While reading columns about the Reds that I frequent (Hal McCoy's blog and the official Reds web site) I saw two articles about the same thing, the Reds moves this offseason. One was very negative (McCoy) while Mark Sheldon, writer for the Reds website, was looking at the positive side of things. To glance at the moves the Reds have made wouldn't shock anybody, even though I think they did sign some key players to fill needs. McCoy (http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/cincinnatireds/) says that much more needs to be done, and that they haven't done enough to move out of 5th place. I hate to do it, but I'm gonna disagree with you here.
Let's take a look at the moves made by other NL central teams this off season. The first place Cubs haven't done much. They re-signed Ryan Dempster and signed Aaron Miles. They traded Mark Derosa for 3 minor league pitchers who probably won't make an impact at the major league level. They are finalizing a trade for Jason Marquis and a contract for FA Milton Bradley. That last deal for Bradley is the only thing to make a huge difference, I think. And he may not even turn out to be that big of an impact as he has some injury problems over the last couple of years. The rest of the moves are just tinkering, which is probably all they need to do, because they did win 97 games last year.
The second place Brewers are going to drop a place or two. They lost two big name pitchers to free agency and really haven't made any moves to replace them. Their name hasn't surfaced much in the rumor mill and I don't think they have the money to do anything. I don't see any big names coming their way.
Houston finished third, and again, haven't done anything big. They've made the basic moves that every GM hopes will turn out to be a smart move, but no game changers.
The Cardinals have added Khalil Greene and Trevor Miller to their roster, which will definitely shore up some holes, but not enough to move up in the standings. Consider also that Chris Carpenter probably won't be starting for them and it creates another hole in the rotation for them (although he may fill a hole in the closer position for them). One thing to watch for is the possibility of Kenshin Kawakami coming over from Japan. Apparently he's looking at several teams offers and the Cardinals are on that short list. This move gives them the potential to compete for the division title in 2009, they weren't all that far off from it in 2008.
Expect the last place Pirates to stay in the celler. Even Jack Wilson, the teams shortstop, says that they need more players to compete anytime soon. They are still in the hunt for Rocco Baldelli, which may turn out to be an impact signing, but I don't think that's enough to bring them up too far.
So, we see that this has been a quiet offseason for the whole NL central; there's only been one big signing (Bradley) so far. Now, there are still a lot of good players out there that may change the whole outlook of the central should they be signed here. But there are not a lot of rumors floating around about Central teams. With regards to the Reds I think they are in good shape to move up a place or two in the standings due to the tinkering they have done and the relative quiet of the rest of the teams. Not to mention that the rookies that carried the team in 2008 will be back and hopefully matured a little bit and ready to put up some bigger numbers. I also think that the Reds will add that left fielder that they've wanted. Baldelli is still being sought after, as is Jerry Hairston. Even with both of those names being thrown out there I think that Jocketty has something else up his sleeve, and has plans to make a trade before opening day. Who they get will dictate just how far up they can move, but I'm optimistic for a third place finish and a .500 season.
