You Win Some, You Lose Some

The winter hiring of Walt Jocketty made it pretty obvious that the Kriv-dawg was entering 2008 on a short leash. And with offseason acquisitions Josh Fogg and Corey Patterson not exactly netting profitable returns 3 weeks into the season, this should come as no huge surprise, especially considering Uncle Bob's desire to win now.

Good Job, Wayne:

• Brandon Phillips. Acquired: DFA'd by CLE, ultimately traded for a PTBNL. Signed longterm to a reasonable contract, the speedy clean-up hitter and fan favorite should be gold-gloving the right side of the infield for years to come. Deals don't get any better than this. Grade: A+
  
  
• The acquisition of Bronson Arroyo. Acquired: via trade for Wily No Pena. At the time of this trade, Arroyo was signed to a very reasonable $11m over 3 years. He was most assuredly worth that money for 2006 thru 2008. Plus, it ain't like this club is missing, or will ever miss, Wily No. Grade: A
  
  
• The acquisition of David Ross. Acquired: via trade for Bobby Basham. The Reds catching situation prior to this acquisition was LaRue and Valentin. Without a doubt, Ross is the far superior defender of the 3. Valentin may be a better hitter, but Ross is superior to LaRue in all aspects (except in "ability to make teenage girls swoon"). Plus, who's Bobby Basham? Grade: A
  
  
• The acquisition of Josh Hamilton. Acquired: as a Rule V pick. He cost the club nothing. He's making league minimum. His bat is ridiculous, his defense is stellar, his OF arm is out of this world. Even though he's no longer a member of the club, I saw an awful lot of #33 jerseys at the yard on opening day. And he hasn't yet relapsed on drugs. Quite the rookie season for J-Hammy. Grade: A
  
  
• Jeff Keppinger. Acquired: via trade for some nobody minor league pitcher. Dude just hits. Period. And he is not a defensive liability anywhere in the infield or outfield. All of the other 31 29 clubs are kicking themselves for not grabbing him. He's a major-league hitter. Grade: A
  
  
• Jared Burton. Acquired: as a Rule V pick. He cost the club nothing. He's making league minimum. His stuff is filthy, he's got a healthy cockiness about him, and he could be a top set-up man for years to come. Grade: A
  
  
• Scott Hatteberg. Acquired: as an unwanted Spring Training free agent. He's not exactly an offensive juggernaut, but it's hard to argue with batting averages of .289 & .310 and on-base averages of .389 & .394 in 2006 & 2007. A cheap, productive veteran bat. Grade: B+
  
  
• Picking up the 2008 option on Adam Dunn. Let's just say I wouldn't trust ol' Wayne to make good draft picks with those compensatory picks had Dunn been freed to sign elsewhere. (See next section.) Plus, even though the Donkey isn't hitting too well thus far, it is reasonable to expect his normal 40/100/100 production by year's end. Grade: Satisfactory, as this is just common baseball sense.
  

The jury's still out, Wayne, but these aren't looking as good as we would've hoped:

• "The Trade". Felipe and Kearns haven't lit DC on fire, that's for sure, but trading supposedly "big" bats from the everyday lineup for bullpen arms should get more than the Majik Man and a rookie lefthander. Granted, Bray might be a long-term stud in the Reds' bully, but he's been hurt too much to know. Who would've ever thunk that "throw-in" Daryl Thompson might one day be the biggest feather in this trade's cap? Grade: incomplete and unsure
  
  
• The drafting of Drew Stubbs and Devin Mesorasco. I'm reminiscing of Dan O'Brien and his drafting/signing of Bailey, Bruce, and Cueto here. Stubbs may eventually be a solid major leaguer, but freaking Tim Lincecum was available!!! And while catcher is obviously a weakness in the organization, no one is projecting Mesorasco to help the big league club for another 4-5 years, if he makes it at all! There wasn't a college catcher more major-league ready? Grade: incomplete
  

These sealed your fate, Wayne:

• The contract extension of Bronson Arroyo. There were still two very affordable years left on the deal at the time of this extension. Who gives out lucrative contracts after a career year which happened to include the infamous AL-to-NL switch? Krivdawg does, of course. The JTM rocker is going to make $25 freaking million in 2009 and 2010. Could the rocker's extension be remembered as Eric Milton II? Heck, by the time this extension is through, could he be dropped from the rotation? Think about it... Harang, Cueto, Volquez, Bailey, Thompson... it's possible.
  
  
• The contract extensions of David Ross, Ryan Freel, Juan Castro, and Todd Coffey. The team had absolutely no obligation to extend these contracts. There was little chance any of them would perform at such a level that would command the salaries they received. Uncle Bob can't like these deals.
  
  
• The contracts, period, of Tony Womack, Rheal Cormier, Mike Stanton, and Corey Patterson. Stanton got 2 years... ya think maybe he would have signed for 1? Patterson was unemployed as of the beginning of Spring Training... ya think maybe he would have accepted less than $3.5 freaking million? Between these guys and the previous bullet and the other guys that I'm forgetting, that's too much "dead money" for a "small market" team.
  

Wayne did some really good stuff. But it wasn't enough. So... bye-bye. Let's see what happens next. Will the roster be transformed? Are we about to see Bruce and Bailey at GABP? Are we still rebuilding, or does the combination of Dusty & Walt mean it's Win Now Or Bust? Regardless, 'tis another wild day in Reds Country.