If you’re a fan of the Cincinnati Reds are you wondering hat the team is doing. The Reds where a wild card team in 2013, but have seem to be in rebuild mode ever since and I’m not sure how close they are to being a contender. So when they had a chance to make a couple of trades before the August 31st deadline it was a bit of a surprise that they didn’t pull the trigger.
It’s been reported that Matt Harvey and Billy Hamilton where claimed by teams after the Reds put them on revocable waivers. Now instead of trying to work out a deal with the team or teams that claimed Harvey and Hamilton the Reds decided to pull them back of waivers which means they’ll be with Cincinnati for the rest of the season.
The Reds sent Devin Mesoraco to the New York Mets for Harvey earlier in the season and while he’s pitched much better for the Reds than he did for the Mets; I’m not sure why the Reds didn’t try to get a deal done with the team that claimed him.
Harvey has made 18 starts for the Reds this season. He is 6-5 with a ERA of 4.14 over 95 2/3rd innings. While with the Mets Harvey appeared in 8 games; 4 of which here starts. He was 0-2 with an ERA of 7.00 over 27 innings.
At one point I time Harvey was looked at as a top of the rotation starter, but after an injury on 2016 Harvey has had trouble getting back to that pitcher everyone thought he’d be. His time with the Reds has been the best he’s pitched since 2016.
Now Harvey is a free agent at the end of the season and maybe the Reds are interested in resigning him and it’s possible that they thought if they traded him it would be more difficult for them to bring him back. Resigning Harvey is probably going to be a problematic anyway. Harvey is a Scott Boras client and even though Harvey’s career has been on a downward path you know that Boras is going to try to spin it; like a good agent should, but will he price Harvey out of the market. This will be Harvey’s first go-round in free agency and at 29 years old it will be interesting to see how many teams will pursue him and how many years they’ll be willing to go.
Now the reports where that it was the Milwaukee Brewers that claimed Harvey on waivers. Milwaukee ha a good farm system; so that make it even more baffling why the Reds didn’t try to work out a trade. It could be something as simple as they didn’t want to send him to a team in their own division, but at this point of the season I don’t know why that would be an issue.
Harvey now knows that he’ll be with Cincinnati for the rest of this season. We’ll have to wait until the off season to see if he returns or if he signs somewhere else as a free agent in the off season.
Hamilton is another interesting case for the Reds. At the start of the 2018 season there was talk that Hamilton wasn’t going to be an everyday player for the Reds, but he’s played in 123 of Cincinnati’s 129 games this season.
Hamilton has never hit for a high average; he’s hitting .236 this season and he’s never been a power guy as he has just 3 home runs this season. What Hamilton brings to a team is speed and defense. Hamilton has never stolen less than 50 bases in any full season he’s played, but he’s going to have a tough time getting to 50 this season. Hamilton has 29 stolen bases right now.
I’m sure the Reds had hoped that Hamilton would develop into a lead off hitter they could have at the top of their line up for years to come, but with his low batting average, high strikeout totals and not being someone who draws walks Hamilton has been hitting at the bottom of the Reds order this season.
Unlike with Harvey it’s unclear which team put in a waiver claim on Hamilton; so there could be many reason why the Reds decided to hang out to him.
Hamilton is making $4.6 million dollars this season and will be heading into arbitration for the first time in his career; so there’s a chance that the Reds could deal him in the off season where they’ll have more time to talk to another team.
Do you see Hamilton and Harvey wearing Reds uniforms next season?
Does it seem like the San Francisco Giants lose more big name players to injuries than any other team? Or is it just me.
You can add former MVP, Rookie of the Year and 6-time All-Star Buster Posey to that list as he will miss the rest of the season as he’ll undergo surgery to repair his hip.
With the Giants falling to four games under .500 and the NL West starting to get away from them it’s a good a time a any for Posey to have the hip procedure; so he can start his rehab.
Posey was hitting .284 this season, but his power numbers where way down as he had just 5 home runs this season. You have to wonder if the hip issues had an affect on his power. Posey had driven in 41 runs and even with his hip issues he had caught in 88 games this season.
There has been talk for a few years about the Giants getting Posey out from behind the plate and into another position full time. There was some talk a few seasons ag about Posey possibly transitioning into the outfield, but he’s never played a game out there in his major league career. There was also some talk of trying Posey at 3rd base, but that’s another position he’s never played at the major league level. Posey however has played 1st base 225 times in his major league career.
1st base looks like to would be a natural transition for Posey; like Joe Mauer did with the Minnesota Twins five seasons ago. The problem the Giants have that the Twins didn’t have is that San Francisco has a quality 1st baseman in Brandon Belt. Belt has played both of the corner outfield positions in his career; mostly leftfield and you’d have to think that would be the move the Giants make if Posey has to change positions.
Is it time for Posey to make the more to a different position? If so; what position do you see him switching to?
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