3 Hitting Coaches Fired; Julian Aguiar Has TJ

[Lark11]

x.com/m_sheldon/status/1843687988569706863

Mark Sheldon
@m_sheldon
·
2m
Some Reds news:

All three hitting coaches -- Joel McKeithan, Terry Bradshaw and Tim LaMont have been fired.

RHP Julian Aguiar had TJ surgery and will be out for 2025.

[Lark11]

x.com/CharlieG__/status/1843697203761533361

Charlie Goldsmith
@charlieg__
Some Reds notes

-All three hitting coaches (Joel McKeithan, Terry Bradshaw and Tim Lamonte) have been fired.
-Budget meetings for 2025 are at the end of October, which will shape steps this offseason
-Matt McLain is open to moving around positions, including third base and CF. Steer and India will also play some first and third.
-Elly De La Cruz is the shortstop. He's not moving anywhere.
-Nick Krall: "The outfield needs to get better."
-Julian Aguiar is having Tommy John.
9:57 AM · Oct 8, 2024
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10.9K
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[The Duke]

I move McLain to 3B well before I move Elly off SS. That lets India stick with 2B where he was passable in 2024 and our infield is one consistent performer away from being stable in 2025, with it being what should be the easiest of the positions to fill. I wouldn't be opposed to Steer at 1B if we can somehow acquire 2 solid OF guys, but that's easier said than done. Hopefully you can ride out Steer for a year or two and then as he starts getting pricy the hope is that Cam Collier is who he was in August and is ready to take over full time by 2027. August 2024 Cam Collier was a monster. Power, avg, OBP.

What a bummer about Aguiar. I think that gap necessitates bringing in at least one guy in FA for pitching depth. I wouldn't hate Montas rd 2. I'd rather not have to rely on Petty right out the gate and let him season in AAA a little bit and work through that level a few times through the league.

[wilbo71]

All these TJS are quite alarming. 

[Lark11]

From C.Trent:

“We’ve got to figure out how to upgrade our defense and our offense,” Krall said. “There’s a new manager aspect to this, but also how we can use our players better, too.”

Krall said he doesn’t have an exact need, just that the team needs to score more runs and let fewer in. The Reds’ defense was rated as one of the worst in baseball by most measures. Krall specifically noted that FanGraphs had the Brewers as the fifth-best team in baseball with 29 fielding runs above average, while the Reds were 26th at minus-23, a gap of 52 runs.

The team’s lineup is less set now than it was at the start of last offseason. The only places where the team seems set on who will be playing are at shortstop and catcher, with Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson, respectively.

As for talk about moving De La Cruz to the outfield, Krall simply said, “Elly is our shortstop.”

[The Duke]

Good, moving Elly off of SS would be idiotic. He sees far more balls there than he would at CF, he's the cutoff guy pretty much no matter where the ball goes in the OF, and he makes up for errors with his range. Plus, he's 22 years old, the errors will most likely improve with reps and experience. Lets just enjoy the next 5 years of Elly. If we can sign him longer, great. If he's dead set on going to a big market, we still get the next five years, which are likely to be his most productive.

[Lark11]

Oct 9, 2024 6:26:47 GMT -5 The Duke said:

Good, moving Elly off of SS would be idiotic. He sees far more balls there than he would at CF, he's the cutoff guy pretty much no matter where the ball goes in the OF, and he makes up for errors with his range. Plus, he's 22 years old, the errors will most likely improve with reps and experience. Lets just enjoy the next 5 years of Elly. If we can sign him longer, great. If he's dead set on going to a big market, we still get the next five years, which are likely to be his most productive.

The best decision the Reds have made in the recent past is putting Elly at short and keeping him there.