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« Video Mailbag: Murton, Fields, Garcia | Main | Rays Looking To Deal Jackson Or Hammel? »
Reds Shopping Freel?
John Fay, writing on his Reds Insider blog, notes that the reason for the lack of cuts in Reds camp is that they might be looking to move Ryan Freel. He didn't elaborate much, other than to say he heard talks of Philadelphia, Minnesota, "and others."
Freel is pretty versatile, having handled all three outfield positions, as well as second and third base. The Twins could use his bat in the lineup. But where would he play? Second? Displace recently-acquired Carlos Gomez in center field temporarily? Or just a utility role?
The same situation appears to be in place in Philly. They just signed Pedro Feliz to play third, and have a full infield beyond that. In the outfield, they signed Geoff Jenkins over the off-season to go with Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell. So it appears he'd be headed for a utility role there, too.
The question, then, becomes: What will the Reds do about their outfield? Do they really plan to start Norris Hopper in center? Or does this signal that Jay Bruce could be back soon? Lots of questions to be asked surrounding this rumor.
(Of course, less than three hours after Fay noted the lack of cuts, the Reds re-assigned Andy Phillips, optioned Bill Bray, and returned Jose Capellan to the Red Sox.)
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski
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If the Mets are seriously planning on Tatis being the last guy on the bench just because of his versatility, then Freel should be an option.
Posted by: stellar | March 28, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Corey Patterson will be the starting center fielder not Norris Hopper.
Posted by: TheCincyKid | March 28, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Freel is an interested player because its tough to find real suitors for him. Nearly every team would be interested in him because he can play so many positions that its likely he could fill a hole on the majority of teams. He really doesn't deserve a starting job anyways considering his lack of durability. But as a utility player he's nearly ideal for the bench of an NL team.
Posted by: scribbletone | March 28, 2008 at 10:07 AM
The Reds will be platooning Corey Patterson and Norris Hopper. If they aren't getting the job done, and Bruce is tearing up AAA, he'll come up once he's safe from Super 2 status. If they are doing well, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bruce stay in AAA through the break.
Posted by: RedsManRick | March 28, 2008 at 10:09 AM
I think moving Freel makes sense here..like you said...this allows them to bring Jay Bruce back up and get him going.
Posted by: dbacksbuzz | March 28, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Send him to Baltimore. He would fit just fine at 2B when we deal Roberts somewhere.
Posted by: XD23 | March 28, 2008 at 10:18 AM
Whoops! Totally forgot about Patterson. Yeah, that makes sense.
Posted by: Joe Pawlikowski | March 28, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Not sure what their roster situations look like, but Freel is better suited to handle CF for the Padres than any of their other options when Edmonds is out.
Marlins could also use him in case the Cody Ross experiment fails. Plus he could play 3rd if the Cantu experiment fails. Or right better than Gonzo when Hermida is injured.
Posted by: mymrbig | March 28, 2008 at 10:26 AM
I agree with Stellar...if I'm Omar Minaya, and my choice is between Freel and Fernando Tatis (come on, are the Mets serious trying to bring this retread-of-a-never-was back into the majors?), how do you not go out and try to pick up Freel? Guys like him on the bench are what make championship-caliber ballclubs, not Fernando Tatis.
Posted by: Sunny Reiser | March 28, 2008 at 10:32 AM
The braves could use a proven utility guy who can play center. While infante does offer those abilities, freel and infante would be awesome off the braves bench, and freel would bring even more spped to the braves. We do have Bryan Pena to help the reds with catching, and also could give up a minor league bullpen piece to get freel.
Beyond that, the padres make the most sense, both because that could use a super utility man like freel for all their injury concerns in the outfield, and also because the reds could use barrett or bard behind the plate as a catcher.
Posted by: bravesbeast | March 28, 2008 at 11:10 AM
This comment may verge on racist, but I saw this happen with the Cubs under Dusty Baker. All of a sudden we saw a lot of Black players come on the Cubs and white players moved. You now see this on the Reds with them trying to move Freel, when he is a better player then a lot of what they have. I would much rather have Freel as my CF then the proven bust CPatt. Dunn will be going soon, trust me. Sorry, I am not normally someone that concerns myself with race stuff, but it was pretty evident on the Cubs under Dusty.
Posted by: Jammin502 | March 28, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Personally I like Freel over Norris Hopper. I'd say designate Hopper (not sure if he has options) before trading Freel. He's awesome off the bench and is a terror on the basepaths.
Posted by: TheCincyKid | March 28, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Baker doesn't exercise affirmative action, that's ridiculous. Freel's stock is higher than Hoppers and Hopper is a better bunter. That's why they are trying to move Freel instead of Hopper. Plus Hopper is cheaper.
Freel's fun to watch, but kinda sucks as pinch hitter. Hopper on the otherhand had a ton of bunt hits last year.
Patterson is not a PROVEN bust, I suppose you would've said the same thing about Josh Hamilton and Brandon Phillips.
I really like the Hopper/Patterson platoon, and don't expect Bruce to break into the bigs this year unless we are way out of contention. He's like 20 years old and has like 100 ABs above AA. The last thing I want Wayne to do is screw up the best prospect in baseball.
Posted by: Dave from Louisville | March 28, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Baker just seems to REALLY have a man-crush on Patterson.
If I'm a Reds Fan my biggest concern is Baker's overworking those young starters.
Dusty Baker is the wrong man for that team.
Posted by: coryjwilson | March 28, 2008 at 11:56 AM
I am just stating what I noticed on the Cubs. Corey Patterson always starts the season off hot and then after about 3 weeks he will be flailing at everything. All a pitcher has to do is throw a pitch head high and he is swinging. I really liked Hopper last year and don't really know why he isn't the full time guy. Brandon Phillips is among the best second baseman in baseball.
Posted by: Jammin502 | March 28, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Baker made a lot of poor personnel decisions with the Cubs, and while I'm not agreeing with your idea, Jim, I can see where you're coming from. But it's also hard to figure out if Baker is potentially a racist (black players play better than white players in the sun) or just an idiot (walks clog the bases, dude).
It's pretty ironic that Baker loves Patterson so much since Baker's insistence that Patterson lead-off completely set him up for failure. Patterson was not a lead-off hitter, and a real evaluator of talent would have recognized that.
Posted by: Dan Stabbingworth | March 28, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Guive em to the cubs for ronny cedeno murton or sean marshall!
he'll take the position that roberts was suppost to fill
but actually i kinda like derosa better than freel.
Derosa is a better hitter but freel has speed. Just throwing another team that freel could be avaliable to!
GO CUBS! This is gonna be an off season for the reds... have fun with corey patterson!
Posted by: CMichaels6 | March 28, 2008 at 12:20 PM
If the Red Sox made a Coco Crisp trade, they would be a good fit, as he could backup all OF spots and play 3B/2B too when Pedroia and Lowell need a day off. He'd also be a great late inning pinch runner for Manny, Ortiz, Youk, Lowell, Pedroia, and Varitek.
I'm not sure what the Reds are asking for or what their needs are exactly, but I'm sure we could find a minor leaguer to send their way.
Of course, if the Sox hold onto Coco, then Freel doesn't fit at all.
Posted by: Papelboner | March 28, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Isn't Dunn in a walk year? I think that he'd be moved if the Reds fall out of contention before the deadline. Then I guess Hopper or Bruce would move into full-time duty. On a side note, does anyone know about Drew Stubbs' status with the Reds?
Posted by: oxfrat1665 | March 28, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Stubbs has seen time in five games for the reds so far this spring and has gone hitless in i think five at bats. I am a reds fan and saw him play several times for Dayton last summer and was not overly impressed. The guy that i am watching to come out of the dark this year is Chris Heisey who played left field for Dayton last year before a midsummer call up to Sarasota.
Posted by: coltholt | March 28, 2008 at 03:01 PM
If you have faith in Patterson to bloom in Cincy the way Hamilton and Phillips did, then you'll likely be disappointed. The guy has gotten countless chances to be a good player, chances that Phillips and Hamilton never really did. Patterson has proven to be a hitter who goes up to the plate with no plan, because he doesn't know if he's gonna be a speed/batting average hitter or a power hitter. So he just goes up to the plate flailing, and once in a while his talent is so overwhelming that he plays well because of his impressive tools, but considering that Baker will probably bat him leadoff, he'll likely continue to go up to the plate having no idea what the hell he's doing.
Posted by: scribbletone | March 28, 2008 at 04:41 PM
freel to the padres. god knows they need a backup canterfielder and he can also play the corners. also being fast in that ballpark is a plus. not sure what the padres would give up for him but it makes sense. also the braves could use him in some form.
Posted by: Joelcards | March 28, 2008 at 07:28 PM
I feel like there are a million pretty good outfielders available right now..
And then there are the Padres, trotting out there an outfield of old crappy veterans (Giles, Edmonds), converted infielders (Huber, Hairston) and one guy that just simply sucks (Gerut). That'd be fine on a bad team, but the Pads have a fantastic rotation and are legit contenders. It just astonishes me.
Posted by: scribbletone | March 28, 2008 at 11:33 PM