Dusty's terrible moves

So many bad moves it is difficult to remember them all. Here is a quick list of the easy ones. Feel free to add any others.

-Playing Corey Patterson. This is listed first for obvious reasons. Dusty loves Corey and not because he is dating Dusty's daughter. Dusty had to come out against that rumor in the papers. Corey must love Dusty because he is on pace for almost 400 PA's and an OPS+ of 48 while making 3 million. The move was done because Dusty wanted it done. Now he keeps playing Corey hoping he will turn it around and make the investment worth it. I wish someone would wake him up and tell him the season is over and getting some rookies some extra AB's and experience would not be a bad idea

-Playing Paul Bako. Like Corey, this is another of Dusty's guys he brought in and continues to throw out there even though he is 36, and has an OPS+ of 58 while his heir apparent, Ryan Hanigan, has an OPS+ of 90 in very limited action. Maybe he should play more because John Fay did some checking and found the Reds are 14-8 when he starts and the pitchers have a 3.68 ERA. So Bako is a worse hitter and he calls an equal or worse game. Why is he playing again?

-Overusing some young arms. Volquez has pitched 200 innings. 24 year olds who, 2 years ago pitched only 120 innings, should not throw 200 innings for a 5th place team. Cueto is 22 and will pitch over 180 innings this year. These two are the cornerstone of our future. They should have been given more days off in September once the season was essentially over. Better to have them in September next year for a few more starts then overwork them this year.

-The San Diego debacle. Aaron Harang was ruined for two months thanks to Dusty's terrible decision making. Aaron threw 4 innings on 3 days rest. He went into a total tailspin after that and landed on the DL. Hopefully he will be back to 100% by the beginning of next year so he can return to his old form. Without him, the Reds will be in big trouble.

What else?

Another losing season, now come the stupid moves

Quick game: Who do you release?

Both these players play the same position and are equal in defense.

Player A: 36 years old, .216/.289/.340 in 78 games and an OPS+ of 63
Player B: 31 years old, .231/.381/.366 in 52 games with an OPS+ of 96

Player A right. Well, if you were Dusty Baker and Walt Jocketty you would pick Player B. Player B is David Ross who had some injuries early in the year and was starting to round into form. Player B is Dusty favorite, "The Human Out" Paul Bako. He had a great April and since then has OPSed 55, 38, 28, 29 the past four months. I had to check those stats twice. Are you serious? He isn't even a good rookie ball catcher. Ross has gone 125, 69, 154, and 43 and only had 15 AB's in August so his 43 needs more work. It is still considerably higher than Bako.

There is no reason, I mean NO REASON, to let Ross go and keep Bako. Bako is done as a big league player. Ross is still useful as a backup or an injury replacement. He has played well in Cincinnati and has a good relationship with the pitchers. Bako must have pulled a Corey Patterson and gathered some leverage on Dusty. My guess is Bako kidnapped Dusty's chihuahua Princess. Now Bako needs to let the little rat go so he can be released and the Reds can make the sensible move of allowing Ross to compete for a starting job now that he is healthy.

Corey Patterson continues to be a Red, defying any logic. He continues to OPS+ 46, receive a pay check, and keep the Reds from playing any young players. Granted the Reds may not have any prospects left in AAA, but any player, even one from Rookie ball would be better than Corey. He will be out of baseball after this year so there is no reason to have him on the team. They need to move on.

Tomorrow I will address the bonehead moves in the pitching staff. Who knows, they may release Bill Bray and recall Todd "Decaf" Coffey, tell Dunn they won't resign him then give an extension to Patterson. Why not reward the weak and punish the strong. It would only make sense after what happened today.

Another Loss

Two straight one run losses on the road. I'm sure that has nothing to do with coaching. Glad Harang threw another 110 pitches tonight and the last 15 were the ones where he gave up 4 hits. He is definitely not still hurting from his 4 inning relief effort 10 days ago. Thanks Dusty, our best pitcher is frustrated and struggling. His record is 2-8 and has gotten no run support thanks to a lineup that featured no Griffey and The Human Out Paul Bako. Just terrible. We better win tomorrow or it will be a 0-4 tip because there is no way we beat Cole Hamels.

Now a thing about Philly fans. I hate them. I really do. It is not prejudice because I have known dozens of them and they are all obnoxious, mean, illogical fans. They have booed Santa Claus, Mike Schmidt, Dr. J, hometown boy Kobe Bryant when he won the MVP, Donovan McNabb on his draft day, any home team when they are losing at halftime or lose the game. They also cheer when opposing players leave on stretchers, throw batteries at opposing players, throw snow/iceballs at players, and even shot a flair gun during a game. They say they are just "passionate" but you can be passionate without hurting or humiliating other fans and teams. I guess they have reason to be mad with teams in the 4 major sports yet not winning a championship for 25 years. Cincinnati only has 2 major sports teams and they won one in 1990. New York and Boston, the two cities Philly fans wish they were, have combined for about 30. Ok, that may be too much but who cares. Philly still has 0. I just wish their fans would realize this and quit acting they their teams are the greatest and all others suck. There is a difference between obnoxious and passionate. Philly fans, learn the difference.