Aside from the stats, another great argument by Daugherty is that Votto doesn't produce enough for a #3 hitter. Of course, that's a Dusty Baker decision, not a Joey Votto decision. If Baker penciled him in as the #2 hitter everyday, do the complaints go away since clearly in Daugherty's mind, a player's value is calculated against the imaginary value of a spot in the lineup?

Probably not the easiest thing in the world to pull plenty of tape on Josh Gibson as compared to someone like Mantle.

But all baseball is manufactured, so I don't entirely understand why one manifestation of it is inherently more repulsive than another. Professional baseball came about because business leaders in Cincinnati were tired of watching their local team lose all the time, so they went out and bought the best players across the country. That was completely manufactured, yet it ended up leading to something pretty amazing.

So obviously what you are saying is that it is obvious that two catchers who posted roughly the same OPS against left-handed pitchers (despite Soto's superior career numbers) with similar defensive profiles would obviously lead to one catcher getting all of the starts, obviously, even though catchers require plenty of rest and that, all things being equal, it would obviously make sense to platoon them if only to allow Pierzynski some rest against obviously left-handed starters.

Brendan Ryan held down SS for the Cardinals for a couple of years. That's the only recent one to pop into my head. Even guys like Concepcion were nearly average hitters.

On the other hand, his medicals are certainly in the team's hands, so they must believe that it is a minor procedure and not a "minor" procedure.

Poor Jack McKeon.

I don't think the issue is exactly with the money as it is with the years. There's no mention above that this is a potentially crippling move, just that a 3-year deal seems like it may have been a year or two longer than necessary.

Chief amongst my confusion regarding Arizon's trades is that they gave up Chris Young for Cliff Pennington, but then traded away a no-hit, all-glove SS (like Pennington) for an expensive reliever. I just don't see how trading away a viable starting centerfielder for a guy you might already have makes much sense.

Narratives bother me most when coming from announcers during a game as the narrative wildly changes to fit what happened on the field. For example, during the pre-game for one of the Reds-Giants games, Marty and Thom Brenaman and Jeff Brantley were discussing that Mike Leake was going to pitch a terrific game because being left off of the post-season roster has left him with a chip on his shoulder. Two innings and two home runs later, they immediately began discussing how Mike Leake is likely nervous by his first post-season start and unable to concentrate. Of course, none of them knew what was going on internally with Mike Leake before, during, or after the game, but they were willing to change their narrative on a dime to fit what took place on the field despite having no evidence at any time that their narrative had any place in reality.

Citation? What? He grumbled vaguely and then mentioned intellectual honesty and you have the audacity to challenge him, you dirty pundit?!?!?!

Make another note: the writers on this site are being far more patient with your condescension than you deserve.

I'd like to nominate Ryan Ludwick, who it turns out is not quite finished.

And I'm honestly not criticizing nor expecting anyone to refrain from commenting on how historically poorly some players fare. I actually found it amusing that the concern followed by the crushing were near each other. Also, if you'd like to make a living crushing Brandons, there are a bunch of Reds fans out there who appreciate the ridiculous awfulness of the Brandon Larson experiment.

While I enjoyed the article, it's a little odd to say that you were worried about being perceived as crushing Shaq Green-Thompson only to spend an aside crushing Brandon Wood who, for all I know, is also a very nice person who tried really hard.

While it's not soon after, A-Rod is making 30 million this year even if the AAV of the extension is not at that level.

As long as Dusty Baker doesn't do something silly? That seems like an unnecessary tempting of fate for Reds fans. Although supplanting Chapman with Broxton is probably too silly even for Dusty.

I would actually guess that the players don't really care about wrecking a draft process that none of them will ever go through again.

I'm not sure there's a development screw-up there. He simply cannot field his position which made him far less valuable on an NL club than an AL club. Brief attempts to teach him other positions did not improve his situation. He's also had recurring health issues which may have stunted his growth but are not the fault of Cincinnati. He's having a career year with the bat at age 29, almost three full years after leaving Cincinnati (in exchange for a player who has provided a higher WARP over the same period of time), and is being rewarded for it with a modest salary, relatively short-term deal. I'm not sure that Encarnacion, the Reds, or the Blue Jays have proven to have done anything wrong with his prior development, current playing, or future dealings.

I'm not sure about all serve calls, but there is definitely a computer sensor that determines if a serve has skimmed the top of the net or not that makes that specific call for all serves.

I know the tennis replay system has been mentioned a couple of times already, but I think it is what baseball needs to look at. Not only does the tennis challenge system take less than a minute each time, the crowd is always into it enough that they make audible sound effects to go along with the replay, also ending with an "OH!" when the final result is revealed. It actually seems to enhance the game. A similar replay of a ball/strike call would seem likely to accomplish the same thing.

That's not true. Hatteberg was named the team's starting first basemen in 2008. He played so poorly over the first week or two of the season that Votto quickly replaced him, but Baker still put the wrong guy's name in the lineup on opening day. Hatteberg didn't hang out on the bench for that season, he was released in the beginning of June.

I have to agree with Sharky here. This is like Jeff Mathis being traded so that the temptation to play him is no longer there. Even if you look at the list of top reserves, you still see the same issues. First, Heisey is listed as having the most value, but then he was arguably better than players like Jonny Gomes that he was behind on the depth charts. The next two players, Cairo and Nix, are not youth players and were often not the best options for the team.

I'm not sure there is anything nefarious to this timeline: 1) Davey Johnson said that Rendon would see time at 2B, SS, and 3B. 2) Rendon has now seen time at SS. 3) Scouts saw him play SS and determined that he is unlikely to have a future there. What exactly is wrong with this? Should the scouts have said, "Oh, he can't play SS, but everyone knew he was just being thrown out there for laughs so I won't even bother to make any notes."

I had the same thought, especially seeing how Mat Latos was a similarly-aged RHP who just swapped teams, I'd be curious as to where pitchers of that age would rank with Yu.

Thanks, Jay. I didn't mean to imply that everyone in the hall had to be above the average line, of course. I was just curious as to the new distinction between Trammell and Smith, as you said that Trammell no longer gets the thumbs-up from JAWS despite having a JAWS score that is higher than Smith's. Obviously we know that Smith is in the hall and is more than deserving of it, but if Trammell's score is not high enough for inclusion, than would Smith's be high enough if he were on the ballot today?

Forgive me if I am misreading something, but don't the JAWS scores shown here also state that Ozzie Smith is now no longer deserving of enshrinement?

I'm in no way implying that he's top 5 or a borderline MVP candidate. I believe his one-year option is a good deal for both sides, and that a long-term deal of similar value would only be good for one side. I also just think the 2B bar is low enough that top-10 is not that high a jump. I think I am more surprised to see someone take a shot at his fielding as being that large of a detriment to his value, especially since not all of the others we have listed as possible top 10 players, such as Weeks, have been particularly adept with the leather.

I'm confused about the notion that there is just a case to be made for Phillips being a top-10 second baseman. Other than Cano, Pedroia, Kinsler, and a mythically-healthy Utley, how many others have produced as consistently as Phillips? Uggla, prior to this year, perhaps? And as FRAA shows a high annual variance on just what it thinks of Philipps' defense, it seems odd to use that as a further disqualifer.

I have always felt that "defensive indifference" was a harsh description of Dunn. Being a Reds' fan living in DC, I have watched him enough to think that, at least in the outfield, he was always trying very hard. The problem is just that he is terrible at it, but not due to a lack of effort.

I blame that entirely on the daily vitriol spewed by Marty about how Adam Dunn's strikeouts and lack of sacrifice flies showed that he was a selfish player who was dragging the whole team down.

Also, with Farney at his side, you'd be getting two coaches for the price of one.

Alex Gonzalez wasn't having a good MLB assignment with the bat before the injury, either.

If you spend a portion of the season suffering from dizziness and anxiety attacks, it is possible that your defense would be most notably affected.

Joe, be careful if you ever make a visit to Great American Ballpark this summer; Marty Brennaman will hunt you down for daring to include Adam Dunn in an All-Star conversation. Doesn't heart and a love for the game count for anything anymore? Of course, my Adam Dunn bobblehead and I totally support this movement.

And most importantly, how did the US basketball team start playing better? They did it by increasing the amount of time they practiced as a unit. If the baseball team is really interested in playing at a level closer to their peak, then they too would just need to start showing up a few weeks earlier than they do.