There's a ton of college hoops excitement around here right now, but I am also starting to look forward to the upcoming Reds season, given the club's substantial off-season moves. You may question my use of the word "substantial", but let's face it: Bob Castellini has stepped up and shown a commitment to making the team and the organization successful.
The Dusty Baker and Walt Jocketty hirings are huge. These are two well-respected and successful baseball minds that are now helping lead the organization. Team them with Wayne Krivsky, who I feel has taken a bum rap (the man got us Brandon Phillips and the since-traded Josh Hamilton in exchange for nothing, and he has now put them in a contending position after starting with very little just a couple of years ago), and you have a respected, experienced leadership base.
On-field improvements are also evident. The pitching rotation has a lot of potential at this point. On top of Harang and Arroyo returning, you also have 3 of the following five pitchers to add to the rotation: a more experienced Homer Bailey, the newly acquired Jeremy Affeldt (who had decent bullpen numbers last year, especially considering his home ballpark was Coors Field), Johnny Cueto -- hopefully, Edinson Volquez, and Matt Belisle. And if the Reds are in a contending position at mid-season, they may have the opportunity to trade Dunn (or Griffey) for a decent pitcher, if necessary. I see a lot of potential, but at the same time, we have to temper our expectations in the cozy wind tunnel known as Great American Ballpark.
The veteran offense is there -- Phillips, Dunn, Griffey, Hatteburg, etc., the team's fielding is solid, and hopefully Javier Valentin can play catcher everyday, except when Arroyo pitches (don't want to mess with the chemistry with his cuz). And on top of all this, they have two stars waiting in the wings -- Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, who should both see a lot of playing time.
How long until pitchers and catchers report? It's getting close...
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