Post by Strategist on Jan 4, 2020 2:51:02 GMT
2018 Review:
Record: 99-63 1st WC. Lost 1-0 in WC Game to PHI R/G Scored: 2nd (NL) R/G Against: 5th (NL)
. Had the 2nd best run differential in the NL.
Starting the Offseason:
Lineup: Starting a lineup out with one of the best leadoff mean in the game in Trea Turner and power bats Joey Gallo is a good start. The lineup was looking at Yasmani Grandal becoming a FA though. It did have solid contributors Edwin Encarnacion, Scooter Gennett and Robinson Cano coming back. The Reds did have a hole in RF and C to fill and probably could have used and upgrade at CF although Jarrod Dyson does provide elite defense out there that makes up for some of his short comings with the bat. The Reds decided to fill some of those holes through trades. Acquiring RF Gregory Polanco and C Fancisco Cervelli. Although traded away Gennett and EE as part of the trades to do that. Also signed Brian McCann to provide a nice combo at catcher. Also would sign Hanley Ramirez to fill the void created by trading EE. After the moves the lineup will not spectacular didn't have any major holes.
Rotation: James Paxton provided a nice ace at the top. Danny Salazar as a good #2. Unfortunately after that the rotation was going to need some work. With no obvious SP that were even close to average. The reds decided to use their massive amounts of cap space on upgrading their rotation. Adding 2 of the best SP on the market in Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton to massive short term deals. They also traded Paxton for Blake Snell 1 who was an even better ace. They also acquired Justus Sheffield and Dylan Cease 2 top 100 SP prospects. This gave the Reds a very good rotation with depth in case of injuries. I would say top 5 to start the season.
Bullpen: The back end of the bullpen was set up to be pretty good with Raisel Iglesias, Felipe Vazquez and Ken Giles. Giles and Vazquez were traded in the Sheffield trade that also brought back top 50 prospect SP Dylan Cease. Other than that there wasn't a lot of high end talent in the Bullpen.
Early Season/Midseason:
Morton only managed to last 3.2 IP before getting injured for the season. The team just stayed around .500 for much of the season up to the trade deadline. The team was just mainly average in all phases of the game.
End of the Season Thoughts:
Lineup: 7th (NL) in runs and middle of the pack in most hitting categories. Joey Gallo is a player that stands out for his poor preformance hitting .162 and 36 HRs for a 91 OPS+. Cano provided another vintage performanc hitting 31 HRs with a 120 OPS+. Cervelli and Turner also had above average seasons. Other than that it was a rough year for most of the Red's hitters.
Rotation: 5th (NL) in starters' ERA. Snell pitched like an ace finishing 4th (NL) in ERA and 2nd (NL) in Ks. Should propel him to a top 5 Cy Young finish. Salazar had a very good year and Keuchel was good. Hernandez pitched ok and Sheffield pitched decent for a 22 yr old.
Bullpen: 9th (NL) in Bullpen ERA. Looking at their individual numbers it wouldn't seem that they would have finished this low as all but 1 of their reliever finished with 4.20 ERA but I guess this is the difference AL and NL.
In Conclusion:
The Reds didn't have a bad season at 87-75. I think they were just mostly average in all phases as most of their statistics point to. Got very unlucky with the Morton injury. A think a full season of Morton instead of Sheffield would have put this team right there at 90+ wins and fighting for a WC spot. They should still have a very good rotation next year with Snell, Morton and Keuchel leading the way. Their are a couple of spots in their lineup that could use some upgrades and getting a better projection for Gallo should help. Their bullpen could use a high end option to pair with Iglesias. I think with some moves this team isn't far off from contending next season.
Trades Overview:
RP Ken Giles, 2B Scooter Gennett, and RP Felipe Vazquez for Martin Perez, C Francisco Cervelli, SP Justus Sheffield, and Dylan Cease - Dealing from their strengths the Reds were able to feel the whole left by Grandal and got 2 top 100 SP prospects that should be close to contributing to the rotation. Cervelli hit .281/.386/.466 with 13 HRs and a 130 OPS+ in 100 games.
SP James Paxton, 1B Edwin Encarnacion, and RP Domingo Acevedo for SP Blake Snell and Gregory Polanco - Trading an ace and an aging 1B and mid tier prospect to get a younger ace and a young RF. As stated before Snell pitched amazing. Polanco hit .246/.331/.408 in 116 games (due to injury) good for 100 OPS+.
Free Agency Overview:
SP Charlie Morton 2 yr 55.59 Mil - Got injured 3 IP into the season. He did have a wrecked injury designation in the game so I definitely think it was a bit of a risk to pay so much for him. Has a player option and I really have no idea if he will accept it or not. I think the Reds probably want him to. Will be really good next year if healthy though. C-
C Brian McCann 2 yr 17.42 Mil - .228/.345/.395 12 HRs and 101 OPS+. A solid defensive catcher and created a very valuable combo with Cervelli. Should produce a similar line next season. B
SP Dallas Keuchel 2 yr 71.2 Mil - A good not great season. 17-11 3.80 ERA in 33 GS. Player option for next season that I doubt the Reds want to see him pick up as he only pitched ok IRL. C+
1B Hanley Ramirez 1 yr 5.21 Mil - .176/.274/.308 slash line with 9 HRs in 119 games and 58 OPS+. Obviously struggled mightily. Short contract and not a ton of money. D-
77 Mil to spend on FAs. Not any long term crippling contracts but if both SPs pick up their options the Reds will have 152.6 Mil already committed to contracts. If he was willing to let those guys go for cheap he may find takers on the trade market or he could just keep them which should give him a pretty good rotation and try to fill his lineup holes on the cheap. Will be hard for them to have an offseason plan until the know about the player options. Overall I will give the class a C-.
Record: 99-63 1st WC. Lost 1-0 in WC Game to PHI R/G Scored: 2nd (NL) R/G Against: 5th (NL)
. Had the 2nd best run differential in the NL.
Starting the Offseason:
Lineup: Starting a lineup out with one of the best leadoff mean in the game in Trea Turner and power bats Joey Gallo is a good start. The lineup was looking at Yasmani Grandal becoming a FA though. It did have solid contributors Edwin Encarnacion, Scooter Gennett and Robinson Cano coming back. The Reds did have a hole in RF and C to fill and probably could have used and upgrade at CF although Jarrod Dyson does provide elite defense out there that makes up for some of his short comings with the bat. The Reds decided to fill some of those holes through trades. Acquiring RF Gregory Polanco and C Fancisco Cervelli. Although traded away Gennett and EE as part of the trades to do that. Also signed Brian McCann to provide a nice combo at catcher. Also would sign Hanley Ramirez to fill the void created by trading EE. After the moves the lineup will not spectacular didn't have any major holes.
Rotation: James Paxton provided a nice ace at the top. Danny Salazar as a good #2. Unfortunately after that the rotation was going to need some work. With no obvious SP that were even close to average. The reds decided to use their massive amounts of cap space on upgrading their rotation. Adding 2 of the best SP on the market in Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton to massive short term deals. They also traded Paxton for Blake Snell 1 who was an even better ace. They also acquired Justus Sheffield and Dylan Cease 2 top 100 SP prospects. This gave the Reds a very good rotation with depth in case of injuries. I would say top 5 to start the season.
Bullpen: The back end of the bullpen was set up to be pretty good with Raisel Iglesias, Felipe Vazquez and Ken Giles. Giles and Vazquez were traded in the Sheffield trade that also brought back top 50 prospect SP Dylan Cease. Other than that there wasn't a lot of high end talent in the Bullpen.
Early Season/Midseason:
Morton only managed to last 3.2 IP before getting injured for the season. The team just stayed around .500 for much of the season up to the trade deadline. The team was just mainly average in all phases of the game.
End of the Season Thoughts:
Lineup: 7th (NL) in runs and middle of the pack in most hitting categories. Joey Gallo is a player that stands out for his poor preformance hitting .162 and 36 HRs for a 91 OPS+. Cano provided another vintage performanc hitting 31 HRs with a 120 OPS+. Cervelli and Turner also had above average seasons. Other than that it was a rough year for most of the Red's hitters.
Rotation: 5th (NL) in starters' ERA. Snell pitched like an ace finishing 4th (NL) in ERA and 2nd (NL) in Ks. Should propel him to a top 5 Cy Young finish. Salazar had a very good year and Keuchel was good. Hernandez pitched ok and Sheffield pitched decent for a 22 yr old.
Bullpen: 9th (NL) in Bullpen ERA. Looking at their individual numbers it wouldn't seem that they would have finished this low as all but 1 of their reliever finished with 4.20 ERA but I guess this is the difference AL and NL.
In Conclusion:
The Reds didn't have a bad season at 87-75. I think they were just mostly average in all phases as most of their statistics point to. Got very unlucky with the Morton injury. A think a full season of Morton instead of Sheffield would have put this team right there at 90+ wins and fighting for a WC spot. They should still have a very good rotation next year with Snell, Morton and Keuchel leading the way. Their are a couple of spots in their lineup that could use some upgrades and getting a better projection for Gallo should help. Their bullpen could use a high end option to pair with Iglesias. I think with some moves this team isn't far off from contending next season.
Trades Overview:
RP Ken Giles, 2B Scooter Gennett, and RP Felipe Vazquez for Martin Perez, C Francisco Cervelli, SP Justus Sheffield, and Dylan Cease - Dealing from their strengths the Reds were able to feel the whole left by Grandal and got 2 top 100 SP prospects that should be close to contributing to the rotation. Cervelli hit .281/.386/.466 with 13 HRs and a 130 OPS+ in 100 games.
SP James Paxton, 1B Edwin Encarnacion, and RP Domingo Acevedo for SP Blake Snell and Gregory Polanco - Trading an ace and an aging 1B and mid tier prospect to get a younger ace and a young RF. As stated before Snell pitched amazing. Polanco hit .246/.331/.408 in 116 games (due to injury) good for 100 OPS+.
Free Agency Overview:
SP Charlie Morton 2 yr 55.59 Mil - Got injured 3 IP into the season. He did have a wrecked injury designation in the game so I definitely think it was a bit of a risk to pay so much for him. Has a player option and I really have no idea if he will accept it or not. I think the Reds probably want him to. Will be really good next year if healthy though. C-
C Brian McCann 2 yr 17.42 Mil - .228/.345/.395 12 HRs and 101 OPS+. A solid defensive catcher and created a very valuable combo with Cervelli. Should produce a similar line next season. B
SP Dallas Keuchel 2 yr 71.2 Mil - A good not great season. 17-11 3.80 ERA in 33 GS. Player option for next season that I doubt the Reds want to see him pick up as he only pitched ok IRL. C+
1B Hanley Ramirez 1 yr 5.21 Mil - .176/.274/.308 slash line with 9 HRs in 119 games and 58 OPS+. Obviously struggled mightily. Short contract and not a ton of money. D-
77 Mil to spend on FAs. Not any long term crippling contracts but if both SPs pick up their options the Reds will have 152.6 Mil already committed to contracts. If he was willing to let those guys go for cheap he may find takers on the trade market or he could just keep them which should give him a pretty good rotation and try to fill his lineup holes on the cheap. Will be hard for them to have an offseason plan until the know about the player options. Overall I will give the class a C-.