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Offseason roster moves

CINCINNATI -- The Reds made an acquisition on Friday when they brought utility player Jerry Gil over from the Diamondbacks for Minor League reliever Abe Woody.

Gil, who turns 24 on Saturday, was added to Cincinnati's 40-man roster. He batted .256 in 128 games combined at Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Tucson this season, with 27 home runs and 89 RBIs.

The only Major League experience for Gil came during 29 games for Arizona in 2004, when he batted .174. Coincidentally, his big-league debut came against the Reds, and he singled in his first plate appearance off Brandon Claussen. He also played under Reds assistant general manager Bob Miller, who used to work in the Diamondbacks' front office.

Although he has a history of struggling offensively, Gil is considered to be a good fielder at shortstop with a strong arm. After missing most of 2005 with a knee injury, he started playing outfield in 2006 to improve his versatility. At Spring Training this year, he was one of the final cuts from camp despite hitting .385 with five homers.

Woody, a 23-year-old right-hander, was 5-5 with a 2.92 ERA in 49 appearances this season for Class A Sarasota. He was the Reds' 31st-round draft pick in 2005.

In other news, the Reds sent infielder Trevor Lawhorn to the Blue Jays as the player to be named in the Aug. 16 deal that brought lefty reliever Scott Schoeneweis to Cincinnati. The 23-year-old Lawhorn batted .224 with four homers and 28 RBIs in 91 games for the Florida State League Reds.

Also, Ronnie Ortegon was named the Reds' new Minor League hitting coordinator. Ortegon spent the last two seasons as a coach with the Rangers' Double-A affiliate in Frisco. From 2002-04, he coached in the Phillies' system.

They are saying that Gil has a strong enough arm to play 3B, CF, or RF. His natural position is SS. Hopefully they are going to groom him to take over SS since Lopez was traded. I do not want to see Clayton there at all next year.

In another startling transaction, the Reds added Brad Salmon to the40man roster. I haven't heard to much about him before so I googled him.

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Salmon was a 31st round draft pick way back in 1998. He's obviously moved really, really slowly since being drafted, spending three entire seasons at the low-A level, and most of the past two seasons bouncing back and forth between high-A and AA. Last season however, he made it all the way to Louisville for the first time in his career, and did pretty well in limited time. Whether he'll start 2006 in Chattanooga or Louisville is anyone's guess, but his K rate and ERA from Chattanooga last season makes you think he doesn't have a lot left to learn at the AA level.

I hope Krivsky has loftier plans than what he has shown so far. I know it is early in the off season, but so far I have not been impressed. He was supposed to be the man that helped build the Twins to what they are today. If these are the moves that he is making, he must have had somebody telling him what to do in Minnesota. Why can't we get that person.

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TO BE NAMED - The Reds completed one of their regular-season trades Friday, sending infielder Trevor Lawhorn to Toronto as the player to be named in the Aug. 16 Scott Schoeneweis.

Lawhorn hit .224 with four homers and 28 RBIs in 91 games for Sarasota.

The Reds have completed all but one of their trades for players to be named later. They still owe the Cleveland Indians a player in return for Todd Hollandsworth.

I wonder if Cleveland would take hollandsworth back at the player to be named later.

Reds hire new hitting coach

[quote]The Rangers needed an interim hitting coach early last season while Rudy Jaramillo recovered from prostate cancer surgery.

From their pool of coaches and instructors, the Rangers chose minor-league hitting coordinator Brook Jacoby for the two-month assignment.

"I ran the advance meetings, did the daily work with (hitters) and basically had to try to win those guys over and figure out what they wanted to hear, because everybody is different with the way they process information," Jacoby said. "So it was a good learning experience."

That brief experience, coupled with his exposure to one of the game's most revered hitting instructors in Jaramillo, and his own hitting beliefs, helped Jacoby land a spot on Reds manager Jerry Narron's coaching staff for next season.

The Reds hired the former All-Star third baseman as their new hitting coach Friday, filling the job Chris Chambliss held the past three seasons.

"The one thing that impressed me was when we were having our interview and just talking hitting, he was very well prepared," Narron said. "He knew what our deficiencies were on things like situational hitting and runners in scoring position."

Jacoby, 46, spent the past four seasons with the Rangers, the past two as minor-league hitting coordinator.

"I think he's got a nice approach, a calm approach," Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said.

"But at the same time, I think he can certainly get his point across in . . . whatever way is necessary to improve a guy," Krivsky added.

The Reds ranked last in the National League last season with a .243 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Of additional concern, and what probably contributed to the club's decision last month not to invite Chambliss back, was the difference offensively between the first and second halves of the season.

The Reds finished the first half ranked seventh in the majors in slugging percentage, ninth in on-base percentage and runs and 20th in batting average.

But during the second half, which included the eight-player trade that sent shortstop Felipe Lopez and right fielder Austin Kearns to the Nationals, the Reds had the lowest batting average in the majors (.251), scored the second-fewest runs (301) and were tied for 27th in slugging percentage (.409) and tied for 20th in on-base percentage (.328).

"There are some absolutes and some words that (Jaramillo) put to use and applied to what good hitters do," Jacoby said. "Really it's very simple. It's basically trying to get these guys into a strong hitting position on time and giving them a chance to see the ball."

Jacoby twice was an American League All-Star during an 11-year major-league career with the Braves, Indians and Athletics.

This will be his second go-around with the Reds.

Jacoby worked for the Reds as a roving hitting instructor in 2000. He then served as the hitting coach with Triple-A Louisville in 2001 and 2002 before the Rangers hired him in 2003 as the hitting coach for their rookie league affiliate in Arizona.

"I've dealt with Adam Dunn in the minor leagues when I was with the Reds," Jacoby said. "I've got an idea and I've got a history with him.

"Ray Olmedo is one of the other players that was around at the time I was."

On Friday, he was asked specifically about helping Dunn cut down on strikeouts (194 last season).

"I consider 194 of them a little bit of an issue," Jacoby said. "It might be an approach thing with him with two strikes. It might be a mechanical thing. ... We'll figure it out. I'd like to think something could improve there."

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I will hold judgment until I see what he can do. I remember seeing him play around here when he was with the Indians. He seemed like a patient hitter. I hope he can work a miracle with Dunn. He would be incredible if he would hit for an average too

Reds hire new pitching coach

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Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux has called Dick Pole one of the best influences on his career. But as Pole points out, he's not coaching Maddux anymore.

The Reds finalized their 2007 staff on Tuesday by naming Pole as their new pitching coach. Pole's next challenge is taking over a relatively young pitching staff in Cincinnati that made strides in 2006 but still has room to grow.

Pole fills a vacancy that had been in transition since Vern Ruhle was diagnosed with cancer. Tom Hume filled the position this past season, but the Reds prefer to return him to his previous role as bullpen coach and look for a more veteran pitching instructor.

They quickly found their guy with Pole, who embarks on his 19th year as a Major League coach with his sixth big-league pitching coach assignment.

"Just competing against him, seeing him through the years, I've always been impressed with the way he goes about his business," manager Jerry Narron said on Tuesday. "His reputation has been outstanding. There's been some very good pitchers who believe in him. He's been a grinder. He's stuck around in this game and he loved it."

The biggest name of those pitchers is Maddux, who became Pole's project in 1988 coming off a 6-14 record as a 21-year-old rookie the previous season. As the story goes, Pole tried to get Maddux to think less about strikeouts and more about simply making pitches and getting outs in whatever fashion.

Maddux improved to 18-8 in that '88 season, the first of 17 consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins and 14 straight seasons with over 200 innings pitched. His innings per start went up, his hits per inning went down and the rest, as they say, was history.

"I know that's something that kind of stuck with Dick," general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "When a guy like Maddux says something like that, it has to make you feel good."

Pole and Maddux were reunited the last few years with the Cubs, except that Pole was the bench coach instead of the pitching coach. When Narron and Krivsky approached him about the Cincinnati opening, Pole said that it was a chance for him to return to his roots.

Plus, he's doing it in a league and a division he knows pretty well over the last several years.

"The last few years I've seen them get better," Pole said. "I've seen [Aaron] Harang, and then they added [Bronson] Arroyo. They have some young pitchers that need to get better, but I saw Wayne make some moves near the end of the year. That's part of my job [with young pitchers], to let them know they belong."

The numbers should help in that regard. Despite playing in hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park, the Reds finished in the top half of the National League with a 4.51 earned run average, lowest of any team in the Central Division except for the pitching-rich Astros. Their nine complete games were an NL best.

Likewise, their 464 walks allowed were the fewest of any NL team, helping mitigate the effect of their NL-high 213 home runs surrendered and 2,593 total bases allowed.

"The one thing that impressed me about that pitching staff is how few walks they had in that ballpark," Pole said. "When you don't walk a lot of guys in a ballpark like that or Coors Field, you give yourself a chance. You let them hit one-run homers instead of three-run homers."

That's one part of being able to pitch effectively in a small ballpark. The rest, he pointed out, is a matter of pitching to the opponent rather than the dimensions.

"The biggest thing in a park like that is execute your pitches," Pole said. "Whether you're a sinkerball pitcher or a four-seam pitcher, if you execute, you're going to get your outs. I can't come into a place like that and take somebody who's a four-seam pitcher and say, 'Uh-oh, we have to get you throwing sinkers.'"

He doesn't want to change Reds pitchers, but part of his task will be to develop them. Take away the trio of Arroyo, Harang and Eric Milton, and 55 of the remaining 66 starts came from pitchers age 27 or younger. Key relievers Todd Coffey and Bill Bray are trying to build on two seasons or less of big-league experience, while Gary Majewski will try to turn his career back in the right direction after a nightmarish 2006.

Before Pole can teach, he said, he has to earn their trust. Like new hitting coach Brook Jacoby, that will be part of Pole's job in Spring Training.

"From my perspective, I don't think it's good for a guy like me to go into a situation and see a guy two times and say you've got to change this or change that," Pole said. "The first part of my job is to observe them and see what they can do. Change has to be a little bit at a time. If you come in and say to a guy you've got to totally revamp them, you're going to lose their trust real quick."

The Reds already held a special place in Pole's life before this. His only career playoff assignment came against Cincinnati in the 1975 World Series, walking the only two batters he faced in Game 3.

Pole pitched six Major League seasons in a career shortened by a freak line-drive back up the middle. He made 122 career appearances, 77 of them starts, with the Red Sox and Mariners before finishing his career in Mexico.

I hope he can work the same magic on the Reds staff. I hope he works with Milton and Lohse. They can be good starters, but need a little work.

I have been busy and have not been paying attention. I just saw they signed Bubba Crosby to a 1 year $400,000 contract. I don't think they need yet another OF, but he will be a good player to have on the bench. He played for winning teams in NY. Maybe he can teach the Reds the little things it takes to win.

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SPN's Peter Gammons is reporting that free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez has negotiated a three-year, $14 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds, pending a physical.

Gonzalez, a slick-fielding shortstop who replaced Edgar Renteria in Boston, is a nine-year veteran who batted .255 with 99 hits and 50 RBI last season for the Red Sox. He had a .985 fielding percentage in 111 games at shortstop in 2006.

I don't know how I feel about this move yet. I was hoping for a 2B, so they could move Phillips to SS. His average is not great, but he does have some pop in his bat which can be enhanced in GABP. If they improve the offense somewhere else it may be ok.

The article I got this from reminded us that it helps of him replacing Royce Clayton, not Felipe Lopez.

The reds traded Jason LaRue to the Royals for the famous PTBNL. While this move was not a shock, it was important. They cleared his $5 million off their books. There was no reason for them to have kept 3 catchers on the roster last year. It was just a waste. I thnk this move was just a throwaway because they will not get much in return. I know they won't get a $5 million player back for him.

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The Reds added insurance at catcher by signing veteran Chad Moeller to a big league contract Monday.

Moeller, 31, hit .184 with two home runs and five RBI last season in 29 games for Milwaukee.

He was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville July 11 and spent the rest of the season there.
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Moeller has played seven seasons in the big leagues. His best year was 2003 when he hit .268 with seven home runs and 29 RBI for Arizona.

The Reds traded Jason LaRue to Kansas City a week ago, but still have catchers David Ross and Javier Valentin.

I just don't understand what Krivsky is doing. I have been reading everything I can find everyday in the hopes that the Reds made another move to improve the team. Now they signed Moeller. I don't get what Krivsky is doing. He traded LaRue and is paying over half his salary because they had too many catchers on the 40 man roster. Now he picks up another catcher. They need offense. They can not hit as was shown in their collapse at the end of the season. Why is he not worried about scoring runs. The last I remember the team that scores the most runs wins the game. He has single handedly dismantled a team that he had on the verge of contending. :gripe:

The Reds took 2 players in the rule 5 draft. Jared Burton from Oakland and Josh Hamilton from Tampa Bay.

Burton went 6-5 in AA ball last season and gave up 71 hits in 74 innings.

Hamilton, CF, was a first round draft pick with a lot of potential, but injuries and a drug problem have stunted is progress.

Could somebody explain the rules of the rule 5 draft to me. If what I read is correct, they have to be on the 25 man roster all season. Why would they waste valuable space on players that seem marginal at best?

The reds finally made a move that I agree with this off season. They signed David Ross to a 2 yr $4.5 million contract avoiding arbitration. They locked up an important player for their immediate future. Not only is he a good offensive catcher, he was Arroyo's personal catcher last season. I am for keeping everything the same if I can get the same results with him.

The Reds tried to avoid arbitration with Lohse and Harang. They signed Lohse to a 1 year deal for $4.2 million. They couldn't get Harang to sign before the deadline, so they have exchanged numbers. Harang wants $5.5 for 1 year and the Reds offered $4.25. If they gave Lohse 4.25, they really need to reconsider their offer to Harang. He was their best pitcher last season, and is the ace of the staff. They need to sign him to a long term contract ASAP.

The Reds made another positive move in my mind today. They traded David Shafer and a PTBNL for Kirk Saarloos and a PTBNL. This should help the team as he is a ground ball pitcher.... a plus in great american ballpark. He will get to take advantage of the improved defense krivsky has been harping about. He is said to be in contention for the 5th spot in the rotation, but I think he could get the 3rd or 4th. Milton and Lohse give up too many HRs.

They made another move today. They invited Mark Belhorn to spring training. He may not be the player he was, but I bet he could be an asset coming off the bench. any thoughts???