try to find something for Castro.”

Krivsky kept quiet about pitcher Rheal Cormier and it was thought the Reds had to eat his salary when they released him. But when the Reds traded outfielder Chris Denorfia to Oakland the A’s agreed to pay Cormier’s $2 million, “And, actually, with interest we got $2.08 million,” said Krivsky.

Does this change anyone's opinion at all? The Cormier thing looks a little more defensible now, but Krivsky seems to think it being a money neutral deal makes it ok. That was a bad move all the way around that actively damaged the team, financially sound or not.

I'm also not surprised that Krivsky is distancing himself from Corey Patterson. Did anyone ever think that was anyone but Dusty Baker's idea?

Carter James Arney

JD Arney — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:23:15 -0000

Just wanted to interject a quick post here amidst the little winning streak the Reds have going now, and let everyone know where I've been for the past few weeks. Carter James Arney was born on April 9th, and he's been keeping me pretty busy since then. Here he is in his first (I'm sure of many) Reds outfit.

I also wanted to thank Slyde and everyone else who contributed for the outfits and Reds book. Alli and I loved it all (the "Juan Castro makes my cry bib" was probably my personal favorite) and I'm going to get some pictures of those up ASAP.

Open thread question: Parenting advice. Share what you know, I'm always looking to learn. And it looks like I'm not the only new father around, so it could be a lively thread.

How long until you stop poking them in the middle of the night to make sure they're still breathing?

Game Thoughts: Reds Beat The Dbacks 6-5

JD Arney — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:37:26 -0000

First the bad:

- Jeff Brantley is a moron.

- Todd Coffey doesn't look any different from 2007. Hopefully it was first appearance of the year jitters and he'll settle down, but that was even more discouraging than his final line would indicate. He doesn't seem to be fulling anyone.

- I really don't understand throwing slower breaking stuff to pitchers. You're just giving them something that's more their speed by doing that. If an average Joe went up to the plate against Bronson Arroyo or Todd Coffey I'm pretty sure he'd rather see something coming at him at 75 mph than 92 mph, no matter how much the ball might drop or move. Three fastballs as hard as you can throw them oughta be enough to sit down 99% of pitchers.

Now the good:

- Kent Mercker looked like a genuinely good pitcher. If he could put up a good season that'd really be a big unexpected help.

- Jeff Keppinger needs to keep doing what he's doing and force the Reds to make a decision when Gonzalez comes back. Sure would be nice to have Gonzalez on the bench instead of Juan Castro.

- I have never understood why guys like Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley have such sticks up their asses when it comes to Edwin Encarnacion, but it was incredibly gratifying to see him hit his walk off home run tonight.

Photo by AP and Al Behrman

Wednesday Quick Hits

JD Arney — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:32:18 -0000

- Jeff Conine is up to some interesting things post baseball.

- Keith Law is fairly high on the Reds.

- This may have already been linked somewhere on Red Reporter, but Jonah Keri recently took an interesting look at the 1990 Reds as a failed dynasty. I really hadn't ever thought about how young that team was, it is kind of surprising how far they fell in '91. Lot of career years in 1990.

- And finally, Bill James took questions over at Freakanomics. Good, pretty much as always.