Fixing the Reds: In Five Moves

With the recent decline in the state of the Cincinnati Reds franchise, the team has failed to make the playoffs in the recent years.  For fans, these results really should be unacceptable; however, every team has those fans that are the annual optimist.  These are the fans that think the club is heading to “the Series” at the beginning of every year–no matter how obviously bad the roster is, is headed to the series.

Every fan also has their ideas (sometimes a bit far-fetched) as to what they would do to fix their team, so let this article act as my opportunity to fix the Reds. I will try to be as logical as possible by looking at actual team needs and what is the best available solution.  The goal of this project is to get the team back to the playoffs within three years.

I think we all would agree that left field and starting pitching are the areas of the most need, closely followed by the Reds minor league system (as a whole); however, the organization could use a few more things to help them bounce back. Thus, begins my five-point plan.

1.  Mentality

Out of all the steps that are to follow, this one (in my opinion) is the most important.  Right now the team does not have the mentality of a winning franchise.  I believe this is because the team lacks a vision of where they want to be in the future. This is not to say that they don’t want to win the World Series, because obviously every team desires championships, but they seem to be lost as to how to carry out that vision.

Simply put, the organization needs to develop a plan, believe in it and execute it.

2.  Youth Movement

Much like the Houston Astros did to complete their rebuild, the Reds need to start focusing on their minor league system.  The foundation of a successful major league club is developing players behind them, unless you decide that you can try to buy a title like the Los Angeles Dodgers did last year (spoiler alert: it didn’t work).  In order to do this, the organization must go out and get the right coaches to develop and mold players. If you fail in developing young talent, then signing them to long-term contracts, your roster will stand in flux–as we are now seeing for ourselves.

There are home-grown pieces to be excited about, however, and Billy Hamilton and Devin Mesoraco seem capable of leading this charge (in the lineup).

Hamilton has struggled at the plate–which is saying it nicely. He obviously needs to be coached up, somehow, in a way that will allow him to get on base more ahead of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. When he does get on base he has an A+ steal ability, making him a complete game-changer on offense (which compliments his glove on defense).

Mesoraco is your power-hitting catcher that has a knack for turning doubles into singles. You won’t see him burning up base paths at a ball park near you, but then again, not everyone is meant for speed. He is solid defensively with a .998 career fielding average. This is definitely a plus to find the power-and-defense combo at the catcher position. He is also under contract until 2018.

If both of these guys could raise their batting averages to, say .275 or .280, they would form a great foundation for building a solid, young team.

3.  Left Field

The first position that needs immediate attention is left field. My recommendation is to go out and sign a player like David Murphy, who is a very capable player both in the field and at the plate, to give the players like Adam Duvall and Jake Cave time to get better at adapting to major league pitching–while not being asked to have a full-time responsibility. This platoon situation, on paper, would work very well.

4.  Starting Pitching

The pitching needs to be revamped and built back up in the minors. The Reds need to draft well and trade away some of their higher-valued players where they have depth at the position. One of those positions is second base and/or shortstop. Zack Cozart would be an easy piece to swap for some minor league pitching, due to his expiring contract. Plus, Jose Peraza should be able to take over the position. Get young players. Develop them.

"Simply put, the organization needs to develop a plan, believe in it and execute it."

5.  Don’t Give Up

The hardest step of the five involves losing games and expecting losing seasons. If you follow the other four steps perfectly and with exactness, you will have about two years of this final step. In the third year, if things go as planned, I believe we will be a just a few games away from being a playoff team. We just cannot give up hope that this plan could work.