2016 Reds Preview

Once again this year, Brian of Reds blog Chris Sabo’s Goggles answered some questions of ours concerning fellow projected basement-dwellers the Cincinnati Reds. If the experts are to be believed, our Brew Crew will be fighting off those pesky Redlegs for fourth place in the NL Central all summer.

Brewers 2016 Preview at CSG

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TBB:

Unlike Milwaukee, the Cincinnati organization has been criticized for not rebuilding (dramatically) enough this offseason. How do you characterize the return for players like Todd Frazier and Aroldis Chapman as well as the team’s direction going forward?

CSG:

It’s hard to say until these prospects get some playing time, but from a high-level point of view I think most people would agree that the players we got in return for Frazier and Chapman were underwhelming. But I don’t necessarily hinge the success of the ball club on that batch of prospects. Hopefully, some of those guys will pan out, but I think the primary goal was to shed payroll, which they’ve certainly done. What the team does with that money in the next couple of seasons will dictate whether or not the Reds will be competitive again anytime soon.

TBB:

Is Joey Votto going to stick around until the Reds are competitive again?

CSG:

From what the Reds are saying, he will. However, if the Reds “reboot” takes longer than expected, I can see Votto and the Reds parting ways pretty quickly. Why hold onto a $200+ million guy if you don’t have any realistic chance of competing?

TBB:

Who makes the playoffs first, Reds or Brewers, and why?

CSG:

This requires me to have an understanding of the Brewers’ minor league system (and general team plans), which I don’t. But if I had to make a biased guess, I’d say the Reds get back first (after every other team in the NL Central is decimated by catastrophic injuries to their star players).

TBB:

You’re not one of these “Put the DH in the NL to make it the same in both leagues” guys, are you?

CSG:

I can’t stand the DH. I love the idea that rallies fall short simply because you’ve reached the bottom of the order. Sure, I don’t like when that happens to my team, but I enjoy the strategic aspect of pitching around someone because the pitcher is up next. I get why people prefer the DH, but I’d take the give-and-take of the strategy game every day over having a strong bat at each spot in the order.

TBB:

When are you going to stop pestering us about Ryan Braun? It’s not our fault he’s a douche. I get it, but most Brewers fans have moved on from the controversy regarding Braun. Most have moved on from Braun himself, merely tolerating his presence.

CSG:

I tease the Brewers about Braun for the same reason I tease the Pittsburgh Pirates about Ben Roethlisberger—because I don’t know enough about either team to have anything constructive to say, so I resort to my same tired jokes.

TBB:

Reds projections for ’16?

CSG:

Woo-boy… 65-97

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Many thanks again to Brian for giving us the low-down on some Reds topics, and for being relatively polite about Ryan Braun.

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2016 Reds Preview

Alan Draper

Alan Draper

Alan Draper