With the exit of Nick Martinez, Scott Barlow, and Brent Suter, the Reds put major emphasis on filling these innings this offseason. With the signing of Pierce Johnson over the weekend, I’d guess that the bullpen is likely finished heading into Spring Training. Johnson is a fantastic pickup, and appears to have received a $6.5 million guarantee from the Reds. He’s a curveball-heavy pitcher, had a 3.05 ERA last year, 59 strikeouts, and will be a middle of the game innings-eater. I assume the Reds bullpen will look like the following (without injuries):
· Pagan – Closer
· Santillan – 8th Inning/High Pressure Guy
· Johnson – High Leverage Inning Eater
· Ferguson – Left on Left Arm
· Moll – Left on Left Arm
· Phillips – Starter Potential, Innings eater
· Maxwell – Heater
· Last spot fight between Ashcraft, Williamson, or Mey
If the starting rotation stays healthy and Lowder appears to be ready, this bullpen could get really crowded. As we’ve learned from years past though, you can never have too many pitchers. With a possible rotation that could include (5) Greene, Abbott, Lodolo, Singer, Burns, Lowder, Spiers, Williamson, Aguiar, and Petty, I really believe this team needs to look to trade an arm for a power bat.
This team can afford to lose a quality arm, but they cannot afford to have another season without a power hitter. Starting arms are at a premium right now, find a way to make a trade. If we lose the trade, we lose it, but at least we know we tried to get an actual bat that can produce in Great American Ball Park.
Singer and Lux would both bring in a decent return. I have a hard time believing this is the final roster entering March. If so, this front office failed in a major way of improving this roster. Hoping McLain, Hayes, Lux, and Bleday can lead this offense behind Elly scares me. Simply put, the current roster isn’t good enough to compete with the Cubs, Brewers, and possibly even the Pirates. Get a 30+ home run bat and throw him behind De La Cruz and let’s see what this team can do.
