Cincinnati Reds Information
Dusty Baker is in the final year of his contract and, make no bones about it, Dusty Baker isn't about to succumb to pressure. It ain't no thing," Baker told MLB.com recently. "You do your job the best that you can do it. I know we're going to win and everything will take care of itself. There's no sense worrying about what might be. It distracts from what is now."
That philosophy is what has made Baker a 3 time Manager of the Year Winner and he is looking to take his Reds team to the NL Playoffs.
The offseason was quite for the most part. The franchise pulled the trigger on a trade sending UT Aaron Miles to the Cincinnati Reds for Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales. They then signed LHP Aroldis Chapman and added INF Aaron Miles. Departures included C Craig Tatum, INF Danny Richar, OF Willy Taveras and INF Adam Rosales.
The Reds will host the MLB Civil Rights Game against the St. Louis Cardinals. It is the second year in a row the franchise has hosted the game that honors the history of civil rights in the United States.
The projected rotation for the club looks to be RHP Aaron Harang, RHP Bronson Arroyo, RHP Johnny Cueto, RHP Homer Bailey and RHp Justin Lehr. The Bullpen is shaping up to be RHP Francisco Cordero (Closer), RHP Nick Masset, LHP Arthur Rhodes, RHP Jared Burton, LHP Daniel Ray Herrera, RHP Mike Lincoln and RHP Micah Owings.
The lineup is projected to be CF Drew Stubs, SS Orlando Cabrera, 1B Joey Votto, 2B Brandon Phillips, 3B Scott Rolen, RF Jay Bruce, C Ramon Hernandez and LF Chris Dickerson.
Have the Reds gone green in ’07? They are the first MLB team to go Carbon Neutral, offsetting all emmissions assosiated with their home game on earth day in April ’07. After having a bit of a slump that led to the firing of manager Jerry Narron, the Reds are trying to win that division championship. And in spite of the up and downs, ticketholders to Reds games support a team with an impressive lineage – and 5 world Championships, nine pennants, and nine division titles under their belt.
The Cincinnati Reds might be known for their success in the 1970s with the “Big Red Machine” which consisted of such key players as hall of fame shortstop Joe Morgan and catcher Johnny Bench. That team won back to back championships in 1975 and 1976, but since then, the Reds have only won one World Series (1990) and have only appeared in the postseason three times in almost 30 years. The Cincinnati Reds are in their second season in their wonderful new stadium, The Great American Ballpark. Riverfront Stadium, the old ballpark, was imploded to create more space for the present park. The Great American Ballpark can hold 42,000 people and to the average baseball fan, it would appear to be a good hitter’s ballpark, but during the 2003 season, pitchers seemingly had the upper hand in their battles with the hitters. Dave Miley is the manager of the Reds, and he took over just after the all-star break in 2003. Cincinnati has been in quite a slump over the last few years, and Miley was inserted as an interim manager at the end of last season. Management saw what they liked out of him in limited time last year, and so Miley is back for his second season in charge.
For a time last season, the Reds took the unconventional route of working with a four man rotation of starting pitchers. In the old days of the game, this was quite common, but with players getting stronger and faster now, it’s tougher to work on shorter rest. The pitching for the Reds in 2003 was pretty horrendous with an earned run average over 5 for the entire season. Needless to say, that will need to improve if the Reds want to have any hope of competing in 2004. Coming into the season, only one spot in the rotation has been solidified, belonging to Paul Wilson. Ryan Wagner is a young flamethrower that could start or work in relief, and Danny Graves will make the move from starter to closer.
The past few seasons have been incomplete in many Reds fan’s minds because of the health of Ken Griffey Jr. Junior Griffey has been injured in each of the last three seasons since being acquired from Seattle, and management has been quite anxious to get him teamed up with fellow outfielders Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns. Each of these players has 40 homer potential if healthy enough to play a full season. Griffey returned to Cincinnati in order to play at home to finish his career, but he’s only 34 years old, and if the Reds find themselves once again out of contention, playoff teams are sure to come with offers trying to lure him away. Shortstop Barry Larkin enters his 19th season, all with Cincinnati, and is hoping to play at least one more season after 2004. Sean Casey is everything you could want in a first baseman, possessing power, good hand-eye coordination and the patience to draw walks.